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Strikes

Hundreds Of Rideshare Drivers Form Tennessee Drivers’ Union

On Tuesday, August 20, hundreds of rideshare drivers voted to form the Tennessee Drivers’ Union and to strike on Friday, August 30 to address worsening working conditions at the Nashville International Airport. Workers are striking strategically on Labor Day weekend, as they recognize that it is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. These drivers represent 14 different nationalities and speak multiple languages. “We are many nations working for [a] common goal,” says the co-president of the Tennessee Drivers’ Union. “If we don’t come together as people striving for their rights then we will continue to suffer and [be] robbed by two giants, Uber and Lyft.”

Pensacola CWA Workers Stand Strong Against AT&T

Pensacola, FL – On a humid August morning, the sound of car horns fills the air up and down Davis Highway, each honk a note of solidarity for more than 25 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3109. These workers, standing firm outside the AT&T worksite, are part of the largest strike currently unfolding in the United States, a powerful labor struggle involving over 17,000 CWA members across nine southeastern states. Their picket line is just one of four in the far-west of Florida’s panhandle. The strike was called as a direct response to AT&T's bad faith tactics during contract negotiations, which began in late June.

‘Huge, Historic’ Strikes At Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, And Omni Hotels

Thousands of hotel workers in twelve cities across the U.S. have authorized strikes at Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Omni hotel properties that are locked in unresolved contract negotiations. Hotel workers with the UNITE HERE union voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing strikes in Baltimore, Boston, Honolulu, Greenwich, Kauai, New Haven, Oakland, Providence, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle. Strikes may occur any time following the expiration of contracts. Contracts in some cities have already expired, while the rest expire by the end of the month. Workers are calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts.

Cornell Workers Strike For The First Time In Decades

As students moved into campus, Cornell University’s 1,200 dining, custodial, and maintenance workers in Ithaca, New York, walked off the job August 18. “When you’re not getting paid a living wage in a place that certainly has the money to pay, it feels disrespectful,” said Josh Dexter, a cook. “It can burn out the flame for people.” The university emailed professors, administrative staff, and retirees, urging them to pick up scab shifts. Students reported a hectic start of classes and terrible dining hall food. Cornell also brought in scabs from temporary work agencies like Stafkings and Express Employment. Even Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff was spotted working the dining halls.

United Airlines Flight Attendants Vote To Authorize Strike By 99.99%

Washington, DC – On August 28, flight attendants at United Airlines who are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) voted on whether or not to authorize a strike if needed in contract negotiations with the carrier. The flight attendants filed for federal mediation eight months ago, after working under what they call an amendable contract for the last three years. After not seeing the movement at the table that they needed, the flight attendants decided to take the next step let their members vote over whether to authorize a strike. The results were loud and clear. A near unanimous majority of 99.99% of ballots cast voted to authorize a strike; over 90% of United flight attendants participated in the vote.

Nurses End Seven-Day Strike In Chicago

Chicago, Illinois – Working as a nurse in a large university hospital is a hard job. Large numbers of patients roll through. Vulnerable people look for hope, remedy and help. Despite this persistent pressure, hospital administrators ask for quick patient turnover. Supervisors ask overstressed nurses to do the work of housekeepers, food service, technical staff and others, who are often in short supply. Some doctors are nice, while others boss nurses around. This is the case at the University of Illinois Health (UIH) as well as healthcare facilities across the country. One difference is that the nurses at UIH have a labor union and decided to take a stand.

‘Anti-Worker’ Trudeau Forces Arbitration On Rail Union

The Canadian government on Thursday moved to end a lockout of workers at the country's two major rail corporations by forcing the two sides into arbitration, drawing sharp criticism from the union, which is challenging the move, and left-leaning political figures, including an ally of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) locked out about 9,300 engineers, conductors, and yard workers starting Thursday morning, shutting down the vast majority of the country's freight operations—a major disruption to the national economy and supplies chains across North America. The two sides had failed to reach a labor agreement after months of negotiating.

‘Left Behind’ Contract Workers At Con Ed Demand Family-Sustaining Jobs

Dozens of contracted cleaners and 32BJ SEIU union members rallied outside Con Edison’s Union Square headquarters on Aug. 14 to demand the company nix ties with Nelson Services Systems, a contractor that workers say pays sub-par wages.  Nelson employs all 55 of the workers who rallied. The employees work at Con Ed offices, customer service centers and substations throughout the city — and they all say Nelson has “failed to improve their pay or benefits.” The workers also said they have been “left behind,” because Nelson’s cleaners at the utility’s power plants scored a victory by joining the utility workers union, UWUA, on Aug. 6.

