Tag Archives: strike

Recent News

Halifax Chronicle Herald Striking Workers Channel Their Talents Online

The strike of journalists, photographers, and editors at the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Canada’s oldest independent newspaper, has passed the 100-day mark with no end in sight. During the strike, the newspaper has hired freelance strikebreakers whose unbylined stories have compromised the paper’s reputation with questionable reporting and a lack of editorial oversight. The paper has even resorted to presenting paid advertorials as fact-based stories.

The Halifax Chronicle workers, who first organized Halifax Typographical Union (HTU) in 1999, saw a round of layoffs and early retirements in 2009, which left 60 people to do the work of 100. Now, HTU was asking remaining workers to accept a contract that would see overtime pay start at 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the striking Halifax workers have channeled their skills onto HTU’s online news site, Local Xpress. This spring the site announced it was now a complete, online, nonprofit newspaper. Though they are not yet receiving wages beyond strike pay, the site is giving the workers an expanded online presence.

Recent News

Trump Taj Mahal to Close after Labor Day

Trump Taj Mahal, the beleaguered Atlantic City, New Jersey, hotel-casino once owned by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, will close for good after Labor Day weekend. The Taj Mahal’s owners—including billionaire investor Carl Icahn—blame striking UNITE HERE Local 54 workers for preventing a “path to profitability.” WARN Act (layoff) notices were sent to the casino’s more than 2,400 workers announcing they would lose their jobs October 10. The Taj would be the city’s fifth casino to close since 2014.

A thousand of the casino’s service workers have been on strike since July 1. According to Local 54 President Bob McDevitt, “For a few million bucks, [Icahn] could have had labor peace and a content workforce, but instead he’d rather slam the door shut on these long-term workers just to punish them and attempt to break their strike.”

In a statement, McDevitt called out Icahn for his promise to put $100 million into the Trump Taj Mahal. “He told the workers they were the most important asset of the property. Now, rather than negotiate with those same workers, he decided he would rather close down. We have not had an offer from Icahn since the evening of June 30, when workers rejected that proposal and voted to strike. It has been nothing but the usual my way or the highway from Carl Icahn. That’s not trying to reach an agreement; that’s punishing working people for standing up to injustice.

Recent News

Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Picket Love Field

Pilots, mechanics, ramp workers, and flight attendants picketed Southwest Airline’s Dallas Love Field home base, calling for the replacement of CEO Gary Kelly and COO Mike Van de Ven, following July’s system-wide technical outage that disrupted thousands of flights and left flight attendants stranded at airports. Workers’ unions are critical of current management for not adequately investing in the company’s operations and putting the needs of shareholders ahead of employees during a time of record profitability.

“The recent technical outage was kind of the last straw for us,” says Audrey Stone, president of Transport Workers Union Local 556, which organized the picket. Several unions have been attempting to negotiate new contracts with Southwest for almost four years. Aside from financial issues, the negotiations center on quality of life issues—scheduling, length of workdays, and vacation.

The Love Field picket coincided with demonstrations at other Southwest crew bases, including airports in Houston, Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Oakland, and Orlando.

Recent News

Workers Fired during Strike Could Get Millions

In early June, after a nearly six-year battle, 38 union workers illegally fired during a strike found out they should be rehired and reimbursed for lost wages. Eighty workers at the Piedmont Gardens senior living facility in Oakland, California, went on a five-day strike in 2010 over healthcare, pension, disciplinary policies, and other issues. Less than 24 hours before the strike was to end, the employer sent contacted some of the employees and told then they had been permanently replaced.

The ruling by the National Labor Relations Board found that Piedmont had replaced the workers to teach them and the union a lesson. The facility’s executive director admitted in an affidavit that she was motivated to permanently replace the workers to avoid future strikes. The attorney for the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West called the decision significant, stating that every employer in the US will now had to follow the law created in the decision.In early June, after a nearly six-year battle, 38 union workers illegally fired during a strike found out they should be rehired and reimbursed for lost wages. Eighty workers at the Piedmont Gardens senior living facility in Oakland, California, went on a five-day strike in 2010 over healthcare, pension, disciplinary policies, and other issues. Less than 24 hours before the strike was to end, the employer sent contacted some of the employees and told then they had been permanently replaced.

The ruling by the National Labor Relations Board found that Piedmont had replaced the workers to teach them and the union a lesson. The facility’s executive director admitted in an affidavit that she was motivated to permanently replace the workers to avoid future strikes. The attorney for the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West called the decision significant, stating that every employer in the US will now had to follow the law created in the decision.

Recent News

No Resolution in Sight for Detroit Schools in Need

 

Pressure is mounting for Michigan lawmakers to find more funding for Detroit Public Schools, after the teachers union called for another day of sickouts over possible “payless paydays” for employees this summer. Emergency Manager Steven Rhodes urged state lawmakers to pass a $715 million package to rescue the debt-ridden district. A union-sponsored protest last May 2 closed 94 of the district’s 97 schools.

The Detroit Federation of Teachers organized the sickout after the system’s chief manager said, without more money from the state, he would be unable to pay teachers the salaries owed in July and August, and summer school would be canceled. The union reports that almost two-thirds of teachers spread the payments over the full year, from September through August. Other teachers rely on additional earnings from summer school. The district’s year-end budget deficit ballooned to a projected $320 million this year, and to avoid a complete shutdown in April, the Legislature approved $48.7 million in emergency aid. The school district, which was not included in the city’s 2013-2014 bankruptcy, saw a sharp decline in enrollment. According to city data, more than half the students going to publicly funded schools in the city attend charter schools, which leaves Detroit Public Schools with just 46,000 students, down from 167,000 in 2000.  

