Strike

Rank And File Rail Workers Group Urges Mass Picketing Today

September 21, 2022 Railroad Workers United. Resist! Railroads, Strike, Transportation, Worker Rights

An ad hoc group of rank and file working railroad workers has come together to call for informational pickets at rail terminals around the country. In the face of the controversial Tentative Agreement (TA) that has been reached by the myriad of unions in various forms, this informal grouping has called on railroad workers to join in the protests scheduled for Wednesday. The group has not identified itself by name. It is an expression of working rail workers who are angry and unhappy with the treatment that railroad workers have endured in recent years. The group posted an announcement on social media Sunday. While not party to organizing the Wednesday actions, Railroad Workers United (RWU) supports these types of efforts and encourages all rail workers to take part in the events at rail terminals where planned.

Seattle Teachers End Week-Long Strike

September 18, 2022 Barbara Madeloni, Labor Notes. Resist! Education, Seattle, Strike, Teachers, Washington, Worker Rights and Jobs

Seattle, Washington - Six thousand Seattle educators walked out on strike September 7, which would have been the first day of school. The top issue was the district’s proposal—disguised in social justice language—to end student-teacher ratios for many categories of special education. Also key were struggles over class size, cuts to services, and wages, especially for substitutes and paraprofessionals, who often work most closely with students with disabilities. Late in the day September 12 the bargaining teams announced a tentative agreement, but provided only a summary to members. On September 13, after eight hours of meeting on Zoom, members voted 57 to 43 percent to suspend the strike, even though they still hadn't seen the entire deal. They had voted before the strike to stay out until members approved a contract.

Joe Biden Thinks A Rail Strike Has Been Averted

September 17, 2022 Jonah Furman, Labor Notes. Resist! Joe Biden, Railroads, Strike, Worker Rights

Just after 5 a.m. on Thursday, Marty Walsh tweeted that the railroad companies and the railroad unions had come to a tentative agreement, less than 19 hours from a potential shutdown: “Moments ago, following more than 20 consecutive hours of negotiations at [the Department of Labor], the rail companies and union negotiators came to a tentative agreement that balances the needs of workers, businesses, and our nation’s economy. The Biden Administration applauds all parties for reaching this hard-fought, mutually beneficial deal. Our rail system is integral to our supply chain, and a disruption would have had catastrophic impacts on industries, travelers and families across the country.” By 11:30 a.m., Joe Biden was in the White House Rose Garden, declaring victory: “This is a win for tens of thousands of rail workers and for their dignity and the dignity of their work, it’s a recognition of that.”

I’m A Railroad Worker

September 17, 2022 Jay, The Real News. Resist! Corporatism, Railroads, Strike, Worker Rights

As I think about generations gone by, the values people held, the moral compasses that guided them, I can’t help but wonder what our ancestors would say about the mess this country is in today. Somewhere along the line, I think, a paradigm shift occurred: We stripped this country down and sold every scrap of society and community to the highest bidder, while the things that we used to hold near and dear withered and rotted like old fruit. We’ve forgotten what the Constitution of this great nation says, we hate each other for our differences rather than embracing them, and our leaders—the purported champions of the oppressed, the self-styled protectors of all things fair and just—have become our enemies. The corporations controlling next to every facet of our daily lives are well aware of this, and they are actively capitalizing on the chaos at our expense.

41 Arrested In San Francisco Airport Fast Food Worker Protest

September 17, 2022 Phil Mayer, KTLA. Resist! Airport, Low Wage Workers, San Francisco, Strike

Forty-one people were arrested Friday at San Francisco International Airport as airport fast food workers protested their wages, according to Unite Here, the union that represents many SFO workers. The protesters sat on the airport road outside Terminal 3, blocking traffic. Hundreds of workers and supporters showed up to join in the protest, chanting and forming picket lines. Politicians such as State Senator Josh Becker and Assemblymember Ash Kalra were also at the protest. Most fast food workers at SFO make $17.05 per hour according to the union, which is less than many meals cost at the airport. Some workers said they have not had a raise in three years and have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. “I have to work two jobs to support my family, and I’m exhausted from living on four hours of sleep a day,” said Lucinda To, a lounge attendant at the United Club and a server at Cat Cora’s Kitchen at SFO.

