Chicago, IL – Several hundred people gathered on the lawn of Maria Saucedo Academy today, April 18, in an after-school to rally in support of Sarah Chambers, who has been suspended and faces termination. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appointed school board is coming after this teacher for her role in the fight to defend the public schools and Special Education. The crowd included students, parents, teachers, Chicago Teachers Union activists, trade unionists from other unions, and groups from the Palestinian and Filipino communities. Cook County Commissioner Chuy Garcia spoke and demanded that Chambers be returned to her students immediately. Rasmea Odeh, the Palestinian community activist persecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice, also came out to show her solidarity.
Chicago, IL – Sarah Chambers is one of the best-known rank-and-file leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). A distinguished, award winning Special Education teacher at Maria Saucedo Academy, her name is a familiar one to politicians, and to the Board of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Photos of her leading protests to defend her students have appeared regularly in the Chicago media, and even in the New York Times.
Jacksonville, FL – Over 150 trade unionists and activists rallied March 11 in downtown Jacksonville to defend the working class. Beginning at 2 p.m. in Hemming Park, organizers held a militant event focused on building the struggle against national ‘Right to Work’ legislation proposed last month in Washington.
Milwaukee, WI – On March 7, management of the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) announced layoffs an cuts to hours for 14 members of AFSCME Local 526, which is 8% of the workforce. After six months of negotiations and two quick months after contract ratification, these hard-working men and women found out with zero warning that their position at the museum will either be cut or working hours permanently reduced. Those who are facing reduced hours will lose their health benefits and livable wages to support their families.
Nearly five dozen members of UAW Local 291 have gone on strike. The picketing began early Monday morning, Feb. 6, after the conclusion of a workers’ meeting during which the decision was made to take action.
On Jan. 23, President Donald Trump signed an executive action withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. Negotiated by then-president Barack Obama, the TPP would have standardized trade between the U.S., Japan, Mexico, and nine other countries in the Pacific Rim, lowering tariffs and regulations between countries to favor corporations. The agreement drew heavy criticism from labor unions and environmental groups, who argued the TPP would hurt workers and hamper efforts to address climate change.
As Chicago Transit Authority president Dorval Carter continues the undeclared war against bus operators, train operators and mechanics that his predecessor Forrest Claypool started, Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241 and 308 have begun to unite to fight back. According to a statement from the unions, “ATU Locals 241 and 308 represent the vast majority of CTA employees (almost 10,000), working without a contract since December 2015. The CTA refuses to take the vast majority of its workforce seriously. It wants to strip them of their hard-earned benefits and deny them wage increases. The CTA wants to continue with the insults and abuses.”
Washington, D.C. – Labor officials in Washington D.C. are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best as Donald Trump assumes the office of president of the United States after losing the popular vote by 2.9 million votes but winning enough electoral votes from the states to assume the presidency. Trump secured his Electoral College win by squeaking ahead just slightly of corporate Democrat Hillary Clinton in states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
500 people marched through the streets of downtown Miami, Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, in opposition to the Trump/Pence agenda. The protest was called for by the Anti-Trump Action Committee and brought together a diverse crowd of labor, immigrant rights, anti-war and Black Lives Matter activists. The groups united around the slogan: “Stop the Trump Agenda.”
Boston, MA – Food service workers at Northeastern University launched a one-day strike on Jan. 20, the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president. A majority of the 375 workers employed in the university’s dining halls joined in the work stoppage to protest Trump’s policy proposals.
Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds of people were on the picket line at 6 a.m. Jan. 20, in front of Home Depot in northeast Minneapolis to support striking janitors, who are standing up to low wages and Trump’s anti-worker agenda.
Boston, MA – Food service workers at Northeastern University announced that they will be walking off of the job at 12:00 noon on Jan. 20, in protest of President-elect Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant and anti-worker policy proposals. The one-day, mid-contract work stoppage will continue through the rest of Inauguration Day. The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 26, the same union which led a 22-day strike of food service workers at Harvard University last October.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Jan. 14 statement from the World Federation of Trades (WFTU)
200 workers from “Hallmark” garment factory were striking during last week, demanding their unpaid wages. Their wages should have been paid on 5th January, the official factory pay day. During the last days the workers agreed to accept a written promise that wages would be paid no later than January 12. Until yesterday the employers instead of paying the wages, they announced that they will cut the wages for the days of the strike.
Frankfort, KY – Teamster Local 89, headed by President Fred Zuckerman, issued a blistering statement slamming the passage of a ‘right to work’ law and a measure repealing the prevailing wage.
Jacksonville, FL – On Dec. 8, President-elect Donald Trump announced fast food executive Andy Puzder as his pick for Secretary of Labor. Puzder is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Hardee's, Carl’s Jr. and several other national chains.
Jacksonville, FL – On Nov. 18, Teamsters in the U.S. and Canada awoke to find that Jim Hoffa had won re-election as president of the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters after 17 years in office. Instead of the overwhelming electoral victory that Hoffa usually experiences, the Teamsters old guard lost in the Southern Region, the Central Region, the U.S. as a whole, and only barely squeaked by in the International vote.
Chicago, IL – The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is sharpening its knives, ready to come after mechanics, bus and train operators in Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241 and 308. According to 308 President and Business Agent Kenneth Franklin, there has been no contract since Dec. 31, 2015. CTA has been pushing for takebacks in every area in negotiations, and according to Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 241, the CTA “has evidenced no intention of reaching a fair agreement voluntarily.”
On Nov. 15, rank-and-file Teamsters in the southern U.S. delivered a huge blow to Jim Hoffa Jr., the current general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The Teamsters United slate, which is challenging Hoffa's 17-year rule of the union, won the Southern Region by a vote of 10,789 to 8227. John Palmer and Kimberley Schultz, candidates with Teamsters United, will become the new vice presidents of the Southern Region.
