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Worker Rights

Union Starbucks Baristas Overwhelmingly Authorize ULP Strike

Nationwide - Union baristas announced Wednesday that they have authorized an open-ended unfair labor practice (ULP) strike with 92% voting “yes” ahead of the critical holiday season. The vote comes after six months of Starbucks refusing to offer new proposals to address workers’ demands for better staffing, higher pay, and a resolution of hundreds of unfair labor practice charges. “Our fight is about actually making Starbucks jobs the best jobs in retail. Right now, it’s only the best job in retail for Brian Niccol,” said Jasmine Leli, a 3-year Starbucks barista and strike captain from Buffalo, NY.

Boeing Machinists Strike At Three Months

With their strike against Boeing closing in on three months, St. Louis members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 837 have now rejected Boeing’s fourth disrespectful contract offer. The workers walked out on Aug. 4. Facing an austerity contract from a powerful monopoly corporation, the Machinists have shown tremendous resilience. Boeing is heavily involved in supplying war planes from the St. Louis plants for the Pentagon’s war on Gaza. Boeing and the Pentagon’s genocidal war against Gaza has the makings of an economic war on strikers at the company’s main military division in St. Louis.

How El Salvador’s Labor Martyrs Shaped A Revolutionary Tradition

October 31 in El Salvador is recognized as the Day of the Salvadoran Trade Unionist.  This year’s commemoration event brought together veteran organizers and a new generation of grassroots leaders, bridging past and present struggles for workers’ rights and social change. “This date brings us back to the origin of labor organizing in our country,” asserted Marisela Ramírez, a leader of the Popular Resistance and Rebellion Bloc, at the rally at Cuscatlán Park in San Salvador, organized by the group. “We remember with dignity, the history of struggle, resistance, and sacrifice, of the labor movement in El Salvador.” 

Wage Stagnation Vs. Living Wages For US Workers Today

At the end of last August, President Donald Trump asserted that average wages for U.S. workers had risen by $546 during the first six months since he returned to office in January 2025. As with virtually all of Trump’s pronouncements, this one bears little relationship to the truth. In fact, when using the most reliable government data on wages and then controlling for inflation, workers’ wages did still rise under Trump, but by $26—that’s 95% less than the $546 average pay raise proclaimed by Trump. The reality of wage stagnation under Trump is fully consistent with his broader attack on working people.

General Strike In Alberta Possible

Workers across Alberta have begun the process of organizing a general strike after the province legislated an end to the teacher’s strike using the notwithstanding clause, according to the Alberta Federation of Labour.  Teachers across the province were on strike from October 6 until the government passed Bill 2 early Tuesday morning, forcing teachers to be back in classrooms the next day. Teachers were calling for better pay, more per-student funding in public education and smaller class sizes.  “Although this legislation will end the strike and lift the lockout, it does not end the underfunding and deterioration of teaching and learning conditions—our schools will not be better for it,” the union wrote on their website. 

Disability Rights Are Workers’ Rights!

For the last few years, the monthly Second Sunday Dialogue public meetings of the Disability Justice and Rights Caucus of Workers World Party (DJRC) have been discussing the idea of a transitional demand: a “Disability Justice, Full Employment, Health Care and Education Second Bill of Rights” amendment to the U.S. Constitution. San Francisco Bay Area disabled activist Michael Karsh is the main architect of this proposal, which is an idea whose time has come. Karsh has written the following justification for such an amendment at this time: “The Disability Justice, Full Employment, Health Care & Education Second Bill of Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would transform the U.S. Constitution into a human rights document.

How The Rhizome Therapy Cooperative Counters Burnout

“One of the things I don't think a lot of people outside the mental health field realize,” says clinical social worker Evelyn Heflin, “is that a lot of community mental health agencies, because they're underfunded, and private practices that are larger agency format, really sort of take advantage of the therapists at the bottom.”  Faced with unsustainable caseloads, a lack of additional support, and inadequate pay for the work they do—a situation grown drastically worse since the COVID pandemic began—over half of mental health clinicians reported experiencing burnout in surveys conducted between 2021 and 2024.

