Louisiana
Louisiana workers fight back against repressive anti-union legislation
The Republican-controlled Louisiana State Legislature, under the leadership of far-right, white supremacist Gov. Jeff Landry, is ramping up its attack on workers. Several new pieces of anti-union legislation have advanced in the Senate, constituting an all-out war on Louisiana workers. Several unions and community organizations, including the Louisiana branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, quickly mobilized in response and took to the streets of New Orleans on April 6 to demand an end to the state’s attack on workers’ rights.
Taken together, the bills introduced amount to a virtual ban on public sector unions. House Bill 572 would prohibit collective bargaining with most public sector unions. Notably, this repressive measure would not impact law enforcement agencies. This is an indication of the power of police unions and their apparent untouchability within the political establishment. Police unions are notorious for protecting killer cops and granting special privileges not afforded to other labor unions. Another bill, House Bill 571, would prohibit government agencies from spending public funds on contract negotiations, and Senate Bill 331 would limit the ways that public sector unions can collect membership dues.
This latest attack on workers comes just weeks after the swift passage of several new racist “tough on crime” bills passed in the Legislature’s Special Session on Crime last month, bound to exacerbate the crisis of over-policing and mass incarceration of Black communities. Now, the legislature is cracking down on even broader swaths of the working class. Among those whose bargaining rights are at stake are the state’s 50,000 public school teachers, whose unions have already been severely undermined by the corporate charter school system built on the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans city workers, who won an ordinance in the City Council last year that codified their right to organize, fear that their hard-won efforts could soon be reversed. “The legislators are really throwing everything at us all at once to make it harder to fight back against,” said Maria Singer of the New Orleans City Workers Organizing Committee. “Years of work by my colleagues would be destroyed with the passage of many of these bills.”
Grace Reinke, a public sector worker and organizer with United Campus Workers, sees the curtailing of worker’s rights as a targeted measure aiming at repressing worker people, especially in New Orleans. “Conservative elites see growing power in cities like ours and consider it a threat to their interests,” Reinke said. “Anything they can do to make organizing workers harder fits squarely in line with the broader agenda of pushing free-market ideals and maximizing profits at the expense of workers.”
Workers in Louisiana — and all across the Deep South — are among the most exploited in the country. The state consistently ranks among the worst for wages, healthcare access, education, incarceration, and climate impacts. The corporate elite sees the South and its working class as a dumping ground for unwanted externalities. Poor people develop cancer and die when fossil fuel magnates flood their neighborhoods with toxic chemicals; Black working class communities are displaced by wealthy developers seeking new investment opportunities; tens of thousands of migrants are detained in privately-owned immigrant detention centers; the legacy of slavery continues through the violent and racist apparatus of mass incarceration. It would be foolish to divorce the issue of workplace benefits from the myriad of other issues that working class people face.
The ruling class establishment has proven that they will only side with labor when it is convenient for them and not overly detrimental to their primary interests– wealthy bankers, business executives and their shareholders. Despite his election promises to be a “pro-union” president, Biden quickly turned his back on labor in 2022 when he chose billionaire railroad executives over their workers. He signed a bill to block a strike and forced Congress to impose a contract that the union rejected, a clear violation of basic labor rights. A vast majority of Democrats voted in favor of the resolution to avert a walkout.
Former Louisiana governor Bel Edwards won in 2015 and 2019 with the help of a strong base of union support and labor endorsements, including the AFL-CIO. Throughout his tenure he signed some modest reforms into law including paid parental leave for Louisiana state employees and a bill codifying employees’ right to leave for health screening. Yet, after eight years of Democratic governorship, the state still ranks as one of the most abysmal for workers. Louisiana is one of over two dozen “right to work” states, a policy which allows workers to opt out of union membership — a victory for exploitative industries and bosses.
We cannot hang our hopes on either of the corporate, ruling class parties to deliver basic rights to the working class. In the capitalist system, both parties are ultimately accountable to the bosses, and hardly ever to workers. No matter what backwards legislation our politicians pass, our movement will not falter. Only an independent, multinational, working class party, which unites all working class people under a socialist program, is capable of building a mass movement to end the dictatorship of the rich and put working people in power.
The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 2 drawing
3-9-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 2 drawing
4-1-1-0
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 2 drawing
0-5-2-9-5
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Louisiana Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Louisiana Lottery offices. Prizes of over $5,000 must be claimed at Lottery office.