No Work Stoppage For Now

September 15, 2022 Frank N. Wilner, Railway Age. Educate! Railroads, Strike, Unions, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

It means there will be no nationwide rail work stoppage beginning Friday, Sept. 16, or for the next few weeks, but the threat of a management lockout or labor strike is not over as memberships of only two of the 12 unions have so far ratified tentative agreements. All tentative agreements, however, contain “me too” clauses, meaning the sweeteners reached during the all-night bargaining session will apply across the board. They also will be offered to one union that has rejected a tentative deal accepted by its leadership, with expectation that its members will ratify on a second attempt. For almost 20 hours until just after 5 a.m. Sept. 15, Walsh locked horns with the negotiating teams of the NCCC, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET); the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD); and the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen.

Workers Building New US Embassy In Honduras Are On Strike

September 15, 2022 Judy Ancel, Labor Notes. Resist! Honduras, Strike, US Embassy, Worker Rights and Jobs

The Biden administration has pledged that “the United States will work with governments to strengthen ... the enforcement of labor laws, promote decent work, and support workers in exercising their freedom of association and collective bargaining rights,” as one of four pillars of its strategy to address the root causes of migration from Central America. In Honduras today the U.S. has an opportunity to practice this with the 1,100 workers it has hired to build a new embassy. But it’s blowing it. Instead, police have been called in to bust a strike that’s been going on at the construction site in Tegucigalpa since early July. Of course, the State Department and U.S. Ambassador Laura Dogu all deny that there’s a problem with the treatment of the workers, and they’re pressuring the Honduran government to criminalize the strikers rather than enforce Honduran labor laws.

Hundreds Protest As Starbucks Holds Investor Day Without Retail Workers

September 14, 2022 Sharon Zhang, Truthout. Resist! Starbucks, Strike, Washington, Worker Rights and Jobs

Seattle, Washington - Hundreds of workers took to the streets in front of Starbucks’s Seattle headquarters on Tuesday as the company hosted investors for its biennial investor day, in which executives and investors discuss the company’s outlook — an event that has never once included representation from a Starbucks retail worker, the workers’ union says. Joined by other union members, workers with Starbucks Workers United are demanding that the company give them a say in its strategy and financial decisions and a place at the bargaining table for contract negotiations, which the company has been delaying. They are also asking the company to stop union-busting practices like firing pro-union employees, which it has done almost 100 times over the course of the union drive, Starbucks Workers United says.

University Of Wisconsin Health Backs Down As Nurses Threaten To Strike

September 14, 2022 Fight Back News. Resist! Nurses, Strike, Wisconsin, Worker Rights and Jobs

Madison, Wisconsin - On September 12, a tentative agreement was reached between nurses at University of Wisconsin Health (UW Health) and administration over management recognition of their union, represented by SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin. Nurses at UW Health had lost their union after their contract expired in 2014 and the administration refused to bargain, citing Wisconsin's "Act 10" law. The effort for renewed recognition was restarted as of 2019. Demands to recognize their union, which represents approximately 2400 Nurses in Madison, had been rejected up to now. Nurses there submitted a ten-day notice to strike over recognition as provided by law, and had been preparing through the weekend to begin on September 13.

Seattle Teachers Secure Tentative Deal to End Strike

September 14, 2022 Julia Conley, Common Dreams. Resist! Strike, Teachers, Washington, Worker Rights and Jobs

Seattle, Washington - Seattle teachers on Monday night expressed gratitude for "solidarity on the picket lines" and "enormous community support" that they received over the past week while on strike, as the city's teachers union announced it had reached a tentative agreement with the school district. The Seattle Education Association (SEA) said it had secured a new three-year contract including improved and maintained teacher-student ratios for special education classes, additional mental health staffing across all schools, and annual pay raises. "We should all be proud of what we accomplished and what we stood up for: student supports and respect for educators," said the SEA. "We made real progress not only in our contract but also in rallying with our community these past several weeks."

