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Labor Movement

The Ontario Federation Of Labour Adopts ‘Hot Cargo’ Resolution

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) became the fourth Canadian labour federation to adopt a hot cargo resolution against Israeli goods last week. The resolution has the OFL declare trade relationships and services with Israel to be “hot cargo” that workers will not touch. “Hot cargo” is used to define goods that workers will not handle due to its association with exploitation or oppression. The New Brunswick Federation of Labour was the first to adopt a resolution supporting the boycott of Israel when it passed a resolution against handling weapons bound for Israel in May. Since then, three other provincial federations of labour have taken similar actions in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario.

Belgian Workers Reject Arizona’s Austerity In Strike Wave

Wednesday, November 26, marks the final day of a nationwide wave of strikes and protests against the anti-social policies of Belgium’s so-called Arizona government. Workers in transport and public services, joined by thousands across other sectors, remain outraged by Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s agenda, which includes attacks on pensions, wages, and public services, all while increasing spending on militarization. Picket lines sprang up across the country, with workers rejecting the government’s plans. Reporting from the strike at the port of Antwerp, Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) General Secretary Peter Mertens wrote: “Workers are furious that the government is coming for their pensions, trying to steal their wage indexation and, on top of that, wants to raise taxes on gas and fuel. ‘No way,’ they’re saying here.”

Historic Win For Italy’s Metal Workers

Last week Italy’s metal workers secured a major victory as the unions Fim, Fiom and Uilm, all affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, signed the renewed National Collective Labour Agreement (NCLA) with Federmeccanica and Assistal after four days of continuous and intense negotiations. The agreement covers more than 1.5 million workers across the country and guarantees a €205(US$ 237.17) increase on minimum contractual salaries over four years, which the unions say is essential to protecting wages amid rising living costs and economic uncertainty.

Starbucks Baristas Bring ‘Red Cup Rebellion’ To CEO’s Office

Unionized Starbucks baristas rallied Monday outside the Newport-Beach office of the Seattle-based company’s chief executive to demand better pay, staffing and scheduling — continuing a “Red Cup Rebellion” unfair labor practice strike that includes stores in Orange County. Carrying picket signs that read “Now Brewing: Corporate Greed” and chanting, “No Contract, No Coffee” rallying workers accused the coffee retailer of refusing to respond to employees’ demands after an offer by company negotiators was rejected by bargaining delegates in April, according to a union news release Monday.

The Ongoing Battle Over Israel Within The US Labor Movement

This year, on the eve of International Workers’ Day, General Federation of Trade Unions in Gaza, published a call to the U.S. labor movement. “This war would not have been possible without the unlimited U.S. support for the occupation, whether through military funding, political and diplomatic backing, or arms deals that kill our children, women, and elderly every day,” it read. “The U.S. administration under Trump has continued what the previous administration started, becoming a direct accomplice in genocide, ignoring the voices of millions inside and outside of the United States, and an overwhelming majority of the nation, who reject this brutal aggression.”

Organizing For A Breakout

There is a military axiom that if your positions are encircled by far superior forces, you will inevitably be annihilated,  unless you break out. I have been a member of our labor movement and left wing since I got out of high school in 1979. For every one of those 46 years our labor movement has been under heavy attack, and at the end of every year we were smaller and more exhausted than when it began. This year will be no exception. With only a few scant exceptions the U.S. labor movement continues to avoid the key question of new organizing. The call to “Organize the Unorganized!” is no longer heard. Embattled unions must draw to their support the masses of unorganized – or face destruction. 

Employers And Labor Groups Try To Protect Workers From ICE

A lot of undocumented immigrants — and their employers — remember when the siege began.Federal immigration agents equipped with tactical gear and rifles descended on downtown Los Angeles in armored trucks on June 6, arresting dozens of workers at an apparel factory. Within hours, another group of agents raided a Home Depot a few miles away, arresting day laborers who were looking for work.  Those operations quickly became a flashpoint, sparking spontaneous large-scale street protests. But President Donald Trump’s administration doubled down, and more high-profile raids followed as the White House sought to make good on the president’s promise to conduct the largest mass deportation program in the nation’s history. 

Could The Starbucks ‘Red Cup Rebellion’ Turn Into Something More?

