LA Fed President Yvonne Wheeler on May Day, Immigration and Worker Power

Yvonne Wheeler, President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO (LA Federation), the nation's largest labor council, representing more than 800,000 union members across over 300 affiliated unions, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to describe a federation that has been tested on multiple fronts simultaneously and has responded with historic levels of organization and solidarity.

From the January 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires that displaced more than 7,000 union members, to immigration enforcement operations that deployed thousands of National Guard troops and Marines into the city, to a May Day mobilization built around the largest nonviolent direct action training ever conducted in the United States, Wheeler painted a picture of a labor movement that is more unified than it has ever been. The city intends to remain a union town, she stressed.

Wheeler also discussed a landmark contract victory for Los Angeles Unified School District workers, the federation's civic leadership academy and her conviction that union members running for office is the labor movement's most powerful long-term investment.

• The LA Federation hosted what Wheeler described as the largest nonviolent direct action training in U.S. history, bringing 1,400 people to the Los Angeles Convention Center to learn peaceful protest principles. The result was a trained corps of 200 Peacekeepers that the federation can activate for marches and rallies, including the May Day 2026 mobilization organized around the theme "Solo El Pueblo Shuts It Down."
• After the January Eaton and Palisades fires displaced more than 7,000 union members and then immigration enforcement operations brought 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines into Los Angeles, the federation pivoted and partnered with immigrant coalition organizations to host “Know Your Rights” training. This included retaining legal counsel specifically to advise the labor movement on its rights and train-the-trainer sessions to multiply that education throughout Los Angeles.
• On April 14, the United Teachers of Los Angeles — representing 33,000 members — SEIU Local 99 and the principals' union formed a coalition and secured a tentative agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District at the 11th hour, averting a strike that the full LA Federation had been prepared to support. Wheeler credited Mayor Karen Bass for closing the deal.

A Labor Leader Shaped by a Father's Conviction

Yvonne Wheeler's path to leading the nation's largest labor council began at a kitchen table, typing grievances she did not yet understand. Her father, a leader in the National Association of Letter Carriers, required his four daughters to learn to type and speak French — a nod to the family's French heritage. Wheeler complied with the typing but substituted Spanish for French, which she describes as her first act of rebellion. What she did not anticipate was that the documents she would be transcribing were her father's union grievances.

One case stayed with her. A letter carrier named Bobby Johnson, who Wheeler described as “an alcoholic who repeatedly lost his job for driving a federal vehicle under the influence, in the years before DUI laws existed,” kept coming back to her father's door. Her father kept fighting for him. When Wheeler finally asked why, her father's answer was simple: if a man did not have a job, he had no dignity. That conviction became the foundation of everything that followed.

Wheeler went on to become the first Black woman President of CWA Local 9586 in California, then worked for the national AFL-CIO, AFSCME and the American Federation of Government Employees. Her path then led to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, where she became the first African American woman to serve as president of an organization that now represents more than 800,000 union members across more than 300 affiliated unions.

A City Under Pressure and a Federation That Responded

The period since the last presidential election has tested the Los Angeles labor movement in ways Wheeler said no strategic plan could fully anticipate. After the election results came in, she convened a gathering of some of the sharpest minds in the national and local labor movement to do a systematic analysis of Project 2025 and develop a strategic response. What followed was not what anyone had mapped out.

In January 2025, the Eaton and Palisades fires tore through Los Angeles, displacing more than 7,000 union members and their families. While the federation was still responding to that disaster, large-scale immigration enforcement operations began — deploying 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines into the city. Many of the workers and families targeted were union members. Many more were part of the immigrant communities that have long been part of the Los Angeles labor movement's base.

Working with immigrant coalition partners, the federation launched a wave of Know Your Rights trainings across Los Angeles County — not just informational sessions, but train-the-trainer programs designed to multiply that knowledge throughout the community. The federation also retained legal counsel to advise on the labor movement's rights in the face of federal enforcement actions — a precaution Wheeler said led them into uncharted legal terrain.

The Largest Nonviolent Direct Action Training in U.S. History

Out of that moment of crisis came one of the most significant organizational achievements in the federation's history. Wheeler and her team convened what she described as the largest nonviolent direct action training ever conducted in the United States. It included 1,400 people at the Los Angeles Convention Center learning the principles of peaceful protest. The training produced a standing corps of 200 Peacekeepers, whom the federation now deploys to marches and rallies to ensure protests remain peaceful and purposeful.

That infrastructure was central to the federation's May Day 2026 mobilization. The theme — "Solo El Pueblo Shuts It Down." — was a call to workers to stand together: no school, no work, no shopping. Wheeler was clear that the federation was not asking anyone to breach a no-strike clause in any collective bargaining agreement, but wanted to emphasize that solidarity takes many forms.

A Contract Win at the Eleventh Hour

Not all of the federation's recent battles have been defensive. One of the most significant victories came from a coalition effort on behalf of Los Angeles Unified School District workers. United Teachers of Los Angeles, representing 33,000 members, joined forces with SEIU Local 99 and the principals' union to form a unified front during contract negotiations with LAUSD. The coalition had mobilized the full federation in preparation for a picket and rally on April 14. It did not come to that, however.

In the early morning hours of that weekend, with Mayor Karen Bass directly involved in closing the negotiations, a tentative agreement was reached. Wheeler received the text confirming the deal at 1:49 a.m. The agreement delivered substantial pay increases and benefits for the workers. At the federation's subsequent House of Labor meeting, Wheeler and her colleagues greeted the mayor with a sign that read, “Karen Bass, the Closer.”

Building the Next Generation of Worker Leadership

Beyond the immediate campaigns and mobilizations, Wheeler has her eye on the future. The federation is relaunching its Civic Leadership Academy, a training program for union members interested in running for office. Wheeler said the federation has endorsed Democrats who made promises during the endorsement process and did not keep them. The response is not to stop endorsing but to be more strategic and develop their own candidates from within the labor movement.

The goal is not candidates who happen to be union-friendly, she said, but candidates who come from the labor movement, understand it from the inside and are accountable to it in ways that go beyond a campaign promise.

More information on the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor is available at thelafed.org.

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