Posts tagged solidarity
Predawn Picket Lines Help Writers Disrupt Studio Productions
May 30, 2023 // But production shutdowns are affecting not only the studios. Crews and other workers — like drivers, set designers, caterers — lose paychecks. And if the shutdowns accumulate and more people are unable to work, some wonder whether the writers will begin to erode the current good will from other workers. Lindsay Dougherty is the lead organizer of Local 399, the Teamsters’ Los Angeles division, which represents more than 6,000 movie workers, from the truck drivers the writers are trying to turn away to casting directors, location managers and animal trainers. A second-generation Teamster, Ms. Dougherty is one of the union’s few female leaders. Her copious tattoos, including one of the former Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa, and her frequently profane speech have made her a bit of a celebrity to the writers during the strike. And she said the solidarity with the writers remained strong. “I think collectively, we’re all on the same page in that streaming has dramatically changed the industry,” Ms. Dougherty said in an interview. “And these tech companies that we’re bargaining with, during the last writers’ strike — Amazon, Apple, Netflix — they weren’t even part of the conversation.”
Was the LAUSD strike illegal? That’s up to a judge to decide
March 29, 2023 // There are two types of strikes that can be declared: economic and unfair labor practice, said PERB General Counsel Felix De La Torre. An economic strike requires that union leaders first exhaust all avenues of negotiation. This requires declaring that negotiations have reached an impasse, enlisting the support of an independent mediator and carrying out fact finding research. While SEIU Local 99 completed the first two of those steps, it did not finish the third. An unfair labor practice strike, on the other hand, can be declared at any time. This is the type of strike that SEIU Local 99 declared after filing over a dozen unfair labor practice charges with PERB against the district. These charges include alleged surveillance of union members, retaliation against members, withholding of information and interference in union activities.
Starbucks union turns up pressure with strikes, gift card boycott
December 20, 2022 // On Dec. 14, the union announced a campaign to persuade customers not to buy gift cards this year. Unused gift cards and money loaded onto the Starbucks app boost the company’s profitability — funds accounted for $196 million in revenue for Starbucks in the last year, according to Starbucks’ 10-K. The combination of a targeted product boycott and multi-day strikes at stores across the country constitutes a strategic escalation by the union to push Starbucks toward the bargaining table, workers and labor experts say.
Unionized Starbucks workers go on strike in Worcester, ‘sip-ins’ staged elsewhere
August 3, 2022 // "They wanted to unionize, and they have unionized, and they have yet to be recognized by the employer in terms of meeting at the table," Ritacco said. "They need to get to the table and negotiate a fair contract with these workers. It is the right and just thing to do." Other nurses association members were present, offering support to the workers, including coaching them through chants in English and Spanish. Teamsters Local 170 members also showed up to offer support including Matt Landry, a UPS worker, who said he wanted to stand with the workers in solidarity and show them support.
Donald Morrison: After losing ground for decades, unions regaining a foothold in American workforce
May 2, 2022 // Which, come to think of it, is why people are joining unions, as well as clubs, teams, rock bands and nations — not just for personal enrichment, but for the thrill of being part of something bigger, something better than our own flawed and lonely march through life.