Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Labor

By staff

Steelworkers are getting prepared for strike.

Pittsburgh, PA – Steelworkers represented by United Steelworkers (USW) are making preparations to strike against ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel company. The union is currently discussing plans for an orderly shutdown with the company in the event a strike occurs. Picket duty surveys, which workers fill out with their times available to picket, have also been distributed to the membership.

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By staff

Sarah Chambers speaks at the Rally for Equality.

Chicago, IL – Nearly 500 teachers, students, parents and allies gathered at the Chicago Board of Education, Sept. 26, to call for equal pay for equal work for charter school educators. “We fought for and won a large increase in state funding for education in Chicago, but in our schools most of that money was pocketed by charter operators and not put into their classrooms,” said Chicago Teachers Union Charter Division Chairperson Chris Baehrend.

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By staff

Members of IBT Local 79 are campaigning against a concessionary contract at UPS.

Tampa, FL – With the vote count a little less than two weeks out, west Florida UPSers will be voting ‘no’ on the tentative agreement. Despite retaliation from the company, rank-and-file militants have been informing the membership of Local 79 throughout the contract negotiation process. Now that balloting information has been mailed out and the vote is underway they are making sure UPS Teamsters have received their ballots and voted.

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By staff

Jacksonville, FL – A critical vote is underway on the largest private-sector union contract in the United States. Beginning on Sept. 11, hundreds of thousands of Teamsters at UPS and UPS Freight began receiving ballot information in the mail to vote on their respective tentative agreements, regional supplements and local riders.

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By Fight Back

Lawrenceburg, KY – On Sept. 21, Four Roses Bourbon workers ended a two week strike and successfully prevented the creation of a two-tier system at their workplace. The strike came after workers rejected a concessionary contract offered by the company. Over 50 workers were involved with the work stoppage and are represented by UFCW Local 10D, UFCW Local 23D and NCFO Local 320.

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By staff

![Los Teamsters que trabajan en UPS luchan por trabajos de tiempo completo, un fin](https://i.snap.as/oiptlMkU.jpg “Los Teamsters que trabajan en UPS luchan por trabajos de tiempo completo, un fin Los Teamsters que trabajan en UPS luchan por trabajos de tiempo completo, un fin al tiempo extra excecivo y en contra de las concesiónes.

Los Teamsters que trabajan en UPS luchan por trabajos de tiempo completo, un fin al tiempo extra excecivo y en contra de las con”)

Washington, D.C. – Alrededor de 250,000 Teamsters recibirán una boleta a principios de septiembre sobre la ratificación del principal acuerdo UPS nacional de cinco años entre UPS y la International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Los Teamsters de UPS en todo el país se están movilizando para rechazar el acuerdo, firmado por el Comité Nacional de Negociación de UPS de Teamsters, el 21 de junio. Los únicos dos locales de UPS no afectados por el acuerdo son Local 705 y Local 710, que actualmente se encuentran en negociaciones.

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By staff

Washington, DC – The United Steelworkers (USW) announced today, Sept. 18, that the 13 locals at ArcelorMittal unanimously authorized a strike. About 15,000 workers could take part. The vote means that the USW bargaining committee now has the power to call a strike if needed.

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By staff

Battle Ground, WA – Teachers, who had voted to continue striking despite a court order to return to work, made major gains and won a strong contract, Sept. 16. The Battle Ground Education Association (BGEA) had been on strike since August 21. The strike came after the school district’s refusal to properly allocate state funding for teachers’ salaries.

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By staff

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Chicago, IL – Thousands of striking hotel housekeepers, servers, cooks, doormen and other workers marched on Chicago’s famed Magnificent Mile, Sept. 13 to press their demands for a decent contract. Workers from 26 hotels are now out on strike.

#ChicagoIL #strike #Strikes #UniteHere #UniteHereLocal1 #ChicagoHotelStrike

By staff

The picket line at the Drake Hotel, in Chicago.

