Above Photo: Hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians held a massive march in capital Quito to mark 15 days of the national strike On June 27. CONAIE / Twitter. Ecuadorian peasant, Indigenous and Afro-descendant organizations have vowed to continue fighting against poverty and deep inequalities in the country. Despite persecution, criminalization and repression by the state. Monday, June 27 marked 15 days since the beginning of the national strike in Ecuador against the right-wing government of President Guillermo Lasso and his neoliberal economic policies. Since June 13, hundreds of thousands of people have been organizing protests and roadblocks across the country with […]
strike
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Above Photo: A picket line at the Tramlink Depot in Croydon, June 28, 2022. WSWS. Trams drivers in Croydon took strike action Tuesday and will do so again on Wednesday. They run a network of 39 stops across 28 kilometres of track in south London. Members of the Aslef union, the 150 workers rejected a 3 percent pay offer from operator First Group and voted almost unanimously to strike, on a turnout of 86 percent. With inflation at 11.7 percent RPI, the company’s offer amounts to a deep pay cut. Services were severely disrupted, affecting the Wimbledon tennis tournament, with no […]
Above Photo: Korean truck workers stage a protest as part of their strike. Korean Federation of Public Services and Transportation Workers’ Unions. Government agrees to demands. The victory for the truck drivers came after eight days of continued strike brought exports to a standstill and disrupted major sectors including electronics and automobiles. The strike also threatened the global supply chains of semiconductor chips. The formidable truckers’ strike in South Korea came to an end after a tentative agreement was struck after late-night negotiations on Tuesday, June 14. Truck drivers returned to work on Wednesday after the deal approving the key demands […]
Above Photo: CONAIE President Leonidas Iza addresses indigenous movement bases after being released from police and military custody. June 15, 2022. Mobilizations will continue and key roads remain blocked as the indefinite Ecuador-wide protests against the neoliberal policies of Guillermo Lasso’s administration head into a fourth day. Security forces have been unsuccessful in trying to lift 24 hour roadblocks, which have now been reinforced by communities. . The government’s attempt to quell protests by sweeping up alleged leaders not only failed, it backfired. News of the arrest of Leonidas Iza, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), mobilized thousands of people to the Latacunga prison where […]
Above Photo: Rail workers at London King’s Cross station (WSWS) “We Need To Unite Across All The Rail Companies. The Union Is Not Fighting For Us.” Rail workers across London spoke to campaign teams from the World Socialist Web Site ahead of the largest national rail strike since 1989. 50,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will strike on June 21, 23 and 25, against wage, job and pension cuts. The government is planning an historic attack on the industry under its “Great British Railways” scheme. RMT and Unite members on the London Underground and train drivers represented […]
Above Photo: Blockade Of The Access Road To Puyo City In The Province Of Pastaza, Ecuador, June 13, 2022. @Confeniae1 / Twitter. The Current Protests Are Taking Place In A Political-Institutional Environment That Is Potentially Very Dangerous For The Respect Of Human And Civil Rights. From the early hours of Monday, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) began a national strike against the government of Guillermo Lasso by blocking highways in provinces such as Pastaza, Napo, and Guayas. CONAIE President Leonidas Iza said that the social mobilization, which will continue for an indefinite period of time, emerges as a […]
Above Photo: Trucks parked near a container terminal in Incheon on Sunday. Unionized truck drivers continued their strike on Sunday for a sixth day. (NEWS1). Striking truck drivers are disrupting the operations of a wide range of business, including ready-mix concrete producers, automakers and restaurants. Hyundai Motor is struggling to move finished cars so it can make more cars, while more than half of the country’s ready-mix concrete factories have suspended operations due to a halt in the shipment of cement. Unionized truck drivers have been on a strike since Tuesday demanding higher wages and an extension of support measures, which […]
Above Photo: An aerial view of large crowds are seen during the ‘March For Our Lives’ protest as they march on Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, United States on June 11, 2022. Tayfun Coskun via Getty Images. “Avoid attending school if your leaders fail to do the job.” Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in over 450 protests across the country Saturday demanding lawmakers take action on gun control laws in the wake of recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York. March for Our Lives, the youth-led organization created by students who survived the mass shooting at Parkland’s […]
Above Photo: Cal Winslow. Trench Warfare in California Hospitals. These Hospital Strikes Are The Workers’ Fightback; They Represent A Sort Of Trench Warfare, Front Lines In A War Of Attrition, With Californians’ Lives And Livelihoods At Stake. Two thousand northern California Kaiser Permanente mental health practitioners, members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) have voted to strike the giant California health maintenance organization (HMO). The result of the late May balloting was 91% in favor of walking out – the date yet to be determined. The vote follows a three-day strike in Hawaii. In May, Hawaiian psychologists, social workers, […]
Above Photo: Paul Morigi / Getty Images For We, The 45 Million. Every Debtor Deserves the Same. Former Students Corinthian Colleges Just Won The Largest Student Debt Cancelation In Education Department History. Now It’s Time For Biden To Cancel Debt For Everyone. This week, former students of Corinthian Colleges — a predatory for-profit school that once boasted more than 100 campuses across the country — received news that their student loans will be canceled. In an announcement, a Department of Education (DOE) press release called the move “the largest single loan discharge the Department has made in history.” As a former student of Everest College, which is a branch of Corinthian, I am […]
Above Photo: UAW members who manufacture Case and New Holland equipment say they were inspired by last year’s strike at John Deere. UAW Region 4. Eleven hundred workers who manufacture agricultural and construction equipment for CNH Industrial in Burlington, Iowa, and Racine, Wisconsin, have been on strike since May 2. At the core of the strike is the company’s three-tier pay system. Workers hired before 1996 make $6 to $8 more per hour than those hired after 2004; those hired between 1996 and 2004 earn somewhere in between. Workers want to see at least the bottom tier abolished. Workers are also […]
Above Photo: Ian McClure. At Great Lakes Coffee, Workers Are On The Picket Line Demanding Their Rights—Part Of A Growing National Movement To Organize The Cafe Industry. Detroit, Illinois – At Great Lakes Coffee Roasters, a cafe in Detroit’s Midtown neighborhood, 20 baristas have been on strike since February 16, demanding recognition of their union and a first contact. Calling themselves “Comrades in Coffee,” these workers have launched one of the first recognition strikes — a labor action forcing an employer to acknowledge a collective bargaining representative — that the city has seen in years. Their demands include higher wages and improved workplace safety and […]
Above Photo: In South Carolina, the state with the lowest rate of union membership, Starbucks workers are helping breathe life into the labor movement. Kerry Taylor. Columbia, South Carolina – Starbucks baristas in Columbia, South Carolina, returned to their jobs on Saturday, May 21, following a three-day walkout to protest anti-union retaliation. Managers began denying employees promotions and transfers several weeks ago after 22 of 28 “partners” at the Millwood Avenue store petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for union representation. The workers reached a breaking point on May 18 when a popular store manager was fired for refusing to engage […]