Canada Ends Lockout Of Rail Workers

Ten thousand Canadian railroad workers were locked out early this morning after two sets of major contracts expired. Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) forced out locomotive engineers, conductors, and yard workers who are organized under the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. The major issues for the unions are scheduling and rest period protections in the contracts—areas where they say the railroads are demanding concessions. Through contracts and governmental regulations, union members have maintained some level of protection against increasingly demanding schedules. Workers have the right to rest periods between shifts and protections around how many hours they can be forced to work.

Striking Is In The Air At Boeing

Mondays and Wednesdays are loud at the vast Boeing factory in Everett, Washington. As the Machinists’ contract campaign heats up, the workforce has been serenading management at lunch with air horns, train horns, and vuvuzelas—plus chants of “Out the Door in ’24.” Forty miles south, in Renton, where workers construct the moneymaking 737, second shift workers have used their meal breaks to blast Bluetooth speakers at top volume with ’90s rap, death metal, ’80s pop, and opera—all simultaneously, said Jon Voss, a 13-year mechanic in the wings building. The resulting racket “really drove management and HR nuts.”

Workers At Cornell Strike As Student Move-In Begins

Ithaca, N.Y. — For the first time in decades, workers at Cornell University are on strike. Thousands of students are scheduled to begin moving into Cornell’s campus on Monday for the fall semester, but workers on the night shift began to walk off the job Sunday, when the strike officially started at 10 p.m.. Workers are scheduled to picket on the university’s campus during student move-in day. The United Auto Workers (UAW) and Cornell University have been locked in tense labor contract negotiations since April. UAW Local 2300 represents a bargaining unit of about 1,200 workers at Cornell, the majority of which are cafeteria workers, custodians, and groundskeepers, whose current bargaining agreement with Cornell expired on July 1.

Teamsters Deliver Strike Notice; Canada Rail Delivers Lockout Notice

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference today (Aug. 18) served a 72-hour strike notice to Canadian Pacific Kansas City, saying the union will walk out at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, barring a last-minute labor agreement. Canadian National Railway, meanwhile, announced it had delivered a formal 72-hour lockout notice, following up on plans it had announced on Aug. 9 [see “Canadian rail strike could begin …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 9, 2024]. CPKC had also said it would institute a lockout on Aug. 22. The 72-hour notifications are required under Canadian law. Strike notice at CPKC The TCRC said it was issuing the strike notice after CPKC served notice it would lock out union members and change the terms of the collective agreements.

Nurses Strike At University Of Illinois Health Close To The DNC

UI Health nurses allege they’ve been assaulted by patients for years: shoved — one while she was pregnant — and lunged at by a patient’s relative, and otherwise at risk of getting hurt. “One of the reasons we’re striking is the security here is awful,” Emma Stone, a nurse in the intensive care unit at the Near West Side hospital, said Monday in a field with dozens of other unionized nurses, as their colleagues picketed around the hospital across the street. “It’s very scary as a nurse to think like I could get shot or stabbed.” Stone is among more than 1,000 nurses at UI Health who went on strike Monday over safety, staffing and better pay, as the Democratic National Convention kicked off blocks away at the United Center.

The Latest From On The Picket Line

The ongoing battle about whether gig workers are employees or “independent contractors” is continuing. The latest blow against these precarious workers came from the California Supreme Court on July 25. The court upheld Proposition 22, which gives companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash the means to cheat their employees out of benefits and bargaining rights by classifying them as independent contractors. According to Rideshare Drivers United: “Today, the Supreme Court of California decided that Prop 22 was not in violation of our state constitution, allowing Big Tech to continue exploiting drivers under a law they wrote and paid for, that replaced decades of common sense labor law in exchange for complete disregard of basic standards like hourly minimum wage standards and basic benefits like unemployment, family leave, workplace safety standards and the like.

East Coast Longshore Contract Clock Ticks Down

Union negotiations covering longshore workers on the East and Gulf Coasts have been stalled since June 10, bringing the union closer to a potential strike at the September 30 contract expiration. Leaders of the International Longshoremen’s Association have called a September 4-5 delegates meeting to discuss demands and strike strategy. Last week the union sent the employer association, known as USMX, a strike notice that federal law requires 60 days before a strike. The contract between the ILA and the USMX is one of the largest expiring this year, and a strike would have massive economic impact—billions of dollars per day.

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