Striking Verizon Workers
Recent News

No Fair Offer Yet for Striking Verizon Workers

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) has reported that Verizon sent a letter to striking workers encouraging them to cross their picket line. At 36,000 employees, the strike is the biggest American work stoppage since 2011 and, according to experts, it could have far-reaching effects on both workers and employers.

“I think the workers feel pretty threatened and would be willing to hold out for a fairly long time,” says Jeremy Schwartz, associate professor of economics at Loyola University. In April, all along the East Coast, unionized workers walked off the job, citing layoffs that led to longer work hours and less job security. They also said employees are being forced to work out-of-state positions for extended periods of time. Striking workers are not being paid and the company recently cut off their health benefits, a move Schwartz says could play a dramatic role in the success of their efforts. “These are not upper-class workers, so I’m sure the time that they’ve had off of work is already pretty painful,” he says. “The fact that they’re willing to go this long is a testament to how threatened they feel.”

While Verizon issued a statement saying they have offered workers a 7.5% salary increase over the next three years with no layoffs as a final offer, sources say the strike could continue for some time.

Striking Verizon Workers
Recent News

Verizon Workers Strike after Failed Negotiations

verizon strikersNearly 40,000 Verizon workers went on strike on the morning of April 13. Workers representing the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) gathered in midtown Manhattan and more than 20 other locations, from Massachusetts to Virginia. Verizon management failed to negotiate terms for a satisfactory contract, which expired in August. In the meantime, the communications giant has trained thousands of non-union workers and moved staff to other locations to fill spots made vacant by picketers.

The company made $39 billion in profits over the last three years—and $1.8 billion a month in profits in the first three months of 2016. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam made $18 million last year, more than 200 times the compensation of the average Verizon employee. “Verizon needs to end its push to send jobs overseas, cut retirement benefits and gut job security, and stop intimidating Verizon workers, who are compelled to move away from their homes and families for months at a time just to keep their jobs.” says Christian Sweeney, Deputy Director of Organizing, AFL-CIO. “Today, employees are not only fighting for a fair contract but fighting to create a better workplace for every working family.”

Show your support for these workers by signing the petition at: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stand-with-striking-verizon-workers

Then, share it on Facebook and Twitter.

Recent News

Ontario Public Service Union Calls for End to Work Stoppage

CarePartners workers, members of The Ontario Public Service Employers Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) in Canada, have been on strike for four months trying to negotiate a new pay structure and improved sick time and health and safety provisions. Previously, home care was provided by salaried employees who worked for nonprofit organizations. Then, the 100% taxpayer-funded Community Care Access Centres (CCAC) put home care out to competitive bidding from for-profit companies. The cheapest bid won, and the winners drove down their costs by suppressing wages and benefits. Regional CCAC nurses are now paid per visit, not per hour, and many of them are no longer earning even minimum wage. They also have no sick days or compensation for overtime. Meanwhile, the owners of CarePartners set themselves up with high salaries and fancy offices.

The result, according to OPSEU President Warren Thomas, is “patients are receiving poorer care and healthcare professionals are seeing good jobs destroyed. In a statement released last week, Thomas called on the provincial government to take action. “Using taxpayer dollars to prolong legal work stoppages is not only a waste of money but belies any claim that this Liberal government is progressive towards the needs of our most fragile citizens and our skilled healthcare workers, the vast majority of whom are women,” he says.

Recent News

Canadian Steel Workers Victorious Over Crown

Steelworkers who work for Crown Metal Packaging in Toronto, Ontario, have ended their 22-month strike with a new six-year collective agreement. The members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9176 will return to work August 10. On July 8, the company finally relented on its attempt to bar striking workers from returning to their jobs. The company had hired replacement workers during the dispute. Not only will all striking workers now have a chance to return to their jobs, but those who choose not to return will be offered enhanced retirement and severance provisions.

“These workers fought for nearly two years against a foreign multinational’s attempt to eliminate their union and their unionized jobs. They received tremendous support from their community and from many allies,” says USW Ontario Director Marty Warren. He thanked the many unions, community groups, and consumers who provided tremendous support, both financial and moral, to the workers and their families.

Orchestra News

Community Connection Is Key to Rebirth of DSO

dso logoIn the fall of 2010, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) experienced a devastating six-month strike. Following its settlement the orchestra quickly put the bad times behind it and set to work on a remarkable comeback. Its latest three-year contract was settled in January 2014—eight months ahead of the expiration date.

“The strike, of course, was very painful for the musicians. It resulted in considerable sacrifice,” says Local 5 (Detroit, MI) President George Troia, Jr. “But we prefer to look forward; that is the spirit with which we concluded our negotiations last year, and that is the spirit with which we work with the DSO every day.”

“The musicians of the orchestra are grateful for the steadfast support of Local 5 throughout the negotiations,” says Ken Thompkins, DSO principal trombone and orchestra committee member. “We were ever mindful of our primary goal, which was to craft an agreement that retains and attracts the finest musicians. Our solidarity and shared values of honesty and mutual respect guided us toward a successful conclusion.”

Much of the orchestra’s recovery can be credited to taking a long hard look at its community, and connecting with it. DSO now plays a leading role in the overall regeneration of the City of Detroit.

The orchestra’s performances reach more than 400,000 people a year—more than any other American orchestra, and its subscriptions have grown 24.7% since 2011. Key to its community/global connection is its live, weekly webcast series. Other initiatives include: more extra services per year; a concert series with “patron-minded prices” that has brought the orchestra to seven neighborhoods; wellness music therapy performances; and a dedicated education program that serves more than 20,000 children.

On the fundraising side, the number of people who donated to the orchestra has grown. Those individual donors gave a total of $5.4 million. Market appreciation and new gifts raised the endowment by $10 million, to $38.6 million.