Milwaukee, WI – Around this time every year, open-enrollment for health insurance benefits begins at the Milwaukee Center For Independence (MCFI), a social services agency in Milwaukee. Workers at the agency meet a range of needs such as mental health services, day-programming for people with disabilities, and job-training for people who want to enter the workforce.

Milwaukee, WI—The Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention met with officials from the city of Milwaukee on May 21 to discuss the coalition’s permit and plan to protest. The goals of the coalition are to defeat President Trump and to advance a progressive people’s agenda, thus building stronger movements to challenge the Democratic Party. Lawyers for the Wisconsin ACLU arranged the meeting and led the discussions.

Chicago, IL – Educators at EPIC Academy College Prep who are seeking to join the Chicago Teachers Union celebrated the afternoon of May 18, when the NLRB – the National Labor Relations Board – blocked their employer’s reckless demand that they hold an in-person union election at the school. Such an election would have forced workers to risk their own health and the health of their loved ones during the shelter-in-place order.

Part of effort to place the burden of the economic crisis on workers

San José, CA – On May 14, Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom laid out his plan to deal with a projected $54 billion budget deficit for the state of California. Included in the plan was to save almost $3 billion by cutting state workers’ pay by 10%.

Salt Lake City, UT – UPS Teamsters are working extremely long hours in hazardous conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, putting themselves and their families at risk with no hazard pay. UPS was late to provide sufficient personal protective equipment for workers and only did so after workers demanded it. Still, many areas lack the appropriate PPE to stay safe at work. The Teamsters union has not put hazard pay on the negotiating table for UPS Teamsters; workers are organizing on the shop floor to win their demand. UPS recently announced their quarterly profits at almost $1 billion.

Chicago, IL – I have lived into my sixties without giving really serious thought to 19th century English literature. My Catholic school teachers like Sister Irene and Sister Bridget continuously tried, but 45 years ago I was living the life of Eric Forman from That 70s Show. Younger and hipper lay teachers successfully introduced me to African American authors like Claude Brown, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin. As a result, at the time I consumed Charles Dickens’ literature largely through a series of second-rate movies, cartoons and uneven theatrical performances that typically undermined the author’s work.

Gainesville, GA – COVID-19 virus is spreading quickly among poultry workers and their families in Georgia. In Hall County, northeast of Atlanta, there is a hotspot with over 2000 cases and 29 deaths as of May 12. With roughly 16,500 workers employed by 14 chicken plants across Georgia, and most immigrant families living with two or three generations in one house, the situation is code red. There needs to be an emergency response from the government and the corporations.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following May 13 statement from the World Federation of Trade Unions.

St. Paul, MN – As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise across Minnesota, members of the Minnesota Nurses Association have announced that they will march on May 20 from Allina Health United Hospital to the Minnesota State Capitol to demand that management of United Hospital and other hospitals provide proper PPE, training, and safety, as well as transparency to keep nurses and other healthcare workers safe. They will also be delivering a petition with over 10,000 signatures to the Minnesota Department of Health demanding a Pandemic Bill of Rights to keep Minnesotans safe. Social distancing guidelines will be followed during the march.

Appleton, WI – There’s a fear in polite American culture to engage in conflict. Strong words are discouraged, anger is derided, and extremism is posed as the singular problem; this unites all the various gasbags who turn our culture into such a toxic environment, where concepts like truth and justice have little hope to survive.

Green Bay, WI – While Wisconsin business owners and their political allies claimed local COVID-19 cases were on the decline and pressed to repeal Governor Ever’s Safer at Home order, manufacturing plants in Brown County were experiencing a huge outbreak of the deadly viral disease amongst the workers. Cases at three meatpacking plants – JBS Packerland, American Foods Group, and Salm Partners – have accounted for over half of the county’s cases, even as the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union fought for and won vital hazard pay, safer working conditions, and personal protection equipment (PPE) for its members, following concerns raised by the immigrant advocacy group Voces de la Frontera.

Chicago, IL – Close to 400,000 students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are in their seventh week of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this haze of attempting to teach the children of Chicago one thing is becoming crystal clear: disparity. According to NBC Chicago 52% of coronavirus deaths are of African American people and 25% are Latinos. Working-class African American and Latino neighborhoods on the South and West Sides are being hit much harder than predominantly white neighborhoods downtown and on the North Side.

The U.S.-backed regime of Philippines President Duterte has launched a wave of repression against the militant and powerful trade union grouping, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)/May First Movement. We urge members of unions, community groups, student and other progressive organizations to stand with our brothers and sisters in the Philippines by demanding an end to this repression.

Madison, WI – On a sunny May 1 afternoon which marked both May Day and A Day Without Immigrants, a caravan comprised of about 20 different vehicles made its way to the Capitol Square in a careful procession in support of a timely cause.

Lansing, MI – UPS announced first quarter profits of $965 million. The profits are down only slightly from last year’s $1.1 billion, despite the closure of many commercial businesses. UPS has filled this commercial business shortfall with an increase in residential delivery, causing long hours of work for package car drivers.

Milwaukee, WI – The United States Postal Service (USPS) is in a state of crisis. Nearly 15 years ago, Congress forced the Postal Service into financial ruin through a mandate to pre-fund retiree benefits for 80 years in advance. Since 2013, this pre-funding mandate has accounted for 100% of losses. The mandate has been kept alive in spite of an independent audit which proved that for decades, the federal government had been using a flawed accounting method which caused USPS to overpay into federal pension systems by roughly $86 billion. No other company or government entity is forced to do this and the impulse behind it is clear- break the postal service, weaken postal unions, and sell off profitable parts of USPS.

Tampa, FL – With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis putting workers at risk and UPS making huge profits, many rank-and-file Teamsters are demanding hazard pay. Teamsters in Tampa, Florida are organizing co-workers to fight for it.

Trump and Republican governors try to force workers back to unsafe jobs

San José, CA – On Thursday, April 30, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that more than 3.8 million new claims for unemployment insurance or UI were filed in the previous week ending April 25. This means that over the last six weeks more than 30 million claims have been filed. This means that the actual unemployment rate is about 25%, a level similar to the worst of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Second UIC hospital worker confirmed dead of COVID-19

Chicago, IL – A University of Illinois health operating room technician, represented by SEIU Local 73, passed away this week of COVID-19 complications. An UI Health RN, represented by Illinois Nurses Association (INA), passed away last week. Over 200 hospital workers have tested positive for COVID-19. The two workers who died were not assigned to COVID-19 designated floors. There is a growth of infection outside the COVID-19 designated floors. Many employees throughout the hospital are only given surgical masks and gloves as protection.

Minneapolis, MN – With the Minnesota governor’s stay-at-home order set to expire on May 4, and as COVID-19 cases are beginning to spike across the state, hundreds of Minnesotans are calling on Governor Tim Walz to resist the pressure from right-wing business groups and keep Minnesota closed until a time at which it is safe to reopen.