From The Deckplates

Now is a good time to read (or reread) The Jungle, Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel about the working conditions in Chicago meatpacking plants. “If you’ve ever read ‘The Jungle,’ it’s still going on,” a striking worker told The New York Times.¹ UFCW Local 7 went on strike last week at JBS, a Colorado meatpacking plant that processes as much as 8% of the country’s beef.² Workers report being unable to afford the meat they pack on top of numerous safety issues. Mother Jones adds that Haitian workers have been segregated onto the night shift.³

This strike will translate into higher beef prices. Grocery prices are already likely to increase due to Donald Trump’s reckless war with Iran.⁴ As law and order break down under Trump’s autocratic regime, major corporations are also growing bolder in how they respond to organized labor. Last week, for example, BP locked out 900 workers at an Indiana oil refinery. This came even after the USW agreed to many of the company’s proposals.⁵ BIW also instituted a lockout on Sunday, preventing BMDA members from reporting to their assigned shifts. BMDA rejected BIW’s last, best, and final offer on Saturday after previously authorizing a strike. It is almost certain BMDA would have struck Monday regardless, but BIW beat them to the punch.

BMDA began picketing Monday. They have been holding the line 24/7, with second shifters from Local S6 honking in support as they leave Bath. Even after midnight, striking workers are picketing at South Gate, West Gate, Mahogany Row, and in front of the Local S6 union hall. I have been impressed with the turnout. Members are showing up despite rain and snow. After just two days on strike, BIW upped their offer for wage increases. BIW also reintroduced flexible work schedules and work from home.⁶

BIW may have only offered these concessions to maintain the illusion of bargaining in good faith. Work from home was originally a highly contentious issue. Yet just one day after the new offer, BIW announced it would be expanding work from home during the strike.⁷ One source told me that the number of BMDA members who have crossed the digital picket line is already in the double digits. Meanwhile, they say, management has been discussing the possibility of outsourcing BMDA’s work.

In Maine News

BMDA strike

• AP: Hundreds go on strike at major Navy shipbuilder in Maine over wages and benefits
• Maine Public: Bath Iron Works employees strike after rejecting contract offer
• The Times Record: Bath Iron Works union hits the picket line
• The Times Record: Strike at Bath Iron Works poised to enter 5th day

Elections

• Axios: Thune’s political group puts down $10 million for Collins
• The Bulwark: The voter fraud fraud [Angus King]
• NPR: Hoping to unseat Collins, Maine Democrats battle it out in an expensive U.S. Senate primary
• The Maine Monitor: Maine’s county races are even less competitive than 4 years ago
• Maine Morning Star: “Because I’m president.” Trump explains why he voted by mail yet opposes voting by mail

Beacon: New tax brackets bill would now fund tax relief for homeowners, new parents

Maine Public: Maine could become first state in the country to offer free community college and then take it away

Maine Public: Report finds that Maine caregivers provide $5.5 billion in annual care

Portland Press Herald: Maine’s “rainy day” fund, explained

In National News

“Autocratic legalism“

• The Existentialist Republic: You’re being lied to. It’s called autocratic legalism
• NPR: Trump is dismantling democracy at “unprecedented” speed, global report finds

Cesar Chavez allegations

• The Nation: My silence ends here [Dolores Huerta]
• The New York Times: Cesar Chavez, a civil rights icon, is accused of abusing girls for years
• Politico: Newsom signs law renaming Cesar Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day

Immigration, DHS shutdown

• Minnesota Reformer: “Unbelievably inhumane.” U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison visits troubled Texas detention center
• Mother Jones: They want to tell you a kid with a spiderman backpack is evil
• NPR: ICE officers set to deploy to airports as delays mount, border czar Homan confirms
• NPR: Senate votes to fund much of DHS, minus immigration enforcement

Iran war

• AP: Pentagon seeks $200 billion in additional funds for the Iran war
• European Geopolitical Journal: The incoming energy crisis
• Forbes: Gas may hit $4 today, oil rises again above $110
• The Guardian: Israel says it will seize parts of southern Lebanon as “defensive buffer”
• Politico: Inside the White House plan to sell the Iran war online
• Reuters: Iran attacks wipe out 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity for up to five years, QatarEnergy CEO says
• The Times of Israel: Gamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are vowing to kill me if I don’t rewrite an Iran missile story

Jones Act waiver

• AFL-CIO: Unnecessary, ineffective Jones Act waiver puts foreign corporations ahead of America’s workers
• AP: What to know about the Jones Act as the Trump administration unveils a 60-day waiver
• The Washington Post: The beginning of the end of the Jones Act [editorial, opinion]

UFCW Local 7 meatpacking strike

• Mother Jones: Workers in Colorado have shut down one of the nation’s biggest meatpacking plants
• The New York Times: A meatpacking strike in Colorado is another stress to Trump’s economy

Wind farm deal

• Ars Technica: US to pay TotalEnergies $1 billion to stop developing offshore wind in US
• Futurism: Trump administration would rather pay a billion dollars than build a single wind farm
• The New York Times: Trump administration to pay $1 billion to energy giant to cancel wind farms

AP: At Pentagon Christian service, Hegseth prays for violence “against those who deserve no mercy”

AP: Democrat flips seat in special election for Florida district that includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort

AP: Pentagon will remove media offices after judge reinstates New York Times press credentials

Forward: We’re forgetting the lessons of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire [opinion]

The Hill: Delta suspends special congressional services amid shutdown

Interesting Engineering: Hyundai taps US robotics firm to build humanoid welders for future shipyards

NewsGuild: Unionized staff at ProPublica vote to strike

NPR: Here’s some new dirt on an unusual source of antibiotic resistance

People’s World: Lockout at largest inland oil refinery continues

Playboy: She made $1 million in 3 hours on OnlyFans. Then, the headaches [Kim Kelly]

Reuters: United Airlines flight attendants reach tentative five-year labor deal

Rolling Stone: Top disaster response official claims he teleported to a Waffle House

Simplifying Socialism: Put the union back in workers’ hands

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Did I miss something? Share what you’re reading with me, and I’ll try to include it next time!

1. Jack Healy, “A Meatpacking Strike in Colorado Is Another Stress to Trump’s Economy,” The New York Times (2026, March 20). ↩︎
2. Sarah Mulholland, “The first major strike at a U.S. meatpacking plant in decades is in its second week,” NPR (2026, March 26). ↩︎
3. Ted Genoways, “Workers in Colorado Have Shut Down One of the Nation’s Biggest Meatpacking Plants,” Mother Jones (2026, March 19). ↩︎
4. Phil Lempert, “What The Middle East Conflict Means For Grocery Prices,” Forbes (2026, March 9). ↩︎
5. Paul Kaczocha, “BP locks out 900 oil workers in Indiana,” People’s World (2026, March 20). ↩︎
6. BIW, “Negotiations Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association, Local 3999, UAW Updates,” news release (2026, March 24). ↩︎
7. BIW, “Negotiations Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association, Local 3999, UAW Updates,” news release (2026, March 25). ↩︎