Above Photo: John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe / Getty Images. The Private Blue School In New York Teaches Labor History. Its Teachers Just Walked Off The Job. In its long-running off-Broadway show, the Blue Man Group is known for offering up innovative performance art through creative uses of paint, food and drums. But when it comes to dealing with its workers, the popular theater troupe sticks to the same-old union busting strategies routinely used by corporate employers like Amazon and Starbucks. In the face of these anti-labor tactics, teachers at the Blue School — an independent private school in Manhattan founded by the […]
Above Photo: Workers in Twin Cities hospitals are preparing to strike. Fight Back! News / staff. Minneapolis, Minnesota – On Tuesday May 24, over 500 mental health workers will walk off the jobs at three hospitals in the Minneapolis metro area. The striking groups include mental health coordinators and psych techs, along with other job classes that perform mental health work. All three of the groups have organized and joined SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa (SEIU HCMNIA) in the last eight months and are fighting for their first contract. They work at Allina Health’s Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Allina Health’s […]
Above Photo: “Public support was profound and amazing,” said Vanessa Krinker, looking back on the 1997 UPS strike. Cheryl Juetten. Strikes, Once Common, Are Rare Today. We Asked Readers To Share Their Strike Stories. Today Vanessa Krinker, 49, drives the number 45 bus to and from Garden Home in Southwest Portland. She wears a TriMet uniform and is a proud member of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757. But in 1997 she was active with Teamsters Local 63 in Southern California, and took part in one of the greatest strikes of the modern era. Krinker was a part-timer at a small UPS […]
Starbucks workers in Eugene, Oregon have gone on strike against union busting and the unlawful firing of three union organizers. Starbucks workers at a location in Eugene, Oregon went on strike on Tuesday to protest the union busting at their location and the unlawful firing of three organizers. The workers at this Starbucks store voted 17-0 in favor of unionizing. They are part of the massive Starbucks unionization wave, with 70 other stores nationwide winning union elections and over 250 stores filing to unionize. . Starbucks, however, is doing everything it can to stop this wave. As Starbucks Workers United described in a […]
Here’s Why. Hundreds Of Child Care Providers In 27 States And Washington, D.C., Went On Strike Monday To Remind Policymakers How Essential They Are, Not Only To Families But To The Nation’s Economy. Hundreds of child care providers in 27 states and Washington, D.C., went on strike Monday to remind policymakers how essential they are, not only to families but to the nation’s economy. Early childhood professionals – and the parents they serve – said they’re fed up with the lack of progress on policy promises such as better wages and expanded subsidies. “I’ve never met a family who has said child care is affordable,” […]
Above Photo: Derek Gee / Buffalo News. Starbucks workers in Buffalo, New York went on strike to call out the company’s union busting tactics. Let’s make this happen at every Starbucks in the country. Buffalo, New York – On Thursday, workers at a downtown Starbucks in Buffalo, New York went on strike after the company announced it was planning to withhold proposed wage increases and benefits from employees at newly unionized stores. The one-day strike, which shut down the entire store, was a direct response to the announcement by CEO Howard Schultz that proposed raises and benefit increases at corporate-owned Starbucks […]
Above photo: Digital Trends. One of Germany’s biggest trade unions has called strikes at seven branches of online retailer Amazon. Germany is Amazon’s second-biggest market behind the United States, where the company is headquartered. The German trade union Verdi on Monday launched strikes at seven Amazon locations across the country, with up to 2,500 workers demanding higher wages and better protection of their personal data. A Verdi spokesman said strikes were underway at the two distribution centers in Bad Hersfeld as well as in Koblenz, Leipzig, Rheinberg, Graben and Werne. Some strikes would last several days, he said. Amazon has 17 distribution sites […]
SEIU Local 721 represents 95,000 members, roughly 55,000 of which — including social service workers, nurses, mental health care workers, clerks, librarians, custodians and more — work for the LA County. After a protest of thousands — the largest in the local’s history — the members are voting through May 5. Left Voice reporter Julia Wallace shares why it is so important for her SEIU union siblings to vote yes on this strike. I am a worker at the Department of Mental Health in Los Angeles County, and I’m a member of SEIU Local 721. The Los Angeles Department of Mental […]
Above Photo: Indiana University graduate student Pat Wall leads chants Thursday, April 14, 2021, with the crowd gathered at the Sample Gates during a demonstration in support of the graduate student workers’ strike. Bloomington, Indiana – As the graduate worker strike at Indiana University extends into finals week, some faculty members and students plan to take bold measures against the administration to show their solidarity. On Tuesday, graduate students who are part of the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition voted to extend the graduate student workers’ strike through May 3. The extension was supported by 867 votes, a 95.7% majority. Since the strike’s beginning on April 13, graduate […]
Thousands of nurses across Stanford health care in Palo Alto are on strike, seeking pay raises, along with bonuses and mental support. Stanford, California – More than 4,000 nurses from Stanford health care are on strike in Palo Alto on Monday. Nurses from Stanford Hospital went on strike at 6:45 a.m. and nurses from Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto went to the picket line at 7 a.m. The nurses say they are serious and united as they negotiate with Stanford Hospital and Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital for better pay, better staffing and more mental health support. “We are out […]
Above Photo: The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition said they’ll strike for at least a week, but could extend it if a majority of the union vote in favor. Justin Hicks / IPB News. Bloomington, Indiana – Around 1,000 graduate student workers at Indiana University’s Bloomington campus are on strike to demand the school recognize them as a union. But the school said it has no intention of bargaining with the group – and no legal obligation to do so. The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition-United Electrical Workers began the week-long strike on Wednesday. The strike includes in-person picket lines and labor education events […]
Above Photo: Luigi Morris Luxury building workers and doormen from at least 3,000 buildings in New York City rallied on Wednesday and authorized a strike if they do not reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement. Thousands of porters, doorpersons, superintendents, concierges, and handypersons with SEIU Local 32BJ gathered on Park Avenue in Manhattan on Wednesday for a rally to demand a fair contract. These essential residential workers are currently in contract negotiations with the Real Estate Advisory Board and are demanding wage increases and fully employer-paid health insurance for their families. The workers also raised the slogan of […]
