What happened to “putting the movement back in the labor movement”?

On Friday, April 24th, 2026 Teamsters Mobilize Steering Committee member Colleen Donovan received an email from Labor Notes stating:

“Dear Colleen, We will not be able to accommodate you at the 2026 Labor Notes Conference in Chicago. We have refunded your ticket in full. You should receive your refund within a few business days. Best, Labor Notes Registration Team”

Colleen registered for Labor Notes on February 24th, and Labor Notes sent an email that they had closed registration on February 26th. So why did Labor Notes refund Colleen’s ticket for the Labor Notes 2026 conference with zero explanation?

Colleen Donovan is a 4-year UPS part-time warehouse worker in New York City, Teamsters Local 804. She was formerly a shop steward when she worked at the Oakland airport UPS hub in California. For years, she’s fought for her fellow union members and workers against the boss and union leaders who sell out their members.

Colleen is a Steering Committee member of Teamsters Mobilize, “a grassroots organization of Teamsters activists organizing to build up real worker power in our union against our employers and their cronies, to expose corrupt Teamsters leadership, and to build brick-by-brick a genuine fighting labor movement.”

In theory, isn’t Colleen the type of person who Labor Notes would welcome at their conference? Labor Notes says they have been “the voice of union activists who want to put the movement back in the labor movement since 1979” and that they “encourage connections between workers in different unions, worker centers, communities, industries, and countries to strengthen the movement—from the bottom up.”

Does this not apply to Teamsters Mobilize members?

While Labor Notes provided no explanation in their email to Colleen, it is obvious that they banned her because of her role in Teamsters Mobilize. Teamsters Mobilize has been vocally critical of the Teamsters union leadership under President Sean O’Brien, and of the leadership of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). Since TDU supported O’Brien’s run for office in 2021, its leadership has continued to back O’Brien despite his blatant betrayal of Teamsters members and support for ruling class attacks on workers like ICE’s murder of Renee Good.

How did TDU respond to this criticism? In summer 2024, TDU rescinded the membership of another TM Steering Committee member, Jess Lister, who previously ran for the TDU Steering Committee. They never responded to TM’s petition. Then, TDU summarily banned all Teamsters Mobilize members from the 2025 TDU Convention.

Labor Notes shares an office with TDU, and both Labor Notes and TDU receive funding from the Social Justice & Solidarity Fund, which TDU Co-Founder Ken Paff sits on the board of. Up until now TM members have not faced any repression from Labor Notes, and many of TM’s members attended Labor Notes 2024. However, now the Labor Notes leadership is cracking down on militants in the labor movement at a time when the US working class is facing ever greater attacks from the ruling class. Their actions clearly demonstrate which side they are taking in that struggle. We expect that Labor Notes plans to ban even more TM members from attending the 2026 Conference.

Join us in refusing to accept this attack on Teamsters Mobilize and worker militancy! Sign this statement to demand that Labor Notes reverse their decision.

Opposing class-collaboration in our unions is not a crime!

Reverse the ban on Colleen Donovan!

Public Comments:

