By Neal Tepel, Founder & Publisher, LaborPress
As we begin a new year, January always gives us a moment to pause—to reflect on where we’ve been and to recommit to where we are going. At LaborPress, that pause is never abstract. It’s grounded in people. It’s grounded in work. And it’s grounded in the values that define the labor movement.
This January, LaborPress is proud to recognize healthcare workers for their extraordinary contributions—not only to our unions, but to the health of our families, our communities, and the labor movement itself.
Healthcare workers are the backbone of care in this country. They show up in moments of crisis and calm. They carry physical, emotional, and moral weight every single day. Many are union members. Many are union leaders. All are essential.
As we honor healthcare workers this month, we are also centering our January theme:
Creating 2026 Family Health Goals: Stronger Families, Stronger Unions.
These two ideas are deeply connected.
Healthcare Workers Understand Health Better Than Anyone
Healthcare workers don’t talk about health in slogans or trends. They see the real consequences—when prevention is delayed, when stress goes unaddressed, when families don’t have access to care or support.
They understand something important that the labor movement has always known:
health is not individual—it’s collective.
A nurse who works a double shift still goes home to a family.
A home health aide still carries emotional labor into their household.
A paramedic still needs recovery, rest, and support to return tomorrow.
Healthcare workers live at the intersection of work, family, and community health every day. That perspective is a gift to the labor movement—and a reminder to all of us.
Family Health Is Union Strength
When we talk about family health goals, we’re not talking about perfection or pressure. We’re talking about sustainability.
Strong families are built on:
- Access to care
- Honest conversations
- Preventive health
- Mental health support
- Time to recover and reconnect
When union families are healthier, union members are stronger. They are more present at work. More engaged in their locals. More capable of stepping into leadership and advocacy without burning out.
This matters—not just for individual households, but for the long-term strength of our unions.
A Message to Union Members
To our members: your health matters.
Not someday. Not after the next contract. Not when things slow down.
Now.
Setting family health goals for 2026 doesn’t require a complete overhaul of your life. It requires intention. It requires conversation. It requires using the benefits you’ve earned and supporting one another at home.
Small steps matter:
- Scheduling preventive care
- Taking mental health seriously
- Building routines that fit real life
- Talking openly about stress and recovery
You are the labor movement. Taking care of yourself and your family is not a distraction from that work—it is part of it.
A Message to Union Leadership
To union leaders: your influence reaches far beyond the bargaining table.
Leadership is not only about contracts and negotiations—it’s about culture. It’s about what we normalize. It’s about what we protect.
When leadership values family health:
- Members feel seen
- Benefits are used and protected
- Burnout is reduced
- Future leaders are nurtured
You don’t need to be a health expert to lead on health. You only need to affirm that well-being matters—that families matter—and that strength is built when people are supported, not stretched to their breaking point.
Healthcare workers have shown us what it looks like to care for others while carrying immense responsibility. Let’s honor that example by building union cultures that support health at every level.
Why Healthcare Workers Deserve This Recognition
Healthcare workers have stood on the front lines—often invisibly—for years. They have advocated for patients while advocating for fair treatment. They have balanced compassion with courage. They have fought for safer staffing, better protections, and dignity on the job.
During the pandemic, healthcare workers did more than respond to a crisis—they redefined what solidarity looks like in action. While the world stayed home, they went to work every day, protecting patients, supporting families, and holding systems together when they were under extraordinary strain.
Their work has strengthened unions, improved standards of care, and elevated the labor movement’s voice in national conversations about health and equity.
This January, we recognize them not just for what they do—but for what they represent:
- Resilience
- Solidarity
- Service
- Strength
Healthcare workers remind us that caring for people is not soft work—it is demanding, essential, and powerful.
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we look toward 2026, I encourage every union family, every local, and every leader to think differently about health.
Not as an individual responsibility.
Not as a box to check.
But as a shared commitment.
Stronger families lead to stronger unions.
Stronger unions build stronger communities.
And stronger communities sustain the labor movement for generations.
At LaborPress, we will continue to tell the stories that matter—stories of workers, families, healthcare professionals, and leaders who show up every day with integrity and purpose.
This January, let’s honor healthcare workers by committing to the health of our families and our movement.
Because when we take care of one another, we all rise together.
In solidarity,
Neal Tepel
Founder & Publisher, LaborPress