Above Photo: Amazon employees on strike outside a warehouse in Saran, France, last month. Mourad Guichard / Reuters Fighting for wage increases that at least keep pace with inflation, workers at Amazon in France are expanding their strike across the country. A strike by Amazon workers in France resumed in earnest on Tuesday, April 5, and extended to all Amazon sites across the country. “Management offered us a 3 percent increase, but we want at least 5 percent,” Antoine Delorme of the CGT Amazon trade union at Châlons-sur-Saône told Révolution Permanente. This is happening in the context of compulsory annual negotiations (NAO) […]
Above Photo: Most of the tulip pickers also work seasonally at the state’s largest berry grower, where they won a union contract in a four-year fight through repeated strikes. So they’re experienced at direct action, and organized themselves quickly. Edgar Franks Trouble In The Tulips. MT. Vernon, Washington – Tulips and daffodils symbolize the arrival of spring, but the fields are bitterly cold when workers’ labors begin. Snow still covers the ground when workers go into the tulip rows to plant bulbs in northwest Washington state, near the Canadian border. Once harvesting starts, so do other problems. When a worker cuts […]
The last two years have seen a further deterioration of the living standards of working people in India due to the pandemic and the lack of enough policy interventions by the Modi government. Around 200 million industrial workers, employees, farmers and agricultural laborers observed a two-day general strike in India on March 28 and 29. The strike is a challenge by working people to the far-right Narendra Modi government as well as a fight to save the people’s future and save the country. Source link
Above Photo: Nurse Tiia Virta works in the intensive care unit of Oulu University Hospital, one of the hospitals that will go on strike as of April 1. Paulus Markkula / Yle. Worker’s unions in Finland’s social and health care services demand immediate staff recruitments and pay increase. Finland – 25,000 health care workers from six hospital districts represented by the Finnish Union of Practical Nurses (SuPer) and the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (TEHY) are all set to go on strike starting on April 1. Unions are demanding immediate staff recruitments to solve an acute staff shortage in […]
At Chicago’s Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) affiliate, WTTW (Window to the World), two dozen broadcast technicians have been on strike since March 16 in a battle to preserve their jobs and safeguard quality media production. The walkout marks the first work stoppage in the station’s 67-year history. The strikers — members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1220 — include camera operators, editors, graphic artists, lighting technicians and audio professionals who do the behind-the-scenes work producing local news and documentary programs for WTTW, including the nightly news broadcast Chicago Tonight. The union and management have been in contract negotiations since May of last year. “While the world got to work […]
Above Photo: Members of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) protest in front of the state television channel headquarters on March 11, 2022. (SNJT / Human Rights Watch) The announcement of the journalists’ general strike came a day before government authorities detained a local news reporter at Mosaique FM under anti-terrorism laws. Journalists in Tunisia will go on a nationwide general strike on April 2 to protest governmental interference in public media and to defend the freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the country. The National Syndicate for Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), Tunisia’s main journalists’ union, announced on […]
Above Photo: Demonstrators support the nationwide two-day strike in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (AP Photo / Altaf Qadri). Tens of millions of workers across India participated in a two-day general strike Monday and Tuesday against the class-war, “pro-investor” policies of the far-right, Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Many workers did so in the face of government and management threats of disciplinary action, even firing. The strike impacted all parts of India, from Assam in the northeast and Punjab in the northwest, to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in the south, as millions of workers in road transport, […]
Above Photo: On November 26, 2020, India witnessed the biggest organized strike in human history. Over 250 million workers and farmers, along with their allies among students, feminists and civil society groups participated in the nationwide strike. (Archive). Workers and farmers are demanding relief from economic distress – and also a complete change in the economic policy of the Modi government. India’s industrial workers, employees, farmers and agricultural laborers will observe a two-day general strike on March 28-29, 2022 under the slogan ‘Save People, Nation’. This means that not only will the country’s vast manufacturing sector workforce stop work, but all […]
The Minneapolis Teachers’ Strike Isn’t Over Until The Workers Decide It’s Over By Tatiana Cozzarelli, Left Voice. March 26, 2022 The Minneapolis Teachers’ Strike Isn’t Over Until The Workers Decide It’s Over2022-03-262022-03-26https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/20220326-4.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Luigi Morris, 2022. The Minneapolis Public School District reached a tentative agreement with the teachers’ union and only a few hours later, called families and teachers to say the strike is over. But teachers have the right to read the proposed agreement, discuss and decide. The strike isn’t over until rank and file teachers say it is. As Minneapolis teachers are nearing the end of the third […]
Howard University Faculty Are Ready To Strike March 23, 2022 Howard University Faculty Are Ready To Strike2022-03-232022-03-23https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/20220323-3.jpg200px200px Above Photo: The Howard University campus, Washington, DC. Drew Angerer / Getty Images. Roughly 350 non-tenure-track and adjunct professors at Howard University, one of the nation’s most important historically black universities, are demanding fairer compensation and better job security. If no agreement is reached by Wednesday, they’ll strike. After more than three years of negotiating their first contract since they unionized, 150 full-time lecturers are expected to strike at Howard University beginning this Wednesday. Unless an agreement is reached in the coming days, they […]
This New Teamsters Union Boss Could Start The Biggest Strike In Decades March 23, 2022 This New Teamsters Union Boss Could Start The Biggest Strike In Decades2022-03-232022-03-23https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net-aavndmr.img-1100619-_-2022-03-23-15.40.49.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Sean O’Brien, the new general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, speaks during a union meeting in this November 2021 file photo. MediaNews Group/Boston Herald/Getty Images. You might not know Sean O’Brien. But he is poised to shake up the US economy in a way no one else has in recent memory. O’Brien was sworn in Tuesday as the new general president of the 1.3-million member International Brotherhood of Teamsters, succeeding James […]
Chevron Workers Strike To Demand Higher Wages, Shorter Work Hours March 22, 2022 Chevron Workers Strike To Demand Higher Wages, Shorter Work Hours2022-03-222022-03-22https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/20220322.png200px200px Above Photo: Richmond Chevron workers. USW Local 5 Facebook page. Nearly 600 oil workers at Chevron’s Richmond, California refinery walked out on strike early Monday morning after rejecting two local contract proposals pushed by the United Steelworkers (USW) union. The refinery workers are demanding higher wages, shorter work hours and better health and safety protections after laboring up to 70 hours a week and risking their lives as “essential workers” throughout the pandemic. The strike by the Chevron […]