Chicago, IL – Workers at 26 hotels are now on strike as members of UNITE HERE Local 1 walk the picket lines. Wages, workloads and health insurances are among the issues at play. Thousands of housekeepers, servers, cooks and doormen walked off the job on Friday, Sept. 7.

#ChicagoIL #strike #Strikes

By staff

USW rally

U.S. Steel employees represented by United Steelworkers (USW) voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike authorization, Sept. 7. USW has been negotiating a master agreement with U.S. Steel that covers more than 16,000 workers around the country. The vote would grant the negotiating committee the power to call a strike against the company.

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By Fight Back

Four Roses Bourbon workers on the picket line.

Lawrenceburg, KY – Workers at Four Roses Bourbon went on strike Sept. 7, rejecting a concession-filled contract. The striking workers are represented by UFCW Local 10D, UFCW Local 23D and NCFO Local 320. The strike took place after a 100% strike authorization vote at the Lawrenceburg and Cox Creek plants.

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By Jim Byrne

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Tucson, AZ – Outraged educators took to the streets in both Phoenix and Tucson Sept. 5 to protest the removal of Proposition 207 from the November ballot. The actions took place at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce in Phoenix and at Chamber members Tucson Electrical Power (TEP) and Wells Fargo in Tucson. These places were targets because it was the Chamber of Commerce that funded and filed the lawsuit against the InvestInEd ballot initiative that would have raised income taxes on the top 0.07% of Arizonans, some 15,000 people, and generated an estimated $690 million. This amount would provide a significant boost to missing $1.1 billion from public schools over the ten years.

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By staff

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Los Angeles, CA – Thousands of enthusiastic union members united for a great march and rally in the heart of the historical Wilmington Chicano community, Sept 3.

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By staff

Across the U.S. Teamsters are getting ready to vote "no" on contract with UPS.

Chicago, IL – Voting instructions will arrive in the mail as soon as Sept. 10, for over 200,000 Teamsters affected by the proposed 5-year National Master UPS Agreement. The only two UPS locals not in the agreement are Local 705 and Local 710, which are currently still in negotiations.

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By Chris Mahin

September 5, 1882

First Labor Day parade in NYC.

The huge procession began with 400 members of Bricklayers Union No. 6, all dressed in white aprons. They were followed by a band and then the members of the Manufacturing Jewelers union. The jewelers marched four abreast, wearing derby hats and dark suits with buttonhole bouquets. They all carried canes resting on their shoulders (similar to the way infantry officers carry swords when on parade.)

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By staff

LA teachers take strike authorization vote

LA Commemoration of Chicano Moratorium.

Los Angeles, CA – The featured speaker at this year’s commemoration of the historic 1970 Chicano Moratorium against the War was United Teachers of LA (UTLA) chapter chair at Marvin Avenue Elementary School and longtime Centro CSO member Lupe Torres.

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By staff

Celebración del 48 aniversario de la Moratoria Chicana en LA.

Los Ángeles, CA – Familias, sindicalistas, maestros, activistas y estudiantes llenaron la casa en el centro local de arte chicano, Self Help Graphics, el 29 de agosto, para conmemorar el 48 aniversario de la Moratoria chicana contra la guerra. El programa honró la histórica moratoria chicana del 29 de agosto de 1970, donde más de 30,000 chicanos marcharon en el este de Los Ángeles para protestar por la alta tasa de víctimas muertos de los chicanos en la guerra de Vietnam. El conocido periodista Rubén Salazar fue asesinado por un alguacil del LA durante las protestas.

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By Dave Schneider

Jacksonville, FL – It didn’t take long for the Florida gubernatorial campaign to get extremely racist.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – More than 100 Hennepin County AFSCME workers packed the Hennepin County commissioners board meeting, August 14, to protest two issues currently being negotiated in their union contract. The county is proposing to eliminate step pay increases that benefit workers. As well, commissioners are being stubborn on the issue of pay equity.

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