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Worker Rights and Jobs

Manifiesta To Kick Off A New Political Year For The Left In Europe

September 10, 2023 People's Dispatch. , , , ,
Left-wing forces in Belgium are unofficially kicking off a new political year as thousands of people pour into the coastal city of Ostend to participate in yet another edition of Manifiesta, the fest of solidarity, scheduled for the weekend of September 9-10. Launched for the first time in 2010, Manifiesta has evolved into a gathering of at least 15,000 people who convene not only for discussions and debates but also for bonding and evenings of music. The festival provides passersby with a glimpse of the diversity of left-wing movements. The program is shaped to address pressing topics such as workplace rights of health personnel and the climate crisis, while also emphasizing the significance of feminism, anti-imperialism, peace advocacy, and solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and the Cuban Revolution.

Scary Headlines About ‘Economic Impact’ Of Strikes Erode Solidarity

September 9, 2023 Adam Johnson, The Real News Network. , , , ,
Whenever there are workers in America standing up for themselves and going on strike against their employer, there is, inevitably, someone in the media hand-wringing about the harmful impact workers standing up for themselves will have on The Economy. But a recent piece by Sarah Lazare, co-published by Workday Magazine and The American Prospect, exposed a glaring conflict of interest for American media’s favorite go-to source when centering the “economic losses” of potential strikes. Here are just some examples of major headlines based on “studies” of how certain impending or potential strikes could harm “the economy”.

Fight For Safety, Own The Shop Floor

September 9, 2023 Keith Brower Brown, Labor Notes. , , ,
Earlier this year, on the Ford stamping line in Buffalo, sewage started pouring onto the floor. Careless managers had shut down a pump to install new equipment and caused a deluge. The workers didn't work meekly through the dizzying stench. They shut down their line, fast. And they did it with so much unity that their manager decided not to fight back. That collective action didn't come out of nowhere. Over the last few years, Auto Workers at Local 897 have built a fighting safety culture. They elected new local officers who turned “militant” into a badge of honor. Members stopped the line when poorly routed forklifts dropped metal sheets near workers.

The Chicago Teachers Union Won Big; What Comes Next?

September 9, 2023 Jim Daley, In These Times. , , , , ,
On the last Friday of summer break, Stacy Davis Gates was in high spirits. At a back-to-school party in the parking lot of Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) headquarters, she bounced from one group to another, smiling as she posed for photos with alderpersons, union activists, parents and children. Davis Gates, who has been the president of the CTU for a little over a year, has good reason to be happy. In April, Brandon Johnson, a former middle school teacher and CTU organizer, was elected mayor. And Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Pedro Martinez, who often mentions that he’s a product of CPS, was also at the party, beaming and shaking hands.

Southern Washington Educators Are On Strike

September 9, 2023 Lyn Neeley, Workers World. , , , ,
A huge picket line stretched nearly a half mile around the Washington State Evergreen Public Schools headquarters on Sept. 1. It was the first day of school, and 1,500 educators from Evergreen County, on the third day of their strike, were joined by 450 Camas County educators who had been out since Aug 28. Evergreen School District No. 114 is a public school district in the state’s Clark County, and serves the city of Vancouver, Washington. Passing cars honked, and chants rose from a sea of red Tee-shirt-wearing teachers, all carrying strike signs reading “Evergreen Education Association: ON STRIKE!” Numerous local area businesses put up signs in their windows supporting the educators’ strike.

Countering Dangerous Work At Amazon

September 8, 2023 Caitlyn Clark, Labor Notes. , , ,
Amazon workers at the STL8 fulfillment center in St. Peters, Missouri, filed an OSHA complaint August 3 against the company for health and safety violations in their warehouse. The complaint claims that the company deliberately discourages workers from receiving medical care when they are injured. Workers say that AMCARE, Amazon’s in-house medical staff, repeatedly dismiss medical complaints and keep Amazon workers on the job despite sustaining sprains, torn ligaments, slipped discs, pinched nerves, and concussions. Amazon employs more than 3,000 workers at STL8, northwest of St. Louis.

Academia Is In Crisis, And It’s Time For A Change

September 7, 2023 Raura Doreste, Left Voice. , , ,
Postdoctoral researchers at New York City’s Mount Sinai hospital voted by 91 percent to authorize a strike. Left Voice interviewed Andrea Joseph, a first-year Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences and member of the SPOC-UAW Bargaining Committee. Andrea spoke about how the negotiations are developing with the Mount Sinai administration, what the postdocs demands’ are for a strong contract, and what changes they expect to see from the administration. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Flight Attendants Prepare To Fight

September 6, 2023 Joe Piette, Workers World. , , ,
Following the announcement that 99.47% of American Airlines (AA) flight attendants across the U.S. voted to authorize a strike if company officials fail to agree to a 35% wage increase, workers outside Philadelphia Airport’s Terminal A West on Aug. 30, jumped up and yelled in unison, raising and waving their picket signs that said it all: “Ready to Strike!” Members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, who haven’t had a wage increase since 2019, also picketed in front of over nine airport terminals from Los Angeles’ LAX to Boston’s BOS on the same day. The vote and widespread picketing “made it clear to American management that we are fired up, unified, and standing together for a contract with significant improvements to compensation, retirement, scheduling flexibility, and more.

