Posts tagged walkout
Seattle workers rally for new contract, express outrage over city proposal
September 21, 2023 // Cat Hernandez, a Seattle Dispatcher’s Guild member, highlighted the city’s vocal commitment to equity, race and social justice, challenging city leaders to uphold those stated values in giving city employees a living wage. Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda attended the rally in support of the workers, stressing to the crowd they were not only fighting for fair wages and improved working conditions but also for the city to address its housing problem, affordability and the climate crisis.
As Democrats back auto workers, GOP spots a divide over EVs
September 18, 2023 // The administration has been doling out funding provided by the 2021 infrastructure law for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and giving tax credits for electric vehicle buyers enacted in a 2022 reconciliation bill. Autoworkers see the push to electric vehicles as resulting in jobs in non-union factories in the U.S. and abroad, a contradiction of Biden’s promises to boost domestic manufacturing. The workers are also disgruntled about the EPA’s proposed rule on tailpipe emissions. The walkout began after the carmakers’ offers failed to meet the UAW’s demands for a double-digit wage increase over four years, reinstatement of cost-of-living pay increases, and more paid time off.
UAW locals get marching orders for strike against Big Three
September 14, 2023 // At 10 p.m. on Thursday, UAW President Shawn Fain announced three locals were selected to start the strike at midnight. Those locals represent Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio and General Motors Wentzville Assembly Center in Missouri. For the first time in union history all three companies came to the UAW’s Solidarity House downtown Detroit, Fain said. All three automakers have made multiple counteroffers but none of been accepted. Fain says the companies were slow to come to the table at the beginning of negotiations.
Here’s how a union strike could impact Ford — and what Jim Cramer thinks about the stock
September 6, 2023 // The risk of a walkout by the union has also created near-term uncertainty for General Motors (GM) and Stellantis (STLA) — the Dutch owner of the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands, among others. The UAW's current labor contract covering 146,000 workers at the Big 3 American automakers expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sept. 14. Jim Cramer's advice: He would not look to buy more Ford on weakness nor would he look to sell Ford stock at this point. Club name Ford, which employs the most UAW members at 57,000, has seen its stock drop more than 6% in the past month. Over the same stretch, GM, which has 46,000 UAW members, declined roughly 9% and Stellantis, which has 43,000 union workers, fell roughly 7%. No matter where the talks lead, the automakers are going to see significant increases in their labor costs. The question is whether they have enough inventory to offset complications from work stoppage.
Labor Day weekend draws Portland workers out in droves to the picket lines
September 5, 2023 // Across town, in Northeast Portland, New Seasons Market employees walked off the job and took up signs to express their frustration. "We're out here today protesting against a union-busting tactic that New Seasons has sort of been leveraging," said Wil, a New Seasons Market employee. "They've used their very punitive attendance policy to pit union stores and non-union stores against each other." The New Seasons Labor Union is an independent workers union, and so are many of the groups that marched in downtown Portland on Saturday. “We’ve always had the larger unions representing us, but now working-class people are taking it into their own hands to form their own unions and take the power back in the workplace," said Samantha Medina with the Coalition of Independent Unions.
San Jose workers strike paused as terms sent to city council, labor groups say
August 16, 2023 // The workers are calling for better wages, better working conditions and asking the city to address nearly 800 job vacancies. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan released the following statement: "While I support substantial raises for our workers, I will be paying close attention to the Budget Office's projected fiscal impact before voting on the proposal. Signing up for tens of millions of dollars in projected deficits and, therefore, likely future service cuts and layoffs wouldn't be fair to city workers or residents. I won't vote for something today that's going to hurt us tomorrow."
‘It feels like it’s strike summer’: US unions flex muscles across industries
July 31, 2023 // “In the wake of the Patco strike, companies saw strikes as opportunities to weaken unions or even break them. That’s not the case today. Today there’s no fear that calling a strike will result in disaster,” said Lichtenstein. “Today there’s a sense that unions are on the offensive,” Lichtenstein continued. “Take the actors. They say they don’t want just a good contract. They want a transformative contract.”
Terminations and failed union negotiations lead to closures of Nashville coffee shops
July 7, 2023 // The futures of two popular Nashville coffee shops are uncertain as multiple Barista Parlor locations and Three Brothers Coffee remain closed after weeks of failed union negotiation efforts and unexplained terminations. Employees at both companies say baristas have major concerns about the coffee industry in Nashville because of multiple closures, terminations and low or stolen wages. Golden Sound, a Barista Parlor location in the Gulch, closed almost two months ago. Some employees transferred to the Germantown location before all but three staff were fired without warning June 14. A Barista Parlor worker said management attempted to have one-on-one meetings with staff in order to terminate them, but the group demanded to meet together. Three staff members who were not terminated quit in solidarity. The entire staff of the Hillsboro Village location also walked out, citing similar concerns about working conditions, understaffing, wages and job security. Katte Noel, who has worked at Barista Parlor for a year and a half, said workers have experienced hundreds of dollars in wage theft in the last few months. Noel said management has promised to repay those wages but This was in addition to hours being cut and company favorites being given better shift times and assignments, which Noel says puts stress on baristas trying to make ends meet; shorter shifts mean slimmer pay checks.
Trader Joe’s staff walkout at Hadley store, local unions join in protest
July 3, 2023 // The union representing up to 15,000 workers employed at 65 major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties said that their members are on strike. The union promised whatever action they take would include a peaceful sit-in at Los Angeles International Airport. Contract agreements are unresolved with the remaining hotels, which include the Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott LA Live, the Beverly Hilton, Fairmont Miramar, Anaheim Hilton, and Four Seasons Regent Beverly Wilshire.