Overland Park Starbucks Workers Walk Out On Strike Saturday March 20, 2022 Overland Park Starbucks Workers Walk Out On Strike Saturday2022-03-202022-03-20https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/20220320.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Pro-union pins sit on a table during a watch party for Starbucks’ employees union election, Dec. 9, 2021, in Buffalo, N.Y. Starbucks has fired seven employees who were leading an effort to unionize a Memphis, Tennessee, store. The Seattle coffee giant said Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 that the employees violated company policy by reopening a store after closing time and inviting non-employees to come inside and move throughout the store, including behind the counter and in back rooms. […]
Three Years After The First Global School Strike, Signs Of Success By Nick Engelfried, Waging Nonviolence. March 19, 2022 Three Years After The First Global School Strike, Signs Of Success2022-03-192022-03-19https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/20220319.png200px200px Above Photo: Irish schools students during the Global School Strike for Climate Action march from St Stephen’s Green to Leinster House, demanding an immediate action on climate change. On Friday, March 15, 2019, in Dublin, Ireland. Artur Widak / NurPhoto via Getty Images. Instead of succumbing to the challenges of the past few years, young climate activists are learning to adapt and build on their past actions. Three years ago this […]
‘We Got Your Back’: Student Protest In Solidarity With Teachers’ Strike By Tatiana Cozzarelli, Left Voice. March 17, 2022 ‘We Got Your Back’: Student Protest In Solidarity With Teachers’ Strike2022-03-172022-03-17https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/220317-4.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Luigi Morris. Students organized a march and sit in in solidarity with Minneapolis educators. We ain’t shy.We ain’t timid.We are angry.We are livid.— Student chant Dozens of Minneapolis public school students organized a march and a sit-in to stand in solidarity with public school educators who entered their second week on strike. The students gathered at North High School and many held homemade signs, as well as some of […]
For The First Time In 50 Years, Minneapolis Teachers Are Out On Strike By Kip Hedges , In These Times. March 16, 2022 For The First Time In 50 Years, Minneapolis Teachers Are Out On Strike2022-03-162022-03-16https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/220316-3.jpg200px200px Above Photo: (Kerem Yucel / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images). In An Interview, One Striking Teacher Explains How Community Support Is Providing Energy And Optimism On The Picket Line. On March 8, around 3,500 Minneapolis teachers and educational support professionals went out on strike, effectively shutting down a system of 35,000 students. The action, led by Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) Local 59, is the first walkout the city has seen in […]
Above photo: Screenshot from ABC News. Minneapolis MN – Teachers and education support professionals at Minneapolis Public Schools began a strike on March 8, shutting down the Minneapolis school system. Today, March 14, the strike continues as the schools remain closed for a second week. Over the weekend a series of events were held by the striking educators; there we also several actions called by community and labor supporters in the area. On Saturday, March 12, a car caravan called by the Minnesota Immigrants’ Rights Committee (MIRAC) wound its way through Minneapolis streets to end at the Davis Center where the […]
Minneapolis Teachers’ Strike Is A Struggle For Black Lives By Adnan Ahmed, Left Voice. March 12, 2022 Minneapolis Teachers’ Strike Is A Struggle For Black Lives2022-03-122022-03-12https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/220312-5.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Luigi Morris. The Minneapolis teachers’ strike is the largest strike in the U.S. right now — and it’s an anti-racist class struggle. The Minneapolis teachers’ strike kicked off this week with a huge turnout. Over 4,000 teachers and Educational Support Professionals (ESPs) are on strike for the first time in 50 years. The teachers are demanding smaller class sizes, increased wages (especially for ESPs who are mostly people of color), increased mental health […]
Strike Day Four: Teachers And Education Assistants Holding Strong March 12, 2022 Strike Day Four: Teachers And Education Assistants Holding Strong2022-03-122022-03-12https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/220312-6.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Striking educators march in downtown Minneapolis. Minneapolis, MN – The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) strike entered its fourth day on Thursday March 11 as Minneapolis Public Schools remained closed. Picket lines continued to have large crowds with many schools reporting 100% turnout to their picket lines every day of the strike, and the others reporting nearly all educators on their lines. Each day of the strike so far has featured morning pickets at schools starting at 7:30 […]
Palestinians Observe General Strike Denouncing Illegal Home Demolitions In Occupied East Jerusalem March 11, 2022 Palestinians Observe General Strike Denouncing Illegal Home Demolitions In Occupied East Jerusalem2022-03-112022-03-11https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/220311-4.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Palestinians protest against planned demolitions in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabir. (Activestills). Around 800 Palestinian homes are facing the threat of demolition by the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem which plans to replace them with 500 new illegal settlement units and a shopping mall. Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabir organized protests and observed a general strike on Thursday, March 10, against home demolitions planned by the […]
Massive Turnout On Day One Of Minneapolis Teachers’ Strike By Adnan Ahmed, Left Voice. March 9, 2022 Massive Turnout On Day One Of Minneapolis Teachers’ Strike2022-03-092022-03-09https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/220309-5.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Luigi Morris. Over a thousand people including teachers, students and community members showed up to show solidarity on the first day of Minneapolis teachers’ strike. All workers must join them in this fight for racial justice, women’s rights and against defunding public education. For the first time in 50 years, Minneapolis public school teachers and educational support professionals (ESPs) went on strike yesterday to demand better wages, smaller class sizes, mental health support […]
Minnesota Workers United Organizes Support For Upcoming Teachers’ Strike March 7, 2022 Minnesota Workers United Organizes Support For Upcoming Teachers’ Strike2022-03-072022-03-07https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/220307-4.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Minnesota Workers United holds a press conference in support of the upcoming teachers’ strike. Fight Back! News / staff. Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday March 5 rank-and-file union members along with parents, teachers and students held a press conference in support of the teachers, education support professionals (ESPs) and education assistants who will begin a strike Tuesday in Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schools. More than 93% of the Minneapolis educators voted to authorize the upcoming open-ended strike, […]
Educators In St. Paul And Minneapolis May Go On Strike Soon – Here’s Why By Cirien Saadeh, Prism Reports. March 6, 2022 Educators In St. Paul And Minneapolis May Go On Strike Soon – Here’s Why2022-03-062022-03-06https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/03/220306.png200px200px Above Photo: St. Paul, Minnesota, February 12, 2022: Teachers rally and march for better contracts. Twin Cities teachers rally before a coming vote on a strike. The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers says safety in school is a priority and they want to see smaller class sizes. Michael Siluk / Universal Images Group/Getty Images. Citing both a critical lack of support and funding, the unions announced […]