Waves Of Strikes Rippling Across The US Seem Big

September 5, 2023 Judith Stepan-Norris and Jasmine Kerrissey, Scheer Post. , , ,
More than 323,000 workers – including nurses, actors, screenwriters, hotel cleaners and restaurant servers – walked off their jobs during the first eight months of 2023. Hundreds of thousands of the employees of delivery giant UPS would have gone on strike, too, had they not reached a last-minute agreement. And nearly 150,000 autoworkers may go on a strike of historic proportions in mid-September if the United Autoworkers Union and General Motors, Ford and Stellantis – the company that includes Chrysler – don’t agree on a new contract soon. This crescendo of labor actions follows a relative lull in U.S. strikes and a decline in union membership that began in the 1970s.

Canadian Workers, The Social-Ecological Crisis and Alternatives

September 5, 2023 Socialist Project. , , , ,
As workers, we are today confronted with the challenge of defending what we have and making gains in the face of an ever-expanding and relentless employer offensive. The employers’ drive to increase productivity and profits – central to capitalism everywhere – demands that we accept job loss and insecurity, concessions, new forms of speedup, and expanded management control in the workplace. More of us are forced to work in precarious forms of employment, making ourselves ‘flexible’ without access to unemployment and other social benefits or hope of a decent pension.

Attacks On Abortion Rights Are Attacks On All Workers

September 5, 2023 Natascha Elena Uhlmann, In These Times. , , , ,
Over the past year, workers have seen our lives irrevocably changed. The Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision gutted a fundamental right to bodily autonomy and plunged millions into crisis and uncertainty. Almost immediately, a litany of horror stories emerged. Doctors denying life saving care for fear of retribution; women trapped with their abusers or killed for accessing abortion care; children — already subjected to unspeakable violence — forced to seek the procedure in the shadows, lest they bear children of their own. Since the ruling, 14 states have implemented full abortion bans, and several others are working tirelessly to restrict access.

Dilemmas Of Humanity Conference In The US Outlines Principle Task

September 4, 2023 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. , , , ,
“We know this system is in crisis,” said Manolo De Los Santos, co-executive director of the People’s Forum and lifelong communist, opening the Dilemmas of Humanity: A Socialist Horizon conference in Atlanta, Georgia. This conference was organized by the International People’s Assembly-North America as part of the IPA’s international conference series, “Dilemmas of Humanity,” which will conclude with an international conference in Johannesburg in October. The US-based conference was held in Atlanta’s Neighborhood Church on September 2, and supported by organizations such as Community Movement Builders, Faith Coalition to Stop Cop City, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Peoples Forum, Unión de Vecinos, and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.

‘Death Star’ Law Is Struck Down In Texas

September 3, 2023 Steve Wishnia, Work-Bites. , , , ,
Austin, Texas - On Aug. 30, at the end of a summer in which the temperature in Austin topped 100° for a record 45 consecutive days, a local judge ruled unconstitutional a new state law intended to nullify local ordinances that require water breaks for construction workers. Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble held that the law violated a 1912 amendment to the state constitution that gives cities and towns with more than 5,000 people the power of self-government. “The Court DECLARES House Bill 2127 in its entirety is unconstitutional — facially, and as applied to Houston as a constitutional home rule city and to local laws that are not pre-empted under article XI, section 5 of the Texas Constitution,” she wrote in a two-page order.

Don’t Blame My Fellow Retail Workers For Poor Service, Blame Our CEOS

September 2, 2023 Felix Allen, Scheer Post. , , , ,
Ever get mad at a delivery person for bringing your pizza late? That used to be me. Now I assume it’s late because an overpaid boss is probably making two employees do the job of 10. That’s because I worked for two years at a company with the kind of chronic understaffing that plagues many of America’s largest retailers and fast food corporations. My job was to build merchandise displays at Lowe’s, the home improvement chain. I wasn’t supposed to deal directly with customers. But when people asked me for help, I was often the only employee available. So I wound up doing everything from sawing lumber to cutting keys — all the while worrying about finishing my assigned projects.

‘Angry, Terrified, And Excited’: Adjunct On New Semester Amid Contract Talks

September 2, 2023 A CUNY Adjunct Faculty Member, Left Voice. , , , ,
As a CUNY adjunct starting this semester without a contract, I am filled with anger, terror, and excitement — a mix of reactions I’ll try to explain here. My anger predates our current contract struggle. Having taught at various CUNY campuses over the past six years, I’m furious about adjuncts’ working conditions and the resulting student learning conditions. As underpaid, expendable, and often invisible employees, adjuncts, who teach the majority of classes at the university, often find out our schedules mere days — or even hours — before the semester begins, and we are therefore forced to throw together syllabuses and assignments at the last minute.
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