Unions

New York Care Workers’ Fight To End The 24-Hour Workday

May 4, 2024 Annie Faye Cheng, Portside. Resist! Health Care, home care, New York (NY), New York City (NYC), Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Gui Hua Song retired from home care work in 2020, but when she heard about plans for a New York City hunger strike earlier this spring organized by a coalition fighting to end home health aides’ 24-hour workday, she signed up to join. “People asked me, ‘Why would you risk your health when it doesn’t even affect you? You are already retired,’” Song said with the help of an interpreter. But after spending years working grueling 24-hour shifts, she said she knew she had to participate. She recalled the high stress work environment and endless nights of sleeplessness while caring for an elderly couple.

How Portland Teachers Led The Longest K–12 Strike In Decades

May 4, 2024 Melissa Blount and Matt Reed, Rethinking Schools. Strategize! Oregon, Portland, Schools, Strike, Teachers, Unions

We’ll never forget the day when we knew that we would win. It was 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 21, more than three weeks into the first-ever Portland, Oregon, teachers strike. We were rally marshals, tasked with walking ahead of the march to troubleshoot potential issues. Accompanied by the dull hum of a nearby freeway and the caws of seagulls above the Willamette River, we stood on the sidewalk waiting — hoping that a parade of educators would soon join us. They had every reason not to. As frustration mounted with district leaders and their refusal to address our demands for safe, equitable, and sustainable schools, so did skepticism of our union’s strategy.

Southern Autoworkers’ Union Drives Can Reverse Decades Of Job Decline

May 1, 2024 Marc Bayard and Dev Wakeley, Inequality.org. Organize! Alabama, Autoworkers, Tennessee, The South, Unions, United Auto Workers (UAW), Worker Rights and Jobs

The United Auto Workers recently scored the largest union victory in decades in the South. Their success at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant could be a turning point for labor in a region long known for governmental hostility to unions. The next test will be a UAW election scheduled for the week of May 13 at a Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama, a state that has attracted so much auto investment it has earned the nickname “the Detroit of the South.” If the roughly 5,000 Mercedes workers vote to unionize, the ripple effects could empower workers nationwide.

May Day 2028 Could Transform The Labor Movement And The World

May 1, 2024 Shawn Fain, In These Times. Strategize! Autoworkers, General Strike, Labor Movement, May Day, Unions, United Auto Workers (UAW), Worker Rights and Jobs

Members of the United Auto Workers courageously fought corporate greed at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis last fall during the historic six-week Stand-Up Strike. Because of their determination and commitment, we won record contracts with the Big Three automakers. After decades of falling behind, UAW autoworkers are finally moving forward again. We made a lot of ambitious demands at the bargaining table. One in particular may not have gotten the same attention as the reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments or the reopening of the Stellantis assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill. — but it could also prove transformational: We aligned our contracts to expire at midnight on April 30, 2028.

In Relay Race To Organize The South, Baton Passes To Mercedes Workers

May 1, 2024 Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes. Organize! Auto Workers, Labor Movement, Mercedes, The South, UAW, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Michael Göbel, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, stepped down from his post today, according to a video message that workers were shown. Göbel had groused in an April captive-audience meeting about a worker’s claim that Mercedes had come for the “Alabama discount”: low wages. His departure is another win for Mercedes-Benz workers, who already scored pay bumps and an end to wage tiers—and they haven’t even voted on the union yet. The company and Alabama politicians are ramping up their anti-union campaign as an election draws near. The 5,200 Mercedes workers at a factory complex and electric battery plant outside Tuscaloosa will vote May 13-16 on whether to join the United Auto Workers.

Lessons From Starbucks Workers United And The Fight For $15

May 1, 2024 Brian Callaci, Dissent Magazine. Strategize! Fight for 15, Starbucks, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

On February 27, after over two years of gutsy and strategic organizing, Starbucks Workers United forced Starbucks to surrender to its workers’ wishes and recognize their legal right to a union under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The baristas’ union and the company have agreed to a national framework for contract bargaining and for recognizing the wishes of workers at non-union stores to join the union. Earlier that month, after twelve years of similarly courageous fighting, workers in another union campaign against chain restaurants, Fight for $15, celebrated a different kind of victory.

Report: Death On The Job; The Toll Of Neglect

April 28, 2024 AFL-CIO. Educate! Labor Movement, Unions, Worker Rights, Workplace Safety

This 2024 edition of “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” marks the 33rd year the AFL-CIO has produced a report on the state of safety and health protections for America’s workers. The Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job, has been in effect for more than 50 years, and nearly 690,000 workers now can say their lives have been saved since the passage of the OSH Act. Over the last 50 years, there has been significant progress toward improving working conditions and protecting workers from job injuries, illnesses and deaths.

Pulsing With Life: 2024 Labor Notes Conference

April 27, 2024 Alexandra Bradbury, Labor Notes. Organize! Labor Movement, Strikes, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

The 2024 Labor Notes Conference pulsed with life—with a record turnout of 4,700 people, and a rising note of optimism because of the many breakthroughs won and new campaigns launched. Since we last gathered, Starbucks baristas have forced their employer into national bargaining. UPS workers won a big raise and wiped out driver two-tier with a strike threat. Graduate workers are organizing by the tens of thousands. Independent unions are spreading in retail and tech. Inspired by the Auto Workers and the Teamsters, demands for more democratic unions are spreading too.