The Strike That Started The Red Wave

September 13, 2022 Jackson Potter, In These Times. Strategize! Chicago, Education, Labor Movement, Strike, Teachers

In 2012, I joined thousands of my fellow public school teachers in Chicago and walked off the job. After facing 30 years of corporate education “reform” that demonized teachers and led to massive privatization of public schools across the United States, teachers everywhere were ready to fight back. For many of us in Chicago, ahead of the 2012 strike, political developments had shown a range of possibilities for what that fighting back could look like. We had watched intently as protesters took over plazas in Tahrir Square to demand the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, as well as the crowds occupying the Wisconsin statehouse to oppose Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union Act 10.

DHL Strikers Pepper Sprayed, Arrested On Picket Line In Rhode Island

September 13, 2022 Kate Randall, WSWS. Resist! DHL, Police abuse, Rhode Island, Strike

Pawtucket, Rhode Island - Police arrested DHL strikers on the picket line in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on September 9, as the strike by local delivery drivers entered its 12th week. About 70 delivery drivers struck on June 22 against Northeast Transportation Services, a contracted provider of international logistics giant DHL. The workers are demanding wages to keep up with the cost of living, affordable health care, retirement benefits and safety issues. Northeast has hired scabs, who are reportedly being paid $55 an hour, with DHL drivers earning only $18 an hour on average. Pawtucket police and Teamsters Local 251 confirmed the arrest of five people outside the DHL Express ServicePoint. The arrests took place as 50 to 60 protesters approached a gate which opens onto Concord Street, Teamsters business agent Thomas Salvatore told The Providence Journal.

The Federal Government Is Trying To Stop Railroad Workers From Striking

September 13, 2022 Joe Burns, Jacobin. Strategize! Railroads, Strike, Unions, Workers Rights and Jobs

For months, 140,000 union railroad workers have been stuck at an impasse with their employers, who are united under the banner of the Association of American Railroads. The terms of the dispute should be familiar to most workers: attendance policy, staffing, and wage increases. Despite record profits, rail employers have cut staffing, placing enormous burdens on workers that aren’t reflected in their pay. By all accounts, railworkers are in a militant mood. An attendance policy prompted rail unions to attempt to strike earlier this year. In July, 99 percent of union members who cast ballots voted to authorize another strike, prompting President Joe Biden to intervene in August. In order to avert a strike, Biden appointed a presidential emergency board (PEB) to reach a compromise and settle the dispute.

AAR Report: Nationwide Rail Shutdown Could Cost $2 Billion Per Day

September 12, 2022 Carolina Worrell, Railway Age. Resist! Finance and the Economy, Railroads, Strike, Worker Rights and Jobs

According to the report, if negotiations between the remaining rail unions and the National Carrier Conference Committee (NCCC), which represents most Class I railroads and many smaller ones, remain unsettled by Friday, Sept. 16 at 12:01 a.m., “Congress must act to prevent a service interruption that would immediately harm every economic sector served by rail.” Failure to act, AAR says, could idle more than 7,000 trains daily and trigger retail product shortages, widespread manufacturing shutdowns, job losses and disruptions to hundreds of thousands of passenger rail customers. Specifically, the report updates a 1992 Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) econometric study to quantify the potential impacts of a national rail shutdown on employment and economic output in today’s dollars.

No New Talks Planned As Three-Day Nurses Strike Starts

September 12, 2022 Michelle Wiley, MPR News. Resist! Health Care, Minnesota, Nurses, St. Paul, Strike, Worker Rights and Jobs

Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota - Nurses at 15 hospitals in the Twin Cities and northern Minnesota began a three-day walkout Monday morning. The strike started at 7 a.m. and is scheduled to last until early Thursday morning. Union officials said no negotiations are currently planned during the strike period. Union nurses have been in negotiations since March, and working without a contract since June. The main sticking points are wage increases, retention, staffing and safety concerns, as well as addressing ongoing burnout, heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. "The most important thing for us is safe staffing.

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