A government truly committed to a “feminist foreign policy” would support Haitians striking to boost their 70-cents-per-hour wage. But thus far Canadian officials have responded to the workers’ action by paying a celebratory visit to a sweatshop and ignoring protests repressed by Canadian-funded police. At the start of last week thousands of Haitian apparel workers launched a strike for a higher minimum wage. Thousand have taken to the streets in Port-au-Prince calling for a tripling of their 500 gourdes daily salary (CDN $6.20). The largely female workforce stitches shirts and other apparel for brands like Gap, Walmart, Target, JCPenney as well […]
Above Photo: Striking Teamsters temporarily block the “Blew Crew”— out-of-staters brought to replace them—outside a Republic Services sanitation facility in Chula Vista, Calif., on Jan. 7. With Community Support. “This Contract Isn’t Everything We Believe We Deserve, But It’s Enough To Go Back To Work And Go Back To Taking Care Of Our Communities.” Chula Vista, Calif. – “Who are we?” Teamsters! “What do we want?” Contract! “When do we want it?” Now! The sanitation workers of Teamsters Local 542 were still in good voice three weeks into their strike, which began Dec. 17, 2021, even as Republic Services started bringing in nonunion out-of-staters as garbage piled up. Republic had […]
Above Photo: Puerto Rico’s teachers have risen up against austerity policies. (Twitter – Luis de Jesús). After the government failed to deliver on salary increases and cut pensions, teachers have called a national strike. On Wednesday, February 9, teachers across Puerto Rico called for a national strike to protest the government and the Fiscal Control Board’s (FCB) cutting of wages and pensions. Other public sector workers, namely firefighters and police, have also joined them. Teachers are demanding a decent salary, an end to pension cuts, and the resignation of Puerto Rican governor Pedro Pierluisi. Maestros en #PuertoRico🇵🇷 exigen al gobierno un […]
Above Photo: Magnolia State Live. School Bus Drivers In The Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi Went On Strike Friday Morning And Won. Bus drivers in the Jefferson Davis County went on strike Friday morning after the school board approved paying $25 an hour to emergency drivers as an incentive to help with driver shortage. The item was approved 4-1 at a recent board meeting. “I have zero problem with having anyone that is willing to drive our busses,” said District 2 School Board Member Bobby Wilson. “I do have a problem with $25 an hour. I would like to know why we […]
Above Photo: Miners have been on strike against Warrior Met Coal since April 2021. Dustin Chambers / Reuters. State troopers escort strikebreakers to the mines and local courts grant injunctions to limit pickets. About 1,100 coalminers in Alabama have entered 2022 still on strike, more than 10 months since they walked out back in April last year, making it the longest strike in the US since the Covid-19 pandemic began and the longest in Alabama’s history. Workers started the unfair labor practice strike over claims of bad faith bargaining by Warrior Met Coal over a new union contract. In the previous contract settled in 2016, […]
Above Photo: People set up a barricades and burn tires as part of a civil disobedience campaign in Khartoum, Sudan (AP Photo). Anti-coup resistance committees and political parties call for two days of civil disobedience in Sudan over killings by the security forces. Protesters have erected barricades across roads in Sudan’s capital Khartoum and some shops and offices were shut as a two-day general strike and civil disobedience campaign began in response to demonstrators’ deaths. Neighborhood resistance committees and political parties called the strike starting on Tuesday after seven people were killed in Khartoum on Monday in one of the deadliest days […]
Above Photo: King Soopers employee walks the picket line during a strike at more than 70 stores across the Denver metro area on January 12, 2022 in Glendale, Colorado. (Michael Ciaglo / Getty Images) More than 8,000 workers at Kroger-owned King Soopers and City Market stores are on strike in Colorado. Their fight highlights the company’s long history of atrocious treatment of its workforce. On Wednesday, January 12, more than eight thousand workers at around eighty King Soopers and City Market grocery stores in Colorado went on strike after declining what the stores’ parent company, Kroger, called its “last, best, and […]
Above photo: King Soopers employee Susan Hester, who has worked for the grocery chain for 18 years, walks the picket line during a strike on January 12, 2022 in Glendale, Colorado. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images. The strike began a day after a report showed 14% of Kroger workers have experienced homelessness in the past year. On the heels of a new report showing significant financial insecurity, including homelessness, among workers at Kroger grocery stores, more than 8,000 of the chain’s employees in Colorado went on strike Wednesday to demand fair wages and better healthcare benefits. Amid a recent wave of successful strikes at […]
Above Photo: An open market on New York City’s Lower East Side, photographed in 1905. Hulton Archive / Getty Images. On 26 December 1907, 10,000 New York families led by teenager Pauline Newman began a historic rent strike. More than a century later, their struggle remains as relevant as ever. From 26 December 1907 to 9 January 1908, 10,000 tenants, predominantly Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe living in New York City’s Lower East Side, took part in a historic rent strike. During an economic depression causing mass unemployment and grinding poverty, landlords tried to hike rents by thirty-three percent. With their […]
BCTGM Members Ratify New Contract Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) who work at Kellogg’s ready to eat cereal plants in Battle Creek, Mich., Lancaster, Pa., Omaha, Neb. and Memphis, Tenn. have voted to accept the recommended collective bargaining agreement. Approval of the contract ends the BCTGM’s strike against Kellogg’s, which began on October 5, 2021. In commenting on the ratification, BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton stated, “Our striking members at Kellogg’s ready-to-eat cereal production facilities courageously stood their ground and sacrificed so much in order to achieve a fair contract. This agreement makes […]
Above Photo: Big contracts covering 118,000 hospital workers are up in 2022, including 5,000 nurses at the University of Michigan Medical Center. (Jim West / jimwestphoto.com). 2021 saw high-profile strikes and contract battles that put unions in the public spotlight. And 2022 could potentially be more explosive. Workers are already sensing their increased leverage in a tight labor market. They’ll be feeling the squeeze of record inflation while their employers rake in profits. There’s every reason to hold the line against concessions, or to win back what they gave away before. A Bloomberg analysis in November found that nearly 200 large union contracts (covering at […]
Above Photo: (Orange County Employees Association, Facebook). In coastal Orange County, south of Los Angeles, 400 sanitation workers went on strike on December 9 against Republic Services, the second-largest waste management firm in the US. The workers, members of International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 396, had voted by a large majority in favor of a strike on November 23. Following a declaration of a trash emergency by the city of Huntington Beach, one of the two hubs of the strike (along with the city of Anaheim), Teamsters Local 396 and Republic Services announced a tentative agreement on December 16, for […]
Above photo: Nicole Rushing, center, gives a thumbs up as cars honk in support of protesters outside the Hawthorne Fred Meyer in Southeast Portland. Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB. A weeklong strike is underway affecting a number of Oregon grocery stores, barely a week before Christmas Day. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, representing many employees at Fred Meyer and QFC stores, confirmed early Friday morning that it is moving ahead with a walkout at stores in Portland, Bend, Newberg and Klamath Falls. The details and specifics of a walkout are complicated. While the UFCW represents roughly 10,000 Fred Meyer […]
