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.
“The UPS operations manager held a meeting and asked who wanted to pray. After we raised our hands, he said that he would replace all of us”
Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today announced the filing of a lawsuit in state court, June 1, against UPS Mail Innovations and Doherty Staffing Solutions for firing multiple Muslim employees who wanted to pray during their break times, after previously having allowed them to pray.
Providence, RI – Over 100 Twin River Casino workers gathered inside the Rhode Island state house on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 30. The workers, who are members of UNITE HERE Local 26, gathered there to announce that they are prepared to strike if necessary to win a fair contract. The union represents nearly 400 food and beverage workers at the Lincoln, Rhode Island casino.
Chicago, IL – Union educators at Passages Charter School signed off on a tentative agreement Wednesday night, May 24, for their first contract since unionizing a year ago, narrowly averting what would have been the first strike of a charter operator in U.S. history.
St Paul, MN – Hundreds of trade unionists, supporters of immigrant rights, and other progressives have been filling the halls of the Minnesota State Capitol building today, May 24, after a Republican move that placed a host of anti-worker and anti-immigrant measures in finance bills. At one point more than 100 protesters assembled outside the office of Governor Dayton chanting “Veto everything.”
