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Worker Rights and Jobs

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.

Indian Farmers Reject Proposed Trade Deals With West

Free trade agreements (FTAs) with countries in the West would harm India’s agriculture, its farmers, and small industries, claimed one of India’s largest farmer’s groups, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), in a press release on Tuesday, July 1. AIKS also extended its support for and announced participation in the upcoming national strike on July 9 against the policies of the ultra-right-wing government in the country. Over 150 million members, along with other constituents of the farmers’ coalition Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), will participate in demonstrations in towns and villages across India on July 9, claimed AIKS in a press release on Tuesday, July 1.

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.

Philadelphia DC 33 Strikers: ‘When We Fight, We Win!’

Philadelphia, PA - As the historic strike by 9,000 members of Philadelphia’s American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33 continues, workers’ militancy is escalating, and support for them is growing. Mountains of uncollected garbage are growing at official city collection sites in neighborhoods around the city. Some have been dubbed “the Parker Piles” after Mayor Cherelle Parker. Actions in support of the striking workers are being held all over the city, from protests outside municipal buildings to shutdowns of scab trash collection sites to librarians’ refusals to cross the picket lines of their library staff maintenance coworkers.

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.

Philadelphia Municipal Workers Strike Before July 4 Celebrations

Nine thousand blue-collar workers who make Philadelphia run went on strike July 1. After sacrificing through the pandemic and years of bruising inflation, they say they’re on strike so they can afford to live in the city they serve. Already, uncollected garbage is piling up as the workers, members of AFSCME District Council 33, defend their strike lines. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the term “essential worker” into widespread use, but many experienced a gap between how they were talked about and how they were treated. They were called essential, but regarded as disposable. In June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, hundreds of Philadelphia sanitation workers and other DC 33 members rallied to demand hazard pay and personal protective equipment.

Philadelphia’s Largest Blue-Collar Workers’ Union Goes On Strike

Philadelphia's largest city workers' union is on strike for the first time in nearly 40 years on Tuesday after a deal couldn't be reached with the city. AFSCME District Council 33, which represents thousands of city workers, including trash collectors and police dispatchers, is walking off the job after negotiations didn't end in a deal. The union last went on a strike in 1986. Here's what you need to know about the strike and how it will affect Philadelphia. District Council 33 represents about 9,000 city workers in services handled by the Sanitation Department, Water Department, Police Dispatch, Streets Department, maintenance at the airport and more. The union left Monday morning's negotiations with the Parker administration without a new contract in place.

Denver Safeway Workers Go On Strike

Denver, CO – On Sunday morning, June 14, Safeway and Albertsons workers started their first unfair labor practices strike in Colorado since 1996. The strike comes after nine months of failed negotiations and 18 months without a pay raise. Workers are demanding livable wages, protection for healthcare and pensions, and an end to ongoing understaffing. The most recent contract proposal was rejected since it met none of these demands. A statement from the union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, said, “The ongoing unfair labor practices, including bad faith bargaining, as well as surveilling and threatening workers, have given us no choice but to strike.”

Amazon Workers Defy Dictates Of Automation

Amazon delivery stations are being outfitted with robots across the country, leading to fewer workers and speedup for the workers that remain. Workers have reacted with defiance at the delivery station where I work. Amazon fulfillment centers, where items are packaged up, have been gradually automating, but until now, delivery stations were mostly operated by human labor. Now, entire systems are being retrofitted or entirely removed “in the name of safety” and “for the good of employees.” But automation means workers will be laid off, shifted into new positions, or forced to transfer. I work at the New York delivery station DBK4, in Maspeth, Queens, and it’s a window into this future.

Muslim American Workers Advancing The Labor Movement

Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the U.S., with an estimated 8 million Muslim-Americans projected by 2050. Muslims have long been part of American history, especially within African American communities. Today, Muslim Americans are racially, ethnically, and nationally diverse—and face significant economic hardship and workplace discrimination. According to the Pew Research Center, they are three times more likely to be unemployed and more likely to earn under $30,000 annually than the general population. Despite these challenges, Muslim Americans are politically engaged and active in community issues.

Colombian Workers Win Long-Awaited Labor Reform

After several months of intense debate, the government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, achieved a new political victory and a key campaign promise when the legislature approved his long-awaited labor reform bill. Petro had tried on multiple occasions to have the reform passed, but the opposition managed to stop it every time. Undeterred, the president announced a popular referendum so that Colombians could decide on the proposed articles. The call for a popular referendum, which was accompanied by large mobilizations nationwide, turned out to be very controversial.

Breakthru Beverages Strike Enters Third Week

Tampa, FL – The picket line outside the Breakthru Beverages warehouse near Tampa, Florida stood strong Monday, June 23, despite intense summer heat and torrential daily thunderstorms. Truck drivers for Breakthru Beverages in Florida entered their third week on strike last Friday as they continue their fight for union recognition and the return of their coworkers fired for union activity. 160 employees across the state walked out on May 30. Contract negotiations broke down after the company refused to bargain for pension and healthcare. After working all through the pandemic where liquor sales went through the roof, the company has given them nothing.

Fighting Mid-Contract Changes Can Build The Union

Often our best opportunity to strengthen the union—to build activism, solidarity, and leadership—comes during contract negotiations. Under most U.S. union contracts, this is the only time we are legally free to use our greatest power, the strike. But during the years between negotiations, it’s easy to revert to a sleepy “business union” model. We may reinforce passivity or dependence among the members we “serve” by handling their day-to-day problems “for” them instead of mobilizing their power and true ownership of the local. How can we mobilize members during the long periods between contracts?

New York-Based Tabletop Workers United Win A Union Contract

Workers at three New York City-based board game cafes have successfully ratified a union contract nearly two years after first organizing. Tabletop Workers United, which represents over 100 staff from Hex&Co, The Brooklyn Strategist, and The Uncommons, says the contract will last three years and is the first of its kind for tabletop businesses in New York. Ratification transforms the contract from a tentative agreement between the union’s bargaining unit and ownership into a legally binding document. The contract secures a number of critical demands for workers, including progressive pay increases that prioritize workers currently earning the least.

Mexican GM Workers To Vote On Union At Second Plant

Workers at a second General Motors assembly plant in Mexico will vote June 25 to 27 on whether to join SINTTIA (the National Auto Workers Union), the independent union that won a landmark election to represent workers at the company’s Silao plant in 2022. A win for SINTTIA at the plant, located 90 miles north of Silao in San Luis Potosí, would mark a major breakthrough for Mexico’s labor movement. It would be the first time that an independent union represents two assembly plants at one of the Big Three automakers. The 6,500 workers set to vote produce the GMC Terrain and the Chevrolet Trax and Equinox SUVs.

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