Resident Doctors Say Enough Is Enough

Resident doctors in England have announced that they’ll be walking out on strike next month. They’ll begin the industrial action at 7am on 14 November. The news comes after Labour’s complete failure to bring a credible offer to the table, regarding jobs and pay restoration. England’s BMA (British Medical Association) resident doctors’ committee (RDC) has urged Wes Streeting to do the right thing. They want the health secretary to return with a sensible offer. One that would allow them to call off the strike. So what has Streeting done in return? He’s accused the BMA of trying to “wreck” the NHS, and has called the strike a “slap in the face” for other hospital staff.

We Can’t Rebuild The Labor Movement Without Taking On Big Targets

Last year, U.S. unions cautiously celebrated a turnaround in their organizing fortunes. National Labor Relations Board election win rates had reached 79 percent, and the number of workers organized for the year approached 100,000, the highest number since 2009. Yet these gains masked a harsher reality for labor, even before the disastrous 2024 elections. For the labor movement to grow, it needs to organize millions of workers each year, not 100,000. Organizing continues to lag in fast-growing, low-density sectors such as personal services, IT, finance, and health care, while union-heavy sectors like government and manufacturing keep shedding jobs.

Starbucks Workers Aim To Bring A Contract Home

Unionized Starbucks workers are electing strike captains and getting customers to pledge they won't cross picket lines. They’re amassing in front of stores with picket signs, borrowing a slogan that UPS Teamsters used during their 2023 contract campaign: “Just Practicing for a Just Contract.” Thirty-eight stores held practice pickets in early October, and starting October 25, 80 more stores plan to hold pickets and sign up customers to a “No Contract, No Coffee” pledge, promising not to patronize any Starbucks in case of a strike. “We're all strike-ready,” said Jhoana Canada, a barista in Nashville.

Fighting The Arms Trade: An Inside Job?

"You're just a war criminal,” the heckler said, appearing seemingly from nowhere. “If you’re working inside the arms industry, that makes you a war criminal. You’re complicit with imperialism,” she said, directing her ire at the Unite union rep sitting next to me. “How am I?” he asked as the rest of the table fell into an awkward silence. The rep was one of the speakers at a panel discussion at The World Transformed (TWT) Festival 2025 in Manchester last Saturday, focused on opposing militarism. His name and employer did not appear on TWT’s programme listing for the event, and so we’d better keep his identity anonymous here too.

Artificial Intelligence: Principles To Protect Workers

There is a path where new technology makes work better and safer, with good union jobs that have fair pay and better job quality. In this vision, working people have economic security, knowing that companies and public agencies must follow rules to make sure technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) is used safely, responsibly, and fairly. These rules put people first, and include worker input in the research and development (R&D) process, during development and deployment, and at the collective bargaining table where they negotiate protections with employers. There is accountability with meaningful enforcement so that employers think twice before designing or using AI systems that hurt workers or communities.

Climate Change Sets Workers’ Feet On Fire

This summer, there were days in tropical cities when it was unbearable to walk out in the sunlight. In Mango, Togo, for instance, the temperature soared to 44°C in March and April. Heat maps depict a world on fire, red hot flames licking the planet from the equator outwards. If the air temperature is around 44°C, then the temperature of asphalt and concrete surfaces can exceed 60°C. Since second-degree burns occur in less than five seconds at 60°C, those exposed to that heat are liable to burn their skin. Walking the streets of these burning cities is hard enough with shoes – imagine what it must be like for the millions of people who lack appropriate footwear but must work outdoors during the hottest parts of the day.

All Licensed Government Professionals Join Historic BC Strike

The number of public service workers taking job action in BC has now surpassed 26,000 after workers represented by the Professional Employees Association (PEA) escalated their strike to include all Government Licensed Professionals they represent. PEA represents 1,600 workers on strike. They are joined on the picket lines by more than 25,000 striking public workers represented by the British Columbia General Employees Union (BCGEU). Talks between the government and the BCGEU began in January and bargaining with PEA began in May. Since then, both unions have decried what they call insufficient wage offers.

Reshaping The Music Industry Through Solidarity

The music industry doesn’t have to be exploitative. What if artists owned the platforms we depend on? What if musicians shared resources, power, and profits—together?  Recorded live at AmericanaFest 2025, this panel explores how music cooperatives are reshaping the industry through solidarity, not exploitation. We discuss:  Why artists need alternatives to Spotify and corporate streaming.  How cooperatives create sustainable careers for musicians.  Building movements rooted in community, equity, and ownership.  This conversation is just the beginning. Together, we can build the music industry we actually want to exist in.
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