Workers tell Mayor Frey don’t veto measure

Minneapolis, MN – At their August 17 meeting, the Minneapolis city council voted 7-5 to pass the “Fair Drives Safe Rides” ordinance that would enact a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers as well as protections for drivers against “deactivation” – the companies’ term for firing their drivers.

Seattle, WA – Usually at Angle Lake Park, the noise of jets taking off from nearby SeaTac International Airport drowns out the sound of everyday activity. But on the morning of August 15, it was chants of “Pay us or chaos” that could be heard over everything else, as hundreds gathered for the Day of Solidarity informational picket in support of Association of Flight Attendants-CWA’s fight for a new contract.

Milwaukee, WI – On the morning of August 14, 15 workers at Ascension Saint Francis Hospital (SFH) represented by the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP) Local 5000 marched to the top hospital administrator's office with a stack of 144 individual grievances. Administration denied the union workers at SFH a bonus while providing it to the non-bargaining unit workers at the hospital and to workers at all of the other non-union Ascension hospitals in the state.

Minneapolis, MN – On August 8, a proposed ordinance that would guarantee Uber and Lyft drivers a minimum wage and give them some protections against “deactivation” (firing) came one step closer to becoming law in Minneapolis.

Tallahassee, FL – On August 9, Florida State University (FSU) and Graduate Assistants United (FSU-GAU), the labor union of graduate assistants (GAs) at FSU, reached an agreement on several articles in the collective bargaining agreement after several months of bargaining. The articles will now have to be ratified by the bargaining unit through an election that will be conducted in the coming weeks.

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Transit Justice Coalition (CTJC) is a rank-and-file opposition caucus of Chicago Transit Authority workers in Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241/308. They publish a newsletter called Finally Got the News. The CTJC was launched in December of 2019. They encourage 241/308 members to be proactive in fighting against what Local 308 member Eric Basir describes as “tyrannical managers.”

Chicago, IL – 200 workers at Loretto Hospital are on the ninth day of their #StrikeForStaffing. This is their slogan because they are the lowest-paid CNAs, housekeepers and tech workers in any safety net hospital in Chicago. Because of their low wages, workers have to work 50 or 60 hours a week to make ends meet. Being forced to work excessive overtime isn’t best for patient care.

De Pere, WI – Members of Teamsters Local 662 at New Dairy Select Milk, a subsidiary of Borden Dairy, formerly known as Morning Glory, have been on strike for four weeks over the company’s refusal to negotiate a fair deal on workers’ healthcare coverage.

On Sunday, August 13 at 3 p.m. Pacific time (4 p.m. Mountain / 5 p.m. Central / 6 p.m. Eastern), Freedom Road Socialist Organization will be hosting an online event entitled “Class Struggle Unionism and the Tentative Agreement at UPS” featuring rank-and-file Teamsters, some of whom are FRSO members.

Edison, NJ – Members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 4-200  began an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike, August 4,  at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick.