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Unions

Inside Your Union, You Have Due Process Rights

Suppose you run for local union office on a reform slate, and nearly win… but then the incumbent leaders trump up charges against you. You’re sure your only crime is challenging them, but they brand your organizing “dual unionism” or “conduct unbecoming a member.” They hold a trial, find you guilty, and suspend your membership. Do you have any recourse? Most unions have an internal discipline process—a way to expel, suspend, or fine members for breaking the union’s rules. Most members have a legal right to due process, and protections against improper discipline, under a 1959 federal law called the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.

Hands Off CUNY: PSC Defends Fired Faculty, Condemns Repression

Members and friends of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) at the City University of New York (CUNY), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) held a press conference in front of City Hall today to condemn what they are calling “modern-day McCarthyism” in higher education and to demand the rehiring of the Fired 4. The press conference comes one day before CUNY’s chancellor joins top administrators from University of California, Berkeley and Georgetown University to testify in Washington before the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Amazon Workers Win A Union As Company’s Tactics Slammed

Amazon workers in Delta have won the battle to unionize after the BC Labour Relations Board found the company committed “serious” offences to try and block an organizing drive. The board ruled Thursday that Unifor Local 114 should be automatically certified because the company interfered with employees’ efforts to exercise their rights. The union accused Amazon of bringing on dozens of new hires at the Delta distribution centre to interfere with a union drive and intimidating employees with an anti-union drive. Amazon denied the allegations and says it will fight the decision.

Trash Pickup Strikes Spread Nationwide

A local sanitation workers strike that began on July 1 in Boston, Massachusetts, and left trash unpicked across the city is now spreading nationwide in a series of labor actions coordinated by the Teamsters union as frustrated workers demand better pay and benefits from Republic Services, a major waste disposal company. The Teamsters said in an email on Friday that about 550 sanitation workers were on strike in multiple cities while 1,600 others refused to cross picket line extensions in solidarity with the strikers at local Republic Services sites in Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois, Washington State, and California.

Union Healthcare Workers Strike Across Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday, July 8 around 300 registered nurses working at clinics for Essentia Health In Northern Minnesota began an open-ended strike. The nurses are represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) and have filed unfair labor practice charges against their boss Essentia Health. Management is refusing to bargain in good faith with the unionized workers. Two days into the nurses’ strike, on July 10, around 430 MNA members, advanced practice providers (APP), also walked off the job in dozens of locations. These workers began an open-ended strike of their own against Essentia Health.

Longshore Workers Remember The Struggle To Free The Charleston Five

Dockworkers from around the world reunited in South Carolina for a week in June to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the successful campaign to “Free the Charleston 5” and the founding of the International Dockworkers Council. For nearly two years, five members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) faced felony rioting charges and prison sentences stemming from their roles in a January 2000 confrontation with police at the entrance to the Columbus Street Terminal in Charleston. The case sparked international outcry from unions and civil rights groups, who viewed the charges as a racist attack on organized labor by politically ambitious South Carolina Attorney General Charles Condon.

Teamsters Union Exposes UPS Plan To Reduce Union Jobs Through Buyouts

Minneapolis, MN – On July 3, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters published an alert laying out a plan by the United Parcel Service (UPS) to offer buyouts for UPS drivers to retire early in exchange for cash payouts. When the Teamsters sent out the alert, UPS had not yet announced the plan publicly. Then on July 4, the company announced the plan which they are calling the Driver Voluntary Severance Program (DVSP). For many drivers, taking the buyout would forfeit benefits they have accrued as part of their contract. Carol Tomé is the CEO of UPS, and the company has been focused recently on plans to reduce jobs at UPS across the country.

The Anti-Labor Forces Pushing The Abundance Movement

The post-Reconstruction United States has never seen durable progressive change without the labor movement’s involvement. The postwar economy’s rapid, widely distributed gains in material conditions for everyday Americans may be the banner accomplishment, but the movement’s contributions to progress go far further. Working women organized through the labor movement became significant drivers of the suffrage movement. Unions played an essential role in the Civil Rights movement, including the steelworkers and UAW providing crucial support for the March on Washington.