Above Photo: Warren General Hospital. Workers at Allegheny Health Network affiliate Warren General Hospital voted Saturday to strike, straining already fragile medical resources in rural northwest Pennsylvania. The 114 nurses and health care workers, who are members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, issued a 10-day strike notice at the 87-bed hospital — the only acute care facility in the county. The labor agreement with workers expired in September, and negotiations were scheduled to continue Monday, hospital CEO Rick Allen said. The hospital has offered pay increases of 4.2% to over 16%, plus enhanced contributions to employees’ […]
Above photo: Erie Strayer strikers. Ironworkers Local 851. Overshadowed by larger strikes, the Ironworkers picket line stretches into its third month. Many people who work hard in full time jobs take a dental plan for granted. Many people who work hard in full-time jobs assume they will get more than a 25-cent-per-hour raise each year. But a group of workers at a cement plant in Erie, Pennsylvania have spent two months on strike trying to win those basic things — and their fight is far from over. About 40 workers at the Erie Strayer cement factory are members of Ironworkers Local 851. The company is family-owned, and has been unionized […]
After nine weeks on strike, workers at four Kellogg plants have rejected a temporary agreement that doesn’t meet their demands. They’ll continue to fight the bosses — and need the entire U.S. labor movement to join their struggle. The strike that began at four Kellogg Company plants on October 5 will continue. This morning, the 1,400 striking workers rejected a temporary agreement (TA) that had been negotiated by their union, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco, and Grain Milling Workers International Union. The strike had encompassed workers at plants in Omaha, Nebraska, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Memphis, Tennessee, and the company’s flagship facility in Battle Creek, Michigan. […]
Today we look at the UCU strike across 58 UK universities over pay and conditions, the re-imposition of the Remain in Mexico migrant policy by the US, and more In today’s episode of the Daily Round-up we look at the 3-day UCU strike by Higher Education workers across 58 universities in the UK to demand fair wages and job security; the re-imposition of the Migrant Protection Protocols by the U.S. and its implications for asylum seekers currently in Mexico and at the border; a report on rising hunger in the Latin America and the Caribbean region during the pandemic; and a […]
What Workers Could Get Battle Creek, Mich. (WOOD) — Kellogg workers’ nearly two-month strike in Cereal City may be over soon. In a Wednesday update to members, the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union said it had reached a tentative agreement with The Kellogg Company after additional negotiations in Chicago. The five-year deal would deliver 3% raises while maintaining current worker health benefits. Cost of living adjustments would be tacked on starting in the second year of the contract, according to an overview provided by The Kellogg Company. The tentative agreement also addresses another sticking point during negotiations: Kellogg’s two-tiered system […]
Above Photo: Workers at Cascade Behavioral Health walked out in August following an attack by a patient that injured 11 staff. The National Labor Relations Board concluded this was legal—possibly the first time it has condoned a safety strike in the health care industry. SEIU 1199NW. Nurses and mental health techs at a Tukwila, Washington, facility have won their safety strike after three and a half months on the picket line. Under the settlement, management agreed to staff three security guards for the day shift and two for nights, as well as to restore fired workers to their positions. The contract, which covers […]
At Rich Products Plant In L.A. Area. Since November 3, the group of well over 100 strikers has been on the picket line at the Rich Products-owned Jon Donaire Desserts plant, demanding better wages, improved retirement benefits, and changes to the company’s abusive, punitive point system, which provides workers with only three days of sick leave per year. Santa Fe Springs, California – In Santa Fe Springs, California, located in the Los Angeles area, a group of largely immigrant Latina factory workers is waging a high-stakes strike against the multibillion-dollar food manufacturing company Rich Products. Since November 3, the group of […]
Above Photo: The congressional letter comes amid a growing movement in Congress aimed at curbing the president’s war-waging powers (AFP/File photo) A bipartisan group of more than 30 members of Congress say US president appears to be ‘acting in contravention of the Constitution’. More than 30 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden questioning the administration’s reasoning for bypassing Congress and launching a military strike in Syria earlier this year. Led by Democrats Jamaal Bowman, Peter DeFazio and Republican Nancy Mace, the lawmakers said that Biden appeared to be “acting in contravention of the Constitution”. They also said that the administration has offered less […]
Above Photo: Kaiser workers in Moanalua, Hawaii. (Twitter) Workers won their demands just 48 hours before what would have been the largest healthcare strike in decades Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest healthcare providers and hospital networks in the US, reached a tentative agreement with an alliance of unions just two days before a historic strike. The four-year agreement includes pay raises and measures to address understaffing, while withdrawing a two-tier pay system that would pay new hires up to a third less than current workers. In the next few weeks, workers will vote to ratify it and continue to work as scheduled. […]
Above Photo: Nurses are applauded by police and firefighters as they leave Kaiser hospital at the end of their shift on May 14, 2020 in South San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. ‘A Slap In The Face.’ The management’s initial offer of 1%-a-year raise and 26% cut in salary for new hires seen as a wage squeeze during pandemic. Across corporate America, relations between companies and their labor unions range from chilly to ice-cold. Not at Kaiser Permanente – the California-based healthcare giant. Kaiser has long been seen as having the nation’s best labor-management partnership. Now the partnership finds itself in […]
Over 3,000 Columbia graduate student workers have been on strike since November 3. This is the latest in a series of actions by graduate students workers in universities across the US, many of which are extremely wealthy Thousands of Columbia graduate student workers are into their second week on strike demanding fair pay and healthcare benefits. The Student Workers of Columbia has been negotiating a contract with the university for more than four years now. Source link
Above Photo: Top row (from left): Augustine Tang, Basia Osowki, and Wain Chin. Bottom row: Balkar Singh and Richard Chow. Alexei Hay. In early November, after 46 days of picketing and 15 days of hunger strike, members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance won what they deserved all along: a measure of relief from the vast debts incurred when the inflated value of their city-issued medallions crashed in recent years. Under a three-way agreement among the NYTWA, the de Blasio administration, and the city’s largest medallion lender, drivers — who owe, on average, $550,000 each — will see their debt written down […]
Above Photo: Fired-up Scranton educators sang “Solidarity Forever” as they marched out of the school board meeting Tuesday night, ready to strike the next morning. Scranton Federation of Teachers. It was a long time coming, but when 400 members of the Scranton Federation of Teachers marched out of the school board meeting Tuesday night singing “Solidarity Forever,” they were strike-ready. The school board had just given the go-ahead to cut off educators’ health insurance if they went on strike. This after dozens of teachers and para-educators had spoken about the devastating cuts that students and teachers have endured over the last […]
