Labor fought hard in 2025, winning key battles

By Elsa Swanson

During a busy and often turbulent year for working people in Sacramento, the Sacramento Central Labor Council (SCLC) stood at the heart of some of the most visible labor actions in the region—showing up on picket lines, at the Capitol, on campuses and in the streets to defend workers’ rights and push for progress at both the local and state level.

Amid a hostile federal landscape shaped by the Trump Administration’s ongoing attacks on organized labor, Sacramento’s union members not only pushed back, but helped drive meaningful change for workers across California, especially with its successful efforts to help pass Proposition 50 this fall, to counteract Republican gerrymandering in Texas.

In January, the SCLC began the year by standing in solidarity with Starbucks workers as they staged a national multi-day strike as part of their ongoing unionization efforts. Union members joined picket lines at regional stores, including in Marysville, where one striking worker from Yuba City said, “We’re fighting for fair wages, a fair first contract and for Starbucks to resolve all of their unfair labor practices.”

Starbucks Workers United remains at the bargaining table, and in December, workers and allies staged new actions around the country—including a major protest in New York City backed by both the AFL-CIO and SEIU, and at California locations.

The strike remains ongoing, and Starbucks workers are once again on picket lines this holiday season.

“Their fight is a fight for all of us,” said SEIU President April Verrett, who attended a protest in New York City in December. “It sends a message to workers and corporations everywhere that people are fed up with the status quo and they’re not going to take it anymore.”

Sacramento was also a central site in the months-long struggle involving University of California workers. In February, nearly 40,000 UC service, technical, research, and healthcare employees took part in a two-day strike led by AFSCME Local 3299 and UPTE. Workers picketed at every UC campus, including the UC Davis Medical Center, one of the largest unionized workplaces in the Sacramento region.

That pressure paid off in November when UPTE secured a new contract, narrowly averting another strike.

“Our tentative agreement is a hard-won victory for 21,000 healthcare, research, and technical professionals across UC,” said Dan Russell, UPTE president and chief negotiator, in a statement after the contract was announced. “We continue to stand with AFSCME and CNA members as they fight and strike for a similar agreement.”

AFSCME, which represents approximately 40,000 UC workers, entered its 21st month of negotiations by the end of the year and continues the fight.

“We deserve a fair contract and unfortunately UC is refusing to give us that,” said union spokesperson and custodian Daisy Hernandez. “We are ready to show UC that we are done playing.”

Throughout the year, the SCLC also organized and mobilized around major public actions that combined celebration, protest and political organizing.

In March, hundreds of labor members and community allies gathered for the 23rd Annual Cesar Chavez Day celebration in Sacramento, an event that took on added urgency amid continued deportations and heightened enforcement actions across the state.

“Let’s be clear,” said SCLC Executive Director Fabrizio Sasso. “The Trump administration and their billionaire backers have waged war on workers. They gutted labor protections. They tried to strip healthcare from millions and they demonized immigrants… But Cesar Chavez knew something: when workers stand together, we win.”

In April, union members and allies took part in the nationwide “Hands Off” Day of Action, protesting massive federal cuts to government services and the firing of tens of thousands of union workers. Then in May, unions again filled downtown streets for International Workers’ Day, rejecting what Sasso called “the billionaire agenda.”

“California must lead the fight for working families,” he said. “Workers are rising up, and we will not be ignored.”

By summer, SEIU 1000 members rallied at the Capitol Annex to protest Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed return-to-office mandate. Union members argued that remote and hybrid work had improved productivity and saved taxpayer dollars.

“Remote work didn’t break the system—it exposed the system,” Sasso told rally participants.

SEIU succeeded in negotiating a one-year delay of the mandate, marking another local win through collective action.

Educators also mobilized as the federal government proposed sweeping cuts to education funding. Sacramento City Teachers Association President Nikki Davis Milevsky warned the cuts could devastate students.

“We are standing up for students against potentially devastating cuts coming out of Washington, D.C.,” she said.

The resistance continued into the summer, when SCLC members joined more than 5,000 protesters at the state Capitol for a second “No Kings” rally, part of a powerful nationwide movement opposing authoritarianism, threats to civil rights and cuts to essential health and food programs.

“They’ve come after organized labor because it’s one of the few institutions with enough power to keep their agenda in check,” Sasso told the crowd.

Sacramento grocery workers also celebrated a major victory. After months of stalled negotiations, UFCW 8-Golden State, along with Locals 5 and 648, secured a new three-year contract with Raley’s, Bel Air, and Nob Hill stores across Northern California. The agreement delivered wage increases, ratification bonuses and stronger healthcare and retirement benefits.

“Our members are the heart of their communities,” said UFCW 8-Golden State President Jacques Loveall. “This agreement honors their dedication.”

Sacramento Labor also played a key role in major statewide legislative victories led by the California Federation of Labor Unions.

In a historic session, Newsom signed every key labor priority bill except SB 7, the No Robo Bosses Act, which would have restricted the use of artificial intelligence in discipline and termination decisions without human oversight.

“We need AI regulations now,” said Federation President Lorena Gonzalez, vowing to continue the effort to regulate AI next year. “Bosses should have souls.”

Among the bills signed into law were measures to expand unionization rights (AB 288); ban employment contracts that unfairly hit employees with monetary penalties for seeking new work (AB 692); and bills backed by the Building Trades to strengthen wage theft penalties (SB 261).

Other measures passed by the Legislature included new laws to extend the recall rights of laid off hospitality workers and increase transparency when public services are outsourced.

The Sacramento labor community also helped power the successful campaign to pass Proposition 50, a countermeasure to Texas redistricting that labor leaders described as one of the largest and most effective worker-backed political campaigns of the year.

“We’ve got to fight fire with fire,” Sasso said. “And that’s what Prop. 50 was all about.”

No year in review would be complete without honoring the courage of Robert Longer, a SCLC board member who saved his elderly neighbors from a house fire last January. Barefoot in slippers, Longer entered the burning building repeatedly—using a doormat to shield himself from heat and smoke—until he was able to pull a woman to safety.

“This is the definition of courage and heroism,” said Sasso. “And the kind of selfless service that comes naturally to leaders in our labor movement.”

Looking ahead to 2026, the SCLC remains clear-eyed about the battles still to come: more contract fights, renewed legislative battles over AI and workers’ rights, ongoing threats to immigrants and public workers and an uncertain political future.