Fight ICE; Build The Union

It was the morning of June 9, and Genie Kastrup, president of Service Employees Local 1, stood in front of Chicago’s Daley Plaza and bellowed into a microphone. “What is happening right now is about silencing voices,” she said, flanked by members of her union holding signs that read “Free David Huerta.” “It's about dividing working people,” she continued. “It's about dividing our communities against the have and have nots. It is abusing power.” The demonstration was one of 37 taking place that day across the country to protest the June 6 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assault and detention of Huerta, the president of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West.

Sanitation And City Services Workers Strike In Philly Labor Battle

Philadelphia, PA —  A working class uprising continued through Fourth of July celebration week in the “poorest big city” in the United States. Jammed locks at health centers, opened fire hydrants, slashed tires, blocked trucks, and blocked access to work sites were just a few allegations brought by City Solicitor Renee Garcia in a recent press conference. Two injunctions have been filed that require a limited number of essential workers to return to work and a third aims to stop “unlawful activity” by union members who are striking for better pay and benefits. Despite court orders, the city had received numerous reports of noncompliance, according to Garcia, “and they have not stopped.”

The National Education Association Voted To Cut All Ties To The ADL

In a momentous vote, the National Education Association’s 7,000-member policymaking body cut all ties with the Anti-Defamation League. On July 6, the NEA’s national Representative Assembly approved New Business Item 39, committing that the NEA “will not use, endorse, or publicize materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), such as its curricular materials or statistics.” The reasoning: “Despite its reputation as a civil rights organization, the ADL is not the social justice educational partner it claims to be.” The ADL has been a ubiquitous presence in U.S. schools for nearly forty years, pushing curriculum, direct programming, and teacher training into K-12 schools and increasingly into universities – often over the objections of students, parents, and educators.

‘Holding The Line’: Municipal Workers’ Strike Enters Second Week

Philadelphia's largest municipal workers' strike in over 40 years is entering its second week after negotiations with the city broke down this weekend. Over 9,000 sanitation workers, 911 dispatchers, water services workers, crossing guards, and other city employees walked off the job last week, demanding that the city increase their salary enough to meet the rising cost of living. But even with trash piling up on the streets and other city services understaffed, Mayor Cherelle Parker (D) would not agree to the demands made by AFSCME District Council 33, Philadelphia's largest blue-collar union. Parker has offered a pay increase of 8.75% over the next three years, which she described as historic.

Workers’ Rights Are Under Attack, Here’s How We Fight Back

July 5 marked the 90th anniversary of the Wagner Act, also known as the National Labor Relations Act, which created the National Labor Relations Board and created mechanisms for workers to expand their rights and protections. Clearing the FOG speaks with longtime labor activist Steve Early about how worker militancy led to the Wagner Act, which was successful in increasing the percentage of unionized workers. Early explains how attacks on workers have weakened the Wagner Act, leading to a sharp decline in unionization. He states that now, "corporate America is moving in for the kill." Early provides insight into ways workers can fight back in the current system.

Minneapolis Teamsters Fight For Safety In Summer Heat

Minneapolis – Local 638 Teamsters tabled at the northeast Minneapolis UPS hub on Thursday, July 3. They distributed flyers on heat safety and union contract enforcement. Drivers coming in, and warehouse workers leaving for the day, stopped to learn about their rights, grab some lemonade, and share experiences as temperatures reached the 90-plus range in Minneapolis. Inside the warehouse and inside package cars, temperatures are regularly five to ten degrees higher for workers. As the result of a months-long contract campaign and credible strike threat in 2023, UPS workers won strong contract language. This requires UPS to install 2500 new water fountains, 18,000 new warehouse fans, and 28,000 new or replacement delivery vehicles equipped with air conditioning over the life of the five-year contract.

Over 100 Mauser Teamsters Enter Fourth Week On Strike In Chicago

Chicago, IL – On Wednesday July 2, around 100 striking workers joined the picket line outside Mauser Packaging Solutions Steel Drum Reconditioning plant in Chicago. The facility has sat closed, with the operation halted and the gates locked, for almost a month as a result of the strike called by Teamsters Local 705 due to unfair labor practices committed by Mauser during the negotiations for a new contract. “We are on an Unfair Labor Practice strike against Industrial Container Services (aka Mauser Packaging Solutions) after the company illegally surveilled union members. Members are also fighting for a contract that includes respectable wages, benefits, immigration protection and workplace stability language,” according to a public statement by the union.
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