Above Photo: Nurse Brianna Young walks past sidewalk chalk that reads ‘MNA Strong’ on the six-month anniversary of the start of the St. Vincent nurses strike on Wednesday. Tenet Healthcare Continues To Retaliate Against Nurses For Exercising Their Right To Advocate For Better Care. On Monday, Nov. 8, the historic St. Vincent Hospital nurses strike will reach the eight-month mark, another sad milestone in their struggle against Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, a for-profit corporation that has spent more than $100 million and engaged in a number of unfair labor practices to retaliate against the nurses for exercising their right to advocate for […]
San Juan. – The first student general assembly 2021-2022 at the Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) has announced an indefinite strike starting today, while other universities are on strike. The university students, who arrived on stage at the main campus for the UPR, made the decision in light of the academic, administrative, social and economic problems that the campus suffers from. The President of the Student General Council, Fabiana Marini Martinez, indicated that the debt settlement plan, which was promoted by the Financial Supervisory Board (JSF), was also rejected due to the implications for the academic […]
Above Photo: Workers like Patrece Edwards Bradford, a carton and glue operator, who participated in the 275-day strike back in 2013 and 2014, have taken it upon themselves to teach transitional workers about those that came before them, those who fought for their rights as workers. (Jason Kerzinski) Scenes From The Picket Line As the sun rose in Memphis on October 18, Rodigah Blaylock stood in the brisk air outside the Kellogg plant with her fellow union members, waving signs that read “We Stand Strong” and “Equality For All.” Some drivers passing by blew their horns in support. Blaylock and other […]
Above Photo: Bolivian Vice-President David Choquehuanca Said, “We Have An Awakened Bolivian People, Capable Of Organizing Themselves, Of Defending This Democracy That Has Cost Us Blood And Lives, We Bolivians Must Not Allow This History To Repeat Itself.” | (Twitter/@LaramaDavid) Several Bolivian Unions Have Described The Call For An Indefinite National Strike As An Illegitimate Action. Social organizations and various Bolivian unions rejected this Friday the call for a national strike for next November 8, made by sectors of the opposition that participated in the 2019 coup d’état, as well as any attempt that seeks to destabilize the country. Union leaders […]
Above Photo: “We were sick and tired of this because every contract we got, the company was trying to take a little piece of what we had,” said Shri Mudaliar, a member of BCTGM Local 364 at Nabisco’s bakery in Portland, Oregon. (Jamie Partridge) ‘There’s More Of Us Than There Are Of Them’ A month-long strike by Nabisco workers beat back the snackmaker’s bid to introduce a two-tier health care plan and switch them onto 12-hour shifts. Employer contributions to workers’ 401(k) plans will be doubled. One of the biggest issues in the strike was the company’s effort to do away […]
Above Photo: WNEP. Scranton teachers announced their decision to strike on November 3. Scranton, Pa.—The Scranton Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 800 teachers and paraprofessionals, announced today that it will set up picket lines and go on strike at 12:01 a.m., Nov. 3. The union has been working under a contract that expired in 2017. “We’ve reached the end of the line and our patience with the Scranton School District. The district has refused to address our concerns about the slash-and-burn budget cuts that are significantly affecting the quality of education,” said Scranton Federation of Teachers President Rosemary Boland. […]
Above Photo: Kellogg’s Cereal plant workers demonstrate in front of the plant on October 7, 2021 in Battle Creek, Michigan. (Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) We sorely need one, but that first requires the unionization of millions of new workers. Last week, in the space usually reserved for sage editorials, the New York Times published Tom Morello’s ode to the radical Industrial Workers of the World and to Joe Hill, that union’s martyred troubadour. The Wobblies, as they were called, were the advocates of a militant, all-inclusive unionism and their songs—like “Solidarity Forever” and “Bread and Roses”—inspired tens of thousands in the industrial war they waged […]
Above Photo: This Is How The Streets Of The Historic Center Of Quito Are On The Eve Of The Beginning Of The National Strike In Protest To The Economic Policies Of President Guillermo Lasso. @ReporteYa / Twitter. The Protests Today, Tuesday October 26, Are The Largest Since Guillermo Lasso Took Office In May. The first clashes between police officers and citizens who came out to demonstrate on Tuesday were recorded in at least three country points, as part of the National Strike called to protest against the Government of Guillermo Lasso. In Imbabura, in the canton of Peguche, repression was reported […]
Above Photo: SEPTA’s contract with Transport Workers Union Local 234 expires Oct. 31. If a new contract cannot be reached, a strike could begin Monday, Nov. 1 — stopping bus, trolley, subway and elevated train service in Philadelphia. (Thom Carroll / PHilly voice) The transportation authority’s current contract with its transit union expires Oct. 31 SEPTA’s transit union has taken another step towards a potential work stoppage, as workers voted unanimously Sunday to authorize a strike if a new contract can’t be agreed upon over the next week. More than 1,000 members of Transport Workers Union Local 234 gathered Sunday for […]
Demand Their Immediate Release. On Wednesday, October 20, Palestinians staged a protest at the al-Manara square in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank in solidarity with six prisoners who are on hunger strike against their illegal administrative detention in Israeli jails, reported Al Jazeera. Several Palestinian civil society groups and prisoner rights groups participated in the protest, along with the families of those who are on hunger strike. They called for immediate and unconditional release of the six prisoners and expressed fear about their health. The six prisoners are Kayed Fasfous, on hunger strike for the last 100 days, Miqdad al-Qawasmi (92 […]
Above Photo: A truck hauls a piece of John Deere equipment from the factory past workers picketing outside of the John Deere Davenport Works facility on October 15, 2021 in Davenport, Iowa. Scott Olson/Getty Images. Happy Striketober. Now’s The Perfect Time To Fight For The Right To Return To A Job Once A Strike Is Over. Unions have the winds at their back because of the unique circumstances of the pandemic making so many workers less willing to work unpleasant jobs for lousy pay, but labor markets have a way of tightening that make striking a riskier proposition for workers. We must take […]
Above Photo: Members of the Korean Health and Medical Workers Union, a KCTU affiliate, gather in front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Sejong City, South Korea, on June 23, 2021, to demand improved working conditions and expand public health care. (KCTU) On October 20, at least half a million workers in South Korea — from across the construction, transportation, service, and other sectors — are walking off their jobs in a one-day general strike. The strike will be followed by mass demonstrations in urban centers and rural farmlands, culminating in a national all-people’s mobilization in January 2022. The Korean […]
Above Photo: Seattle-area carpenters approved an area master agreement after more than three weeks on strike. NW Carpenters. Going into the vote on a controversial fifth tentative agreement, the mood among Washington carpenters who had organized for a “no” vote was uncertain. “It was so close last time, it’s hard to say what will happen,” said Tom Nolan hours before the vote tally was announced. “A toss-up,” said Nina Wurz. “It’s going to be a ‘no.’ But, unfortunately, I could be surprised. Being out of work has hurt a lot of people,” said Alejandro Lucero. If one thing is clear about […]
