Summer Institute Attendees Discuss Work of Stewards, Building Worker Power & Fighting Back Against Authoritarianism
This week, more than 140 union members from across the state attended our Labor Summer Institute at the University of Maine in Orono. At the two-day solidarity school — held in partnership with the Maine AFL-CIO, Maine Bureau of Labor Education and the Scontras Center for Labor & Community Education — workers came together to build power, discuss important issues and learn new organizing skills.
This Summer Institute focused on the role of shop stewards in building the labor movement at the level of the workplace, the industry or sector and the economy and country at large. We also explored the role of stewards in building a movement in the face of major challenges like skyrocketing inequality, artificial intelligence and political division and threats from the State.
A major focus of the Summer Institute was the role of organized labor in fighting back against authoritarianism. We were honored to be joined by Woosik Kim from the Korean Metal Workers Union and SEIU-United Service Workers West President David Huerta, who is a key national leader in the fight for labor and immigrant rights. Woosik’s union was instrumental in stopping a coup and using the power of mass mobilization and strikes to topple President Yoon Suk Yeol and demand his impeachment after he attempted to unconstitutionally declare martial law.
The President's order banned all political activity, strikes, and “gatherings that incite social unrest.” The first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, Hong Jang-won, later revealed to lawmakers that Yoon had ordered him to detain a list of people including Yang Kyeung-soo, the president of the militant and democratic labor federation Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which has 1.2 million members. Following the announcement, hundreds of Korean citizens, including many KCTU members, defied the ban on political activity, gathering at the parliament building where 190 lawmakers were able to enter the building and pass a unanimous motion rejecting Yoon’s imposition of martial law. Several hours later, Yoon rescinded his order.
Kim described to Summer Institute how the union had prepared for such an emergency, noting that “the speed an organization can move during a crisis depends entirely on the organization and trust built before the crisis.”
Woosik Kim
David Huerta made national headlines when he was arrested by federal agents on June 6, 2025 while peacefully observing an immigration raid in downtown Los Angeles to ensure garment workers' rights were protected. Last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California moved to dismiss criminal charges against Huerta, who was tackled, pepper sprayed and detained, in violation of his First Amendment rights.
“Authoritarians see labor unions as a threat because we are basically the line of defense for working people against their power and what they're trying to achieve,” said Huerta.
Huerta discussed his work organizing a largely immigrant workforce of building employees as part of SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign in the 1990s. He said it wasn’t difficult to organize them because so many of the workers had experienced civil wars and were constantly under threat from authoritarian governments in their home countries, so they weren't afraid of union busters. Huerta urged union members to be prepared for the next “redline moment” when our democracy is threatened, especially if there are attempts to stop the November election or overturn the results.
“How do we stand in solidarity across our differences? We need to embrace others and value all labor whether you're a farm worker, a janitor, a truck driver whatever,” said Huerta. How do we make sure that all workers stand in unity and solidarity across all of our differences? That’s really what i think it's going to take.”
Danny Bailey (APWU 458) with the Solidarity banner.
During the Summer Institute, union nurses had to leave to hold a press conference calling for the release of their union sister, Debora Kapisha, a registered nurse at Maine Medical Center who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She is legally authorized to live and work in the United States while she waits for her asylum case to be processed.
There were several discussions, break-out sessions and workshops on bringing the power of the union to grievances; running contract campaigns; how to talk politics with your coworkers; organizing mobile home park residents to fight greedy investment firms; strengthening stewarding skills; faith and labor; how to bargain over AI; and how to respond when federal authorities target union members. A delegation of University of Maine Graduate Workers (UAW) and fellow union members also marched on the university president’s office to deliver over 50 testimonials protesting last-minute unilateral changes to benefits and their working conditions without the union's input. One of the highlights of the Institute was a fascinating presentation from 2026 Maine National History Day winner and Thornton Academy student Banu Damirchiyeva about her website, “The Mill Girls: The Industrial Revolution, The Workers’ Reaction, and The System’s’ Reform.”
Right before the Summer Institute concluded, the room erupted in jubilant cheers at the announcement that Debora Kapisha was released from ICE custody. We’ve got miles to go, but a big chunk of the labor movement left the last two days with expectations raised, relationships deepened, hearts full and inspired and a deeper clarity about the urgent organizing spade work ahead.