09/03/2026
A message from our founder for Labor Day.
Hello! This is long. But so very important. 💛
The pic is my every day reminder to support and speak out for worker’s rights. My little button from when I was a Union Steward in my last manufacturing job that is now a little fridge magnet. When I saw it today, it moved me to speak on the upcoming holiday and what it actually means.
Labor Day is coming up.
This year has shown us Region Rats how strong we are when we come together and how much labor reform is needed in NWI.
It’s needed in all aspects: food service, medical staff, education, all the trades, manufacturing, and our every day workers that keep our commerce running.
But today I want to focus on two major labor disputes: NIPSCO and BP.
One thing we all have in common: either we’re directly affected by these labor events or we have friends, family, or neighbors that are. They are both eerily similar to the Pullman Strike. This is the labor dispute that caused enough national attention and national economic issues that we now have Labor Day as a reminder of the importance of workers’ rights.
Here’s some similarities:
Take it or leave it demands:
Pullman (1894): George Pullman cut worker wages by 25%, but refused to lower the rents or utility costs charged in his company town. When workers sent a committee to negotiate, Pullman refused to bargain and fired them.
NIPSCO + BP: Both conflicts were triggered by management presenting "last, best, and final" offers that included major concessions—such as mandatory overtime rules, wage cuts/freezes, or altered safety standards—and locking workers out when they refused to accept the terms cut off their bargaining power and ability to earn a living.
Automation and replacement labor:
Pullman (1894): The General Managers Association hired strikebreakers to run train cars and maintain operations. They used more automation to use less of a human workforce. But not in a smart or safe manner.
NIPSCO + BP: Upped the use of non-union workers and set in place more AI and automated monitoring to cut out human labor. By initiating their lockouts instead of waiting for a strike, they took control of the timeline. They hired workers to keep critical infrastructure working, but they didn’t have enough labor to do the things we needed them to do to keep the general public safe.
Leveraging economic strain to force workers back:
Pullman (1894): counted on worker starvation and economic desperation to pull workers back in without reforms.
NIPSCO + BP: Using the fact that even “well-paying” blue collar jobs that they provide do not often provide enough savings for a family to sustain their household if they miss paychecks in the current economy to pull people back to work. They know that the healthcare that these jobs provide is critical for most of their workers. Lockouts immediately cut off paychecks and healthcare.
Making us all less safe:
Pullman (1894): The strike shut down rail lines carrying mail and freight which caused a major federal economic crisis as well as rushed maintenance due to lack of human workforce.
NIPSCO + BP: Because these are both critical infrastructure, these lockouts made us all less safe. We are dealing with the aftermath of the power outages because infrastructure wasn’t updated by NIPSCO. The threat at BP is of course environmental but also a worry about the safety infrastructure that they control.
A reminder on the stance of Feed the Region and myself: We stand with the people. Blue collar workers are essential to our safety and economy as a community. ANY blue collar worker who is working at BP or NIPSCO (or anywhere else) is doing so to take care of themselves, their families, and their community. Any one of you is welcome to grab a hot meal made with love. Especially when you are on mandatory OT or are locked out of your job. We see you and we support you.
What can we do?
Support each other, of course. Care for our neighbors who are working massive amounts of hours to keep us safe, powered, fed, housed, and transported safely. Give each other grace.
But also: call for better Labor Rights for NWI:
You can find your representatives by using the tool linked in the comments.
Unfortunately there are elected representatives in NWI that do not represent the blue collar workers well. For these reps, make sure you express the need for this reform with facts and personal stories, they obviously don’t understand the need for it yet.
Reps who have great scorecards on labor are below, letters to these reps should have good faith encouragements and ideas to help support the labor reform us Region Rats so desperately need:
Congressman Frank J. Mrvan
State Senator Rodney Pol, Jr.
State House Rep Vernon Smith
State House Rep Ragen Hatcher
