Red Emma’s

Abby Brackins has been a mathematics professor at Anne Arundel Community College for the past ten years and a union organizer for the past three. Inside the classroom and out, she is passionate about demystifying math – often used by employers to obscure power – so that her community can use data to drive collective action. Riverhawk Educators United began organizing in 2022 and just won recognition of their union in April 2025. This fall, they head to the bargaining table to win their first contract.

Ellen David Friedman is a veteran organizer in the labor movement, especially in the K–12 sector. She currently serves as chair of the board at Labor Notes and is author of the forthcoming book, KEEP GOING: A GUIDE TO ORGANIZING WHEN IT'S HARD.   Jamie Woodcock works at King’s College London and is the UCU branch chair. He is the author of various books on work and worker organising. Jamie is an editor of NOTES FROM BELOW and HISTORICAL MATERIALISM.

Kevin Lin is the managing editor of Asian Labour Review, and a co-convenor of Asian Labour School. He writes about labour struggles in China and Asia, and is interested in building international labour solidarity. He is a co-author of CHINA IN GLOBAL CAPITALISM: BUILDING INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY AGAINST IMPERIAL RIVALRY (Haymarket 2024)

Lydia Hughes is a workplace organiser and postgraduate researcher. She was the Head of Organising at the IWGB until 2021, a relatively young union known for organizing migrant and precarious workers. Most recently, she has been supporting care workers on restrictive visas organise in social care. She is an editor of NOTES FROM BELOW, a worker writing journal.

Scott West is an Assistant Professor of English and Humanities at Harford Community College, a position he has held for the last 22 years. He mostly teaches English Composition, but also teaches Technical Writing, American Literature, and a comics course he designed. Someday, he hopes to partner with colleagues to develop a curriculum in labor history and organizing, but one revolution at a time… Scott currently serves as president of the Union of Harford Community College Faculty after serving as a founding member of that union’s organizing committee.