Above Photo: Taxis parked in protest at New York City Hall. (RBLFMR / Shutterstock) A Group Of Protesters Hope The Action Will Force A New Plan From City Hall To Help Them Pay Off What They Owe On Medallion Loans. After 30 days of protesting outside City Hall, a group of New York City taxi medallion owners is taking their call for greater debt relief to the next level. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance announced Monday that a group of taxi drivers will go on hunger strike starting on Wednesday to amplify their calls for the city to adopt a more […]
Above Photo: This Is Reno. Interview With A Union Leader. Members of Teamsters Local 533 in Reno, Nevada, are on strike against a notorious union-hating company that is trying to undo a remarkable gain the workers won nearly 40 years ago. Reno, Nevada, – Workers for the Washoe County Regional Transit Commission (RTC) went out on strike against the RTC’s contractor, Keolis North America — a division of a notoriously anti-union company based in France that manages bus and rail operations in several U.S. cities, including Boston, Fort Lauderdale, and Los Angeles. The strikers — around 200 workers in all, including […]
Above Photo: The St. Vincent Nurses are still on strike. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP Via Getty Images) If You Want More Strikes, Make More Union Members. Ten thousand John Deere workers went on strike today. Sixty thousand IATSE members may be on strike by Monday. They will join the thousands of nurses, miners, hospital workers, factory workers, and others already on strike across America. Here we are, in our long-awaited strike wave. What does this thrilling development tell the labor movement about what its future direction should be? Nothing. Let me phrase that in a more positive way: The current wave of aggressive strike actions […]
Above Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images A strike that would have begun Monday (October 18) by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) has been averted, with the union representing production crew reaching a three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The tentative deal is for the Basic and Videotape Agreements, which affect some 40,000 film and television workers. According to IATSE, the proposed contract addresses issues at the heart of the dispute, including “reasonable” rest periods, meal breaks, a living wage for workers at the bottom of the pay scale and “significant” increases in compensation […]
Above Photo: Workers at GM’s São Caetano plant vote to continue strike. sindmetalsjc.org.br. On Thursday, workers at General Motors in São Caetano do Sul, in São Paulo’s ABC industrial region, voted overwhelmingly to continue their strike initiated on October 1. They defied a decision by the Regional Labor Court (TRT), which declared the strike illegal as of Friday. The readiness of workers to continue their struggle for jobs and decent wages is an expression of the growing resistance of the working class in Brazil and worldwide to the assault on their living conditions and the ruling class’s demand for a new […]
Above Photo: Healthcare workers protest over payroll delays in February outside of Allied Community Services East Windsor, CT. (Photo credit: Shana Sureck with the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, SEIU). Group home workers in Connecticut went on strike on Tuesday morning after talks with their employer, Sunrise Northeast, broke down. The workers are demanding higher wages, affordable health benefits and pensions. Sunrise runs 28 group home and day care programs for the intellectually disabled throughout Connecticut. Workers formed picket lines in front of the company’s homes in New London, Hartford, Danielson and Columbia. The workers’ responsibilities include helping […]
Deere Workers Begin Strike At Midnight Approximately 10,100 workers at agricultural equipment giant Deere and Company began to strike at midnight Central Time early Thursday morning. The workers are located at plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas, as well as two parts centers in Georgia and Colorado. The walkout is the first at the company in 35 years and is the largest strike by manufacturing workers in the US since the 40-day strike at General Motors in 2019. “Our time is now!” a Deere worker in Illinois told the WSWS. A second worker added, “We are glad to be going on […]
Above photo: ‘No one calls it a general strike. But in its own disorganized way it’s related to the organized strikes breaking out across the land.’ Evert Nelson/AP. The best definition of a strike is when ‘workers withhold their labor’ for better wages and working conditions. The conventional wisdom is that unions go on strike. But that is incorrect. Workers go on strike and they don’t necessarily need to be members of unions. That fact is evident today as millions of US workers are refusing to return to their jobs. They are ‘withholding their labor’ searching for better pay and a […]
Above Photo: Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images. Union metalworkers in South Africa, organized in NUMSA, are on an unlimited strike for an 8-percent wage increase. On October 5, the South African National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) called for an indefinite strike (a strike without a set end date) to demand an 8-percent increase in wages — and 160,000 workers in the steel and engineering sector answered the call. The union, South Africa’s largest, represents 400,000 workers in total. The massive strike continues the tense social crisis that has rocked the country since riots broke out in July in two provinces over the jailing of former president […]
Above Photo: The Kaiser Permanente Antelope Valley Medical Offices in Lancaster, CA. Ted Eytan. Union members say a long-running partnership between Kaiser employees and management is under attack. For 13 years, registered nurse Kim Mullen has been part of a successful experiment: a collaborative partnership between the health care professionals at Kaiser Permanente and the executives who run the massive nonprofit. Decisions about the day to day delivery of care were shared among physicians, managers and employees. Workers’ input was actively and continuously solicited. Staffing ratios, wages and benefits, patient care — all were subject to group-based discussion and problem solving. “It’s […]
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) President Anthony Shelton issued the following statement in support of 1,400 BCTGM members in Battle Creek, Mich. (Local 3G), Omaha, Neb. (Local 50G), Lancaster, Pa. (Local 374G) and Memphis, Tenn. (Local 252G) who are on strike against the Kellogg Company: “The BCTGM International Union stands in unwavering Solidarity with our courageous Brothers and Sisters who are on strike against the Kellogg Company. “For more than a year throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Kellogg workers around the country have been working long, hard hours, day in and day out, to produce Kellogg ready-to-eat […]
Above photo: NUMSA workers stage a protest as part of the engineering workers’ strike in South Africa. PanAfricanism Today. The strike is being led by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa. The refusal by employers to address the demands for a wage hike is being seen as a betrayal by the workers who had foregone last year’s wage hike to cushion the industry during the COVID-induced lockdown. The first day of the indefinite strike in South Africa’s engineering sector on Tuesday, October 5, saw workers in red T-shirts hit the streets in thousands demanding a wage hike. Marches and […]
Above photo: IATSE volunteers during a food drive event last year. Michael Buckner for Variety. Here’s what that means. Here’s what you need to know about the just-concluded vote, what’s next, and which productions would be impacted by a potential strike. Updated, October 4: IATSE members have overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike authorization, the union announced Monday morning. Ninety-eight percent of all votes cast were in favor of a strike, and 90 percent of all members turned out to vote. But production won’t grind to a halt, at least not yet. The results give IATSE President Matthew Loeb the power to […]