• Carla Michelini: “The bureaucratic exclusion of Colleen Donovan of Teamsters Mobilize is an attack on workers democracy and a cowardly attempt to thwart debate.”
• Nathan Sacket: “I want my teamster friends to build solidarity in a democratic union movement.”
• Benjamin Douglass: “Full open discussion and debate in the labor movement!”
• Nevin Zehr: “No censorship in the labor movement!”
• Amber Williams: “Colleen is for the workers! It’s a terrible shame that Labor Notes has decided to bar her from going to Labor Notes”
• Shane Jones: “Reverse your ban of Teamsters Mobilize member Colleen Donovan from the 2026 Labor Notes Conference!”
• Kole Mabe: “I expected better, massively disappointed”
• Jeremy Kuzgin: “Our movement needs real leadership, not dudes in suits who want to rub shoulders with aristocrats”
• Lainey Ruth: “Colleen is a troublemaker, just as your conference advertises she should be as an active and enthusiastic leader in the union reform movement. Why was her registration rejected? Which side are you on?”
• Leslie Tereck: “I had hoped that Labor Notes would not go down the path of TDU. I was mistaken.”
• Gregor DePew: “Colleen Donovan is a committed working class unionist. When Colleen’s head hits the pillow at night, I know she is thinking of the working class struggle we are facing in this country. I don’t understand why anyone would want to exclude a militant member like her. She isn’t just all talk, she lives it, she is of it, she is in it.”
• Will Clow: “Good faith dissent should not be silenced”
• Aspen Heintze: “If this is a politically motivated expulsion from the conference, Labor Notes should reverse it. The open exchange of ideas is important to our movement.”
• Gershom Bazerman: “I think labor notes should be a space where all proponents of union activism and militancy can meet and discuss. We’re stronger when we interact, debate, and learn together.”
• Ralston Boswell: “Stop retaliateing against someone that do not agreed with your agenda”
• Carlos Ospina: “Do the right thing!”
• Tevita Uhatafe: “Give Colleen a real explanation on why Labor Notes cancelled her registration!”
• Jose Francisco Negrete: “What Labor Notes did to Colleen is a betrayal of their own credo.”
• Justin R: “Labor Notes stands with the workers yet it blocks and refuses the voice of workers - Unacceptable and non-principle!”
• Demetria Shaw: “Let Colleen Donovan in!!!!!”
• Elliot Brown: “The “troublemakers” who ban troublemakers!? This is outrageous! Let Kat attend!”
• Adithya Gungi: “Why is a non-sectarian organization banning particular people? This isn't the first time Labor Notes has taken weird stances in internal union politics that have nothing to do with rank-and-file unionism or related politics. Banning organizers who are clearly also committed to democratic unionism seems a bit undemocratic to me, personally.”
• Tom Cowperthwaite: “The exclusion of IBT & Teamsters Mobilize member Colleen Donovan is an outrage and must be reversed. It is an assault on workers democracy, an injury to one and a threat to all. The muzzling of opposition within our unions is all-too-familiar to thousands of rank-and-file workers, a reality that Labor Notes claims to be stridently against. Let our sister in and let our sister speak!”
• Mel Packer: “I was once, in it's early days, on the Labor Notes Steering Committee as I was one of the original founders of TDC and then TDU. Militant rank and file voices who oppose TDU's backing and support of Trump sycophant Sean O'Brien should be welcomed at a Labor Notes Conference, not barred. It is sad to see LN fall in line with TDU.”
• Steven Friday: “I have tried to attend Labor Notes conference in the past, but could not because of high demand. Now, I no longer have to try. This action is not what labor is supposed to be about, solidarity through diverse thinking and action. LN's reputation is now shit.”
• Luis Esquibel: “reverse the ban”
• Wayne Heimbach: “The activity of Teamsters Mobilize is part of a new and vibrant and exciting development in the labor movement with working people trying to find a new direction. It is extraordinarily similar to the early days of both TDU and Labor Notes in what they are trying to do. Labor Notes should not only be open to Teamsters Mobilize members and their supporters but should be a safe place for them to express their ideas and participate in debates on the future of our movement.”
• John King: “Reverse your unprincipled ban of Coleen Donovan NOW!”
• Athena Davis: “This is blatant undemocratic behavior from labor notes that flys in the face of supposedly supporting rank and file militancy to push forward the interests of the working class. Shame!!”
• Selena Goodwin: “Labor Notes leaders all need to look into this action and provide a reason for why this union member was denied the ability to attend the conference!”
• Jess Lister: “Colleen is one of the bravest, purest, most passionate militant union siblings I've ever known. She inspires and encourages others endlessly and is a huge asset to any and all aspects of the labor movement. Banning her is a huge exposure of the many problems with the leading bodies of the labor movement and their collaboration with the ruling class to keep workers down instead of leading a militant charge to take back our power and change the course of our country into a worker led country that benefits all people. You all should be ashamed of yourself and what you claim to stand for.”
• Jayce Hall: “All voices of labor should be heard!”