By mail, follow these instructions:
- Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
- Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
- Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
- Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.
Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:
Louisiana Lottery Headquarters
555 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:
555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.
When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
- Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana National Guard announced Monday that 120 troops will remain deployed in New Orleans through August.
The six-month extension comes after 350 Guard members deployed to New Orleans in late December, in the run-up to New Year’s and other high-profile events like the Sugar Bowl. The troops, which had mainly clustered in the city’s historic French Quarter, had been scheduled to depart in the aftermath of Mardi Gras.
New Orleans is one of several Democrat-run cities, such as Washington and Memphis, Tennessee, where the federal government deployed armed troops under the administration of President Donald Trump. Hundreds of federal agents also converged on Louisiana in December as part of a separate immigration crackdown in and around New Orleans.
During his State of the Union address last week, Trump touted the deployment in New Orleans as a “big success.” In January, Trump credited the troops with reducing the city’s violent crime within a week of their deployment. City police data shows violent crime rates have significantly declined over the past three years in parallel with national trends.
According to a press statement from the Louisiana National Guard, the remaining guard members will serve as a “visible presence to deter criminal activity in New Orleans.”
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a Democrat who initially opposed the deployment, said that the troops would benefit the city in the coming weeks. She pointed out that National Guard troops had assisted the city during last year’s Mardi Gras in the aftermath of a vehicle-ramming attack in the French Quarter that killed 14 people on New Year’s Day.
“I continue to support the partnership with the LA National Guard to assist in our major events and there are several coming up in the next few weeks,” Moreno said in a statement.
While Moreno did not address which events she referred to, visitors flock to New Orleans in the spring for events like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican and staunch Trump ally, requested the deployment of the National Guard last September, citing rising violent crime rates in New Orleans despite the data showing crime was down.
“This continued deployment will help us combat violence in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana,” Landry wrote on the social platform X on Monday, noting Louisiana had also sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., last year.
Kate Kelly, a spokesperson for Landry, said the federal government would cover the cost of the extended deployment. She did not respond to a question about whether Guard members would be deployed outside New Orleans.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Friloux, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in a statement the troops had already worked closely with other city, state and federal agencies to improve public safety during a stretch of high-profile events in the city, including the flood of visitors over Mardi Gras and the city’s carnival season.
“We remain committed to those partnerships as we continue supporting efforts to keep the City of New Orleans safe for residents and visitors,” Friloux said.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Jury selection begins Monday in what prosecutors describe as one of the largest auto insurance fraud cases in Louisiana history, with two local attorneys set to stand trial on charges that include fraud and obstruction of justice.
Attorneys Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles are accused in an alleged scheme in which drivers — referred to as “slammers” — were paid to intentionally crash into 18-wheelers, file injury lawsuits and allow attorneys to collect the settlements. Both have pleaded not guilty.
63 people have been charged in the case. Many have already pleaded guilty. Motta and Giles are being tried together.
Criminal defense attorney Craig Mordock, who is not directly involved in the case but has been following it closely, said the scope of the litigation is significant.
“You have 10 years of personal injury cases and almost… almost a billion dollars in recovery. That’s all at issue,” Mordock said. “So yeah, this could go two to three weeks.”
Motta’s defense team has advanced a narrative that she was manipulated by a co-defendant.
“There is a compelling narrative that’s been advanced by Vanessa Motta’s lawyer in terms of her being manipulated by one of the co-defendants… about being manipulated by him and him having a prior federal conviction for fraud,” Mordock said.
Motta’s team originally claimed she did not know the crashes were staged. In 2024, her team told FOX 8 she is the victim.
Mordock said Giles faces a more difficult defense.
“I don’t see a favorable juror for one of the other lawyer defendants, Jason Giles. There’s not a clear theory of innocence. This is basically a standard white-collar prosecution where knowledge and intent are going to be the issue,” Mordock said.
The case carries what Mordock described as a shadow. In September 2020, key witness Cornelious Garrison was killed in New Orleans four days after his name appeared in an indictment. Garrison’s admitted killer, Ryan Harris, is expected to testify.
The judge in the case is also allowing the slain witness’s recorded descriptions of the alleged scheme to be admitted at trial.
Mordock said Louisiana drivers have a direct stake in the outcome.
“As your average Louisianan, the idea would be you would save… because the people committing this fraud have been wrapped up. The insurance companies are going to know how to look for this,” Mordock said.
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