Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Labor

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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By Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Labor Commission

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME is a direct assault by the ruling class on the U.S. labor movement. It is an attack led by corporations and right-wing foundations, such as the National Right to Work Foundation and the Bradley Foundation, and fully supported by the Trump administration. While this particular assault, the Janus decision, is focused on public sector unions, make no mistake, the effects will be felt across the labor movement and by the entire working class.

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By Fight Back

Tampa, FL – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) announced it had come to a tentative agreement with UPS, June 21. The agreement has been criticized for givebacks such as the creation of two-tier driving and poor part time wages. One concession is in Article 6 Section 6, Technology and Discipline. The article currently states:

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By Brad Sigal

Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people protested outside the Minnesota Republican Party headquarters in Minneapolis, Aug. 9, to condemn a massive immigration raid in southern Minnesota and Nebraska the day before, in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained around 140 immigrant workers.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression NYC.

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By staff

Jacksonville, FL – On July 17, Dustin Ponder, the Florida Teamster union steward fired by UPS management for union activity, returned to work. After a month and a half-long campaign waged by Teamster militants and activists to get the steward reinstated, UPS caved to the pressure and offered Ponder his job back.

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By Communist Party of the Philippines

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following July 30 statement form the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

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