Starbucks baristas launched their “Red Cup Rebellion” this past week in more than 40 cities across the country promising to escalate the walkout until it becomes the “largest, longest strike in company history.” Hard-pressed baristas struggling on poverty wages are demanding a fair contract and a resolution to a slew of unfair labor practice charges levied against the Seattle-based conglomerate. But the walkout and rally outside the 325 Lafayette Avenue Starbucks in Brooklyn on Nov. 13 might’ve had the makings of something more, too—at least at some point.

How El Salvador’s Labor Martyrs Shaped A Revolutionary Tradition

October 31 in El Salvador is recognized as the Day of the Salvadoran Trade Unionist.  This year’s commemoration event brought together veteran organizers and a new generation of grassroots leaders, bridging past and present struggles for workers’ rights and social change. “This date brings us back to the origin of labor organizing in our country,” asserted Marisela Ramírez, a leader of the Popular Resistance and Rebellion Bloc, at the rally at Cuscatlán Park in San Salvador, organized by the group. “We remember with dignity, the history of struggle, resistance, and sacrifice, of the labor movement in El Salvador.” 

How To Build A Union Culture That Welcomes Immigrant Members

Here is some basic advice for union officers and activists who are new to working with immigrant members. You probably already know that immigrant workers want pretty much the same things any unionized worker wants. A decent job. A living wage. Respect and trust. Some measure of control over their lives. The other thing you should know is: Don’t presume to know anything. Forget stereotypes. Approach immigrant workers in an open, straightforward manner and see what you can learn. Many immigrants may have as much to teach you about the labor movement as they have to learn. Some may have been involved in labor, political, or even revolutionary movements in their native countries.

Michigan’s Labor Revival

Michigan now has a more receptive environment for labor organizing and collective bargaining following the repeal of Right to Work laws within the past few years, and previous failures to retain unions in the private sector, according to a new report from Wayne State University’s Labor Workshop. One area of potential labor growth is in the health care sector, with a recent uptick of union organizing petitions. But the report also noted new challenges and political strain are on the horizon, including budget cuts, unfair labor practices and new anti-labor laws considering signals from federal and state leaders.

We Can’t Rebuild The Labor Movement Without Taking On Big Targets

Last year, U.S. unions cautiously celebrated a turnaround in their organizing fortunes. National Labor Relations Board election win rates had reached 79 percent, and the number of workers organized for the year approached 100,000, the highest number since 2009. Yet these gains masked a harsher reality for labor, even before the disastrous 2024 elections. For the labor movement to grow, it needs to organize millions of workers each year, not 100,000. Organizing continues to lag in fast-growing, low-density sectors such as personal services, IT, finance, and health care, while union-heavy sectors like government and manufacturing keep shedding jobs.

Overcoming Divisions And Building Power For The Just Green Transition

The working class: a major social group in any industrialised country, and historically a left-wing subject at the centre of demands for a worker controlled economy and better welfare, is now a growing base of support for right-wing parties. It is becoming essential for their electoral success across Europe, courted by these parties’ seeming concern for protecting wealth and jobs.[1] Climate activists on the other hand are increasingly demonised as fanatic eco-terrorists in mainstream media whose demands are framed as extremist and harmful to working people, making them seem like an out-of-touch elite of students and academics.

A Strategy To Stop The Flow Of Our Money To Billionaires

In the United States, we are living through a time of crisis. We’re witnessing a U.S.-backed genocide as Palestinian children are being starved. Our government is disappearing immigrants and U.S. citizens alike because of the color of their skin and their willingness to speak truth to power. Millions lack basic healthcare, companies are kicking families out of their homes and most of us are paid barely enough to survive. We’re living on the edge, terrified and traumatized. Meanwhile, the perpetrators of this unbearable status quo — billionaires, their companies and the government structures they now control — are using our money to fund these injustices while building their fortunes.

Weathering Backlash With Care Infrastructure

In 1938, parents in the white, working-class Appalachian community of Summerfield, Tenn., staged a sit-in against an anti-communist school board trying to close a new cooperative nursery school. The chair of the Grundy County Board of Education initially agreed the nursery school could share space in the public school building. Once he discovered it was run by the Highlander Folk School — a leftist social movement school that aimed to grow a multiracial labor movement — the board demanded it vacate, having decided in 1932 to prohibit Highlander from using county school buildings on the grounds that, according to historian John Glen, ​“they taught ​‘political matters’ that were ​‘Red or communist in appearance.’”
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