UAW’s Chattanooga Victory: Score One For The North In Our Endless Civil War

April 23, 2024 Harold Meyerson , Portside. Strategize! Auto Workers, Chattanooga, The South, Unions, United Auto Workers (UAW), Victory, Volkswagen, Worker Rights and Jobs

History—good history, if conditional history—was made last Friday in Chattanooga, as workers at Volkswagen’s factory there voted to join the United Auto Workers by an overwhelming margin of 2,628 to 985, a 73 percent to 27 percent landslide. The vote was historic on any number of counts. It marks the UAW’s first successful unionization of a foreign-owned auto factory after a number of failed attempts; it marks the first unionization in many decades of a major group of workers in the non-union South; it may even mark the rebirth of a powerful union movement, something the nation has lacked over the past 40 years.

UAW Wins Organizing Election At Volkswagen Tennessee Plant

April 20, 2024 Luke Ramseth, Portside. Organize! Alabama, Auto Workers, Unions, United Auto Workers (UAW), West Virginia, Worker Rights and Jobs

United Auto Workers achieved a historic organizing victory Friday night at a Volkswagen AG plant in Tennessee plant as workers voted overwhelmingly to join the union following a three-day election. The vote count was 2,628-985, according to unofficial results released by the automaker, the union and a National Labor Relations Board tally posted on X. "Volkswagen Chattanooga workers voted in favor of union representation in their workplace this week," the automaker said in a statement. "The vote was administered through a democratic, secret ballot vote overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. ... We will await certification of the results by the NLRB. Volkswagen thanks its Chattanooga workers for voting in this election."

Argentine Unions Call Another General Strike For May 9

April 15, 2024 ARG Medios, People's Dispatch. Resist! Argentina, General Strike, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) has called for general strike on Thursday May 9. The general strike is the second since Milei took office in December 2023. The measure taken by the CGT is a response to a meeting held a few days prior at the Casa Rosada, during the first official meeting with government officials. In response to their apathy in light of the dire economic, social and political context, the union called for a new measure of force to be unleashed as soon as possible. In the same way as during the first general strike in January, the CGT is calling for a large mobilization, and will be accompanied by other unions, such as the Argentine Workers’ Central Union, and the Argentine Workers’ Central Union (Autonomous).

Philadelphia: Workers March For Palestine, Protest Militarized Robots

April 14, 2024 Dan Feidt, Unicorn Riot. Resist! Israel, Killer Robots, Palestine, Philadelphia, Unions, weapons

Philadelphia, PA — On Saturday, April 13, local groups protested Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed 33,000 Palestinians according to the latest figures. The march gathered in Clark Park. Organizers say that workers and unions are sending the message today. The Philly Palestine Coalition says groups involved include the Labor for Black Lives Coalition, Healthcare Workers for Palestine, Philly IWW, TNG Local 10/CWA Local 38010, SEIU Healthcare PA, Unity Caucus, Philly Tenants Union, & Workers World Party. According to the post, “Our goal is clear: to stand in unwavering solidarity with Palestinian workers and communities.

Occidental College Undergrad Workers Join Campus Labor Movement

April 13, 2024 Mel Buer, The Real News Network. Organize! California, Education, Los Angeles, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Los Angeles - Occidental College, one of the first liberal arts colleges established in California, presents a portrait of the idyllic all-American collegiate experience that many folks dream about. The small, well-planned campus features a distinctive Beaux-Arts design to its buildings and a tree-lined quad that have been featured in dozens of TV shows and movies over the decades, including Beverly Hills 90210, Clueless, and Jurassic Park III. Just under 2,000 full-time students were officially enrolled at the college in Fall 2022, and it remains one of the few colleges nationwide that focus exclusively on undergraduate education.

Chile On Strike: Worker Anger Spills Over

April 12, 2024 Ursula Fuentes Rivera, Morning Star. Resist! Chile, Strike, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

The diagnosis that emerged at the congress of the CUT, held in January, is that in Chile there is a political alliance between a right wing and a business sector that does not allow the reforms that Chile needs to move forward and a government that, in the face of this blackmail, gives in, because it has been, in political terms, far more centrist or even right wing than anybody expected. During our congress, we elaborated a strategy designed to break this political stalemate and the “national active strike” today is part of this mould-breaking in which the CUT has an important role to play. We have reached an agreement on this course of action with most unions and made public our “social manifesto” of 11 demands that are behind the strike.

Mercedes Tries To Punch Down Alabama Union Momentum

April 12, 2024 Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes. Organize! Alabama, Auto Workers, Mercedes, union busting, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Workers at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama were forced to attend 20-minute anti-union meetings with the company’s top management today. Recordings obtained by Labor Notes show top management dangled carrots and put on a contrite-boss act, promising to do better. Workers filed with the National Labor Relations Board on April 5 for the first-ever election to unionize the 5,200 people who work at the plant. Mercedes claims to be neutral in the election, but it’s also listed as a supporter of the Business Council of Alabama’s anti-union website, Alabama Strong. The Auto Workers (UAW) has filed multiple unfair labor practice charges accusing the company of retaliating against pro-union workers.

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