Saint Paul, MN – El 1ro de mayo, el día internacional de los trabajadores, alrededor de dos mil personas marcharon dos millas y media desde la mansión del gobernador hasta el capitolio estatal. La marcha tuvo cuatro demandas: licencias de conducir para todos, derechos para los trabajadores, una reforma migratoria justa, y no más deportaciones.

Saint Paul, MN – On May 1, International Workers Day, around 2000 people marched two and a half miles from the Governor’s Mansion to the State Capitol. The march raised four demands: drivers licenses for all, workers rights, just immigration reform, and no more deportations.

Fight for full-time jobs, $15 minimum wage and child care for working mothers

Jacksonville, FL – After joining a successful statewide event for young workers at the Florida capitol, the Young Workers of Jacksonville (YWJ) are preparing for International Workers Day on May 1. The newly formed group will host a labor-themed cookout for young workers in the city to talk about the major issues affecting them as a class.

Atlanta, GA – On April 23, the leadership of the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters (IBT) announced that the concessionary national UPS contract will go into effect this Friday, April 25. The contract – the single largest collective bargaining agreement in the country – was overwhelmingly opposed by Teamster members in Philadelphia, Western Pennsylvania and Louisville, Kentucky, who voted down their local supplements and riders twice. According to the terms of the national UPS master agreement, the contract cannot go into effect until all supplements have been ratified by the members.

Highlights the need for industry-wide organizing, unionizing FedEx workers

Jacksonville, FL – Despite ‘competing’ as the world's two largest parcel delivery and shipping companies, UPS and FedEx are owned by many of the same banks. According to NASDAQ's ownership summary of both companies, 12 of the top 20 owners of UPS and FedEx are the same banks, investment groups and financial institutions.

Chicago, IL – Over 2000 people attended the 2014 Labor Notes conference here, April 4-6, bringing together some of the best fighters in the labor movement for 140 crowded workshops of people discussing how to rebuild labor in the U.S. and abroad, and a militant protest at Staples on behalf of postal workers fighting privatization.

New York, NY – Since the Feb. 26 walkout at the UPS facility in Maspeth, Queens, Teamsters Local 804 and UPS traded blows in a critical struggle over the fate of 250 workers and their families. Workers walked out to defend a union activist and 24-year worker, Jairo Reyes, after UPS walked him off the job. The company authorized Reyes to start early in the weeks leading up to Feb. 26, but when he filed a grievance over UPS abusing seniority provisions in the contract, the manager went back and claimed he was never authorized to start early, and ironically tried to fire Reyes for “dishonesty.”

New York, NY – Since the Feb. 26 walkout at the UPS facility in Maspeth, Queens, Teamsters Local 804 and UPS traded blows in a critical struggle over the fate of 250 workers and their families. Workers walked out to defend a union activist and 24-year worker, Jairo Reyes, after UPS walked him off the job. The company authorized Reyes to start early in the weeks leading up to Feb. 26, but when he filed a grievance over UPS abusing seniority provisions in the contract, the manager went back and claimed he was never authorized to start early, and ironically tried to fire Reyes for “dishonesty.”

New York, NY – Hundreds of union members and community supporters rallied on the steps of city hall here, April 3, in support of the 250 UPS drivers who were issued terminations for walking out to defend their fellow co-worker.

New York, NY – Following a walkout by 250 UPS drivers in Maspeth, Queens, and the subsequent unjust retaliation by UPS, the fight for justice continues.

Los Angeles, CA – The movie Cesar Chavez by Mexican actor/producer Diego Luna again puts the public eye on the injustices and harsh working conditions of the mostly Mexicano farm workers in the U.S. It also covers the early history of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) and its first strike and the successful grape boycott against the growers. The movie was funded by mostly Mexican investors and shot entirely in Sonora, Mexico, as it was not a priority for U.S. film makers.

Chicago, IL – 3000 workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have gone without a contract, and without a contract raise, for over a year. In response, the Joint Bargaining Committee of Clerical, Service and Maintenance, and Technical units at UIC has called for a strike authorization vote.

Lakeland, FL – For almost five years farmworkers in Immokalee, organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), have been fighting for higher wages from Publix Supermarkets. Immokalee, located in southwest Florida, grows many crops, including tomatoes and oranges. The city is home to many migrant farmworkers mostly from Mexico and Central America. Publix, whose headquarters is in Lakeland, Florida, is a multi-billion dollar corporation with over 1000 grocery stores throughout the South.

Tampa, FL – Young workers at UPS are fighting back against low pay, part-time work and concessionary contracts that attack employee health care. The “Vote No” movement at UPS, a rank-and-file revolt of Teamsters against the cutbacks pushed by UPS management and some sell-out union officials within the Teamster union, sparked young workers across the country to hit the gates of their buildings to leaflet and organize their coworkers.

New York, NY – In the wake of a walkout of UPS drivers on Feb. 26, at the Queens hub in New York City, UPS reportedly issued ‘working discharges’ today, March 6, to 249 workers who participated in the strike.

New York, NY – Hundreds of UPS drivers and warehouse workers walked off the job, Feb. 26, at the Queens hub in New York City.

Chicago, IL – 1100 faculty members at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) went on strike, Feb. 18, to demand a fair contract. Several rallies drew 500 strikers and their supporters to the middle of campus.

The recent defeat of the UAW at the Chattanooga, Tennessee Volkswagen plant marked a serious setback for the working class, the auto-workers of the Tennessee plant, as well as hundreds of thousands of rank-and-file autoworkers within in the UAW. Workers at the plant voted against representation by a narrow margin of 712 to 626. A victory for labor would have marked the unionization of the first foreign auto plant in the U.S. and one of only a handful of unionized plants in the South. As the growth and survival of the U.S. labor movement in general, and the UAW in particular, depends in part on unionizing the largely unorganized South, union militants and rank-and-file activists need to draw key lessons from this defeat and augment our tactics and strategies.

Teachers’ union strike vote looms next week

Saint Paul, MN – A sea of red spread over the Saint Paul School District headquarters Feb. 18 as more than 500 teachers and their supporters rallied at the school board meeting, most wearing the color used by the Saint Paul Federation of Teachers. The group rallied outside the School District building at 360 Colbourne then marched inside to pack the board meeting. Teachers and their supporters overwhelmed the meeting room, spilling out and filling two overflow rooms. Speaker after speaker told the school board and Superintendent Silva that they need to actually negotiate with the teachers if they want to avoid a strike. Teachers have set a strike vote for Feb. 24.

Newark, NJ – Workers and supporters of SEIU Local 32BJ held a rally at Newark Airport, Feb. 11, to demand pay equity for all airport workers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A spirited crowd turned up in Terminal C to present demands. Workers from JFK and LaGuardia airports came to support Newark workers.