Jacksonville, FL – United Parcel Service (UPS) has less than one year before its contract with over 250,000 Teamsters expires. UPS Teamsters have reason to be in a fighting mood. In 2013, when Teamster President Hoffa encouraged the union’s membership to vote to accept a concessionary contract, it barely passed the 50% threshold needed for approval. Regional supplements in 18 locations were voted down. The “Vote No” movement that grew out of these fights united Teamster activists from around the country who wanted to see better leadership.
Boston, MA – On Wednesday evening, Sept. 20, dining hall workers at Northeastern University announced that they are prepared to call a strike if their demands are not met. The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 26, the same union that represents food service workers at Harvard University, who engaged in a successful 22-day strike last fall.
Minneapolis, MN – While Minnesota’s elite assembled for a University of Minnesota fundraising gala, Sept. 23, where the price of admission was a half-million dollars, about 200 campus workers and their backers crashed the party.
Minneapolis, MN – About 100 members of Teamsters Local 320, AFSCME Local 3800, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and others rallied Sept. 8 on the University of Minnesota campus at the McNamara building to demand decent contracts for the university workers’ unions.
Milwaukee, WI – On Sept. 5, Milwaukee's labor unions’ energetic efforts promoting the annual Labor Day and Laborfest celebrations resulted in what was considered by most to be a largest turnout than in recent years.
Grand Rapids, MI — Union bus drivers gathered 40 people at the West Michigan Labor Fest, Sept. 4, to confront Mayor Rosalyn Bliss of Grand Rapids about her role in union busting. Mayor Bliss was set to speak at the nearby kickoff of the Labor Day bridge walk. That is, until a group of ATU Local 836 bus drivers and their supporters emerged from the crowd of walkers and confronted Bliss. They chanted, “Union busting is disgusting!” Bliss quickly moved back into the waiting walkers.
La Crosse, WI — On August 3, a packed room of UE Local 1121 members enthusiastically voted to ratify the agreement reached with their employer, Aramark. It was the strongest contract the workers had won, with 40 cents an hour wage increases every year, their first-ever paid sick days, and a stronger safety committee. The vote came after more than three months of struggle by the laundry workers culminating with their first-ever job action, shutting down production as workers walked out on July 31.
La Crosse, WI – 75 workers at Aramark Laundry Services staged a walkout during peak work hours on July 31. Members of United Electrical Workers (UE) Local 1121, the workers have been in contract negotiations for several months and have been stonewalled by management.
Chicago, IL – Teachers and parents fighting Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s attacks on public education scored a concession from the city. In April, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) fired Sarah Chambers, the teacher who chairs the Special Education Task Force for the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). The fightback to this latest attack got the administration to end a budgeting practice implemented last year known as “comingling.”
Grand Rapids, Michigan – Upset they still do not have a union contract after two years, ATU Local 836 bus drivers forced west Michigan politicians to end a press conference early. Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalyn Bliss, a Democrat, and several suburban mayors are refusing to negotiate a union contract with the bus drivers that serve their communities.
CHICAGO, IL- The movement to ‘Let Sarah Chambers Teach’ has grown since her May termination from Maria Saucedo Academy. An online petition calling for her reinstatement has gathered nearly 4000 signatures; a support rally organized in April drew a crowd of over 100, and 28 aldermen have re-leased letters of support for the educator.
Chicago, IL – John Coli, president of Joint Council 25 of the Teamsters Union, was indicted July 12 on federal charges that he extorted $100,000 in cash from a local business.
Grand Rapids, MI – Members and staff of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 951 are picketing the entrance to Pearson Foods on July 6. Pearson is in violation of fair labor practices and is interfering with workers’ union membership. UFCW filed unfair labor practice charges against Pearson Foods.
Rochester, MN – Members of SEIU Healthcare MN, AFSCME Council 65 and Teamsters 120 have spent the last year in a battle with Mayo Clinic. It started with Mayo’s surprise announcement in July 2016 that they would subcontract Mayo food service workers out to Morrison Food Services starting in 2017. The affected food service workers are employed at Mayo’s southern Minnesota locations in Rochester, Albert Lea Austin and Fairmont.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following June 22 statement for the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).
The United Nations Security Council on June 21st welcomed the deployment by the so-called Group of Five (G5) – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger – of a joint force to tackle the threat of terrorism, as well as the serious challenges posed by transnational organized crime in Africa’s restive Sahel region. Also by that text, the Council urged the joint force of up to 5,000 military and police personnel, as well as the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali and French forces in that country to ensure adequate coordination and exchange of information regarding their operations, within their respective mandates.
Chicago, IL – In an historic vote, members of ChiACTS Local 4343, the union of charter school educators in Chicago, voted overwhelmingly to unify with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), June 9. CTU members will vote on unification with ChiACTS this fall. Ballots from union charter schools were counted after the close of the Friday school day. Final vote counts of the 1,000-strong union were 671 in favor and 130 against unifying – or about 84% of voting members supporting unification.
Minneapolis, MN – A row of chairs reserved for the University of Minnesota Board of Regents sat empty while university unions held their own public hearing on university budget, June 8.
Lincoln, RI – Nearly 400 food and beverage workers at Rhode Island’s Twin River Casino announced Wednesday afternoon, June 7, that they have voted to authorize a strike. The vote followed a rally in the Rhode Island state house last week, where Twin River workers announced their readiness to strike. The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 26. The union’s bargaining committee announced that the results of the vote were 327 voting to authorize a strike to just 5 ballots cast in opposition.
_Fight Back News Service is circulating the following June 2 statement from the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). _
The World Federation of Trade Unions strongly condemns the death of more than 40 refugees, 20 of them children, crossing the desert of northern Niger to Libya and probably to Europe.
