Public employees

Washington State Workers Take The Fight To The Governor

April 23, 2025 Chris Vasseur-Landriault, Labor Notes. Resist! Public employees, Tax the rich, Unions, Washington State, Worker Rights and Jobs

Hundreds of Washington state workers streamed into the capitol building in Olympia on April 9 demanding, “No cuts! No furloughs! Tax, tax the rich!” Our booming chants echoed through the rotunda, making it difficult for legislators to carry on their work. The governor’s office locked the doors on us, so we staged a sit-in in the hallway and marched throughout the capitol building. When the doors were finally opened, we crowded inside—but the only sign of Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson was a small photograph on the front counter. His chief of staff informed our union president, Mike Yestramski, that he would let Bob know we had stopped by.

The Movement Supporting Public Employees Is Rising

February 23, 2025 Sarah Jaffe, In These Times. Resist! DOGE, Elon Musk, Federal Workers, Public employees, Public Workers, Worker Rights and Jobs

Thousands of workers hit the streets February 19, all around the country — at federal offices like the Department of Health and Human Services, at Tesla dealerships and public spaces — to declare their opposition to the slashing and burning of public services currently happening under the guise of “efficiency.” Workers focused on billionaire Elon Musk’s power within President Donald Trump’s new administration, through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). National Park Service workers, standing in the snow, brandished signs reading, “Immigrants didn’t steal my job. The president did.”

French Public Sector Employees Protest Cuts In State Spending

March 22, 2024 People's Dispatch. Resist! France, Public employees, Wages, Worker Rights

Public sector employees in France led massive protests on Tuesday March 19, demanding an increase in wages to compensate for cuts in their real wages indexed with the inflation. They also participated in a general strike on Tuesday called for by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), Solidaires, Force Ouvrière (FO), the CFE-CGC, the Autonomous Federation, the SNES-FSU and the UNSA. Major rallies were held in Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, and Toulouse.

Canada: Federal Employees Reach Tentative Agreement, Strike Continues

May 2, 2023 Nick Seebruch, Rabble.ca. Resist! Canada, Public employees, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Most Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) employees returned to work on Monday, May 1, after a tentative agreement was reached between the union and their employer, the Treasury Board, in the early hours of Monday morning. Under this tentative deal, the union had secured for its members a wage increase of 12 per cent spread over four years, while members who are close to retirement age will receive a lump sum payment of up to $2,500 in lieu of the wage increase that they would have received. “During a period of record-high inflation and soaring corporate profits, workers were told to accept less – but our members came together and fought for better,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC national president.

City Workers Push For Collective Bargaining Rights

November 19, 2020 Brett Hall and Jane Alvarez-Wertz, WAVY. Resist! Collective bargaining, Public employees, Virginia, Worker Rights

Virginia Beach, VA - While local government employees are not legally allowed to engage in collective bargaining in the commonwealth until May 1, a group of workers from public utilities and public works making known their desire to have “a seat at the table” as soon as possible. On Tuesday evening, ahead of City Council’s formal session at the convention center, roughly 30 members of the city workforce chanted about the desire for hazard pay and fair wages before delivering a petition to the city manager’s office that lists four demands.

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