Rolling Labor Action Thread

the workers at the local bathhouse here in Toronto won their union drive!!!

we won 🥲 https://t.co/VjscVj78gP

— graeme lamb (@_gmlamb) November 12, 2021

yup. the wobblies are still out there.

Activision action

https://www.polygon.com/22786117/activision-blizzard-walk-out-bobby-kotick-resignation-demands

https://lbo-news.com/2021/11/12/striketober-wasnt/

As marvelous as it would be to see a revival of labor militancy, people got a little ahead of things calling last month “Striketober.” According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stats, it was a blip by historical standards.

Here’s a graph of the number of workers involved in strikes or lockouts (the BLS counts them together) since 2000. There were 57 months with higher numbers of workers off the job. At the high point of this graph, May 2018, there were over fourteen times as many workers on strike as there were last month.

https://doughenwood.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/stoppages-monthly.png?w=1280

Here’s another measurement—what the BLS, in nice Victorian fashion, calls “days of idleness” as a percent of total days worked throughout the economy. It was 0.01% in October, a level that’s been matched in 39 other months since January 2000. And as the bottom graph shows, back in the old days when strikes were frequent, lost workdays were many times 0.01%. Before 1980, the low was 0.07%, set in 1957. From 1948 to 1979, it averaged 0.16%. In 1959, just two years after the pre-neoliberal era low, it was 0.43%, the series high.

there's always hope for strikevember

https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/kaiser-nurses-to-hold-sympathy-strike-in-solidarity-with-engineers/

BREAKING: The 10,000 striking John Deere workers voted to approve a third contract offer 61%-39%, ending the 5-week strike & solidifying major concessions from the company.

The big wins include:
- $8500 bonus
- Immediate 10% raise
- Another 10% raise by 2025
- Improved pension

— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) November 18, 2021

nice

I think the disproportionate attention is because — at least for the moment — there's a lot of focus on workers, or lack of workers. But it's a good opportunity to get people thinking about it. And publicity for something like the John Deere deal is worth a lot in making people think organizing could work for them.

yeah if it sticks, more media focus on strikes is a welcome trend

i saw some people who cover labor complaining about erasure in this piece, but the fact that it's getting written about as a media trend is a sign something is different (for now) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/07/business/media/labor-unions-media-coverage.html.

my guess is labor power is about to begin a secular increase for the next few decades, not just for political reasons but because the US is trending towards labor scarcity. the trump/stephen miller reductions in legal immigration (which reduced refugee/asylum-seeker inflows by 100% and green cards by 50%) is now consensus policy, and birth-rates are below replacement. the working-age population started to shrink around 2018-19 and will probably accelerate

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=J3eH

we named the cc https://t.co/3bcwZPZjmN

— Michael Rose (@dcmichaelrose) December 13, 2021

sorry, posted reply instead of tweet

Wow. An NLRB employee has been charged with bribery and fraud. Charging doc alleges she was selling non-public info on potential union elections and ULP's to an outside labor consultant who would then sell the info to law firms https://t.co/6ybLIeD3Q8 pic.twitter.com/hh7k8Nxkp1

— Dave Jamieson (@jamieson) December 13, 2021

look at the world's tiniest legal notice on the bottom

That last bullet point is fucking despicable.#SupportWorkers #FredMeyerStrike pic.twitter.com/ydAG1aJCOC

— Shawn Levy (@shawnlevy) December 17, 2021

oh, you have to click the photo to see it taped on there

I saw someone say that line was a legal requirement in the state where that store is located.

re: crossing a picket line

it is, it lists the state statute making them say it
xp oh i'm referring to the thing taped under there, yeah

The UFCW is the only union* I've belonged to, at a Kroger. Never saw a union rep or heard from them again after the first sign-up meeting, somewhat disappointing as a 16-year old who had just read A People's History for the first time.

*excluding the IWW for ten years which was basically like a yearly PBS donation

about the only good news i see in my feed these days is labor action stuff

https://scontent-den4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/268148823_251494930420109_4847124755181834689_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=QyC3uHr4pn0AX9h9yfu&_nc_ht=scontent-den4-1.xx&oh=00_AT_ZIt9Qz3-s-9jeis_ybVN2CwoVqAimeFjucTdY1RVHZA&oe=61C6FD7E

no deal until they bring back Product 19

number of american workers covered by a union fell in 2021, percent of workers covered also fell relative to 2020 but flat compared to 2019, according to BLS

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

good write-up https://www.epi.org/publication/latest-data-release-on-unionization-is-a-wake-up-call-to-lawmakers/

thanks for that flopson

You can follow the ongoing Starbucks actions at this Twitter account: https://twitter.com/SBWorkersUnited

Not only did REI make a union busting website, they already have a union busting podcast episode that starts with a fucking land acknowledgement!!

Liberalism is a disease, folks! https://t.co/5sp9T2O8pL pic.twitter.com/1ProLoaZQN

— Honda Wang 王宏达 (@HondaWang) February 7, 2022

How can this be, I was assured all corporations are now woke.

"chief diversity and social impact officer"

I'm a little unclear where Honda Wang's sympathies lie

Memphis Starbucks has fired 7 of its employees involved in unionization

https://news.yahoo.com/starbucks-fires-union-leaders-memphis-204249934.html

minneapolis federation of teachers on strike now, here's a recap of the last week:

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/minneapolis-teacher-strike-week-one-update/89-95a9dd41-2bbe-4724-9ef5-2be2b0738dc5

really good deep dive into the people behind the vote

https://www.thecity.nyc/staten-island/2022/3/24/22995196/amazon-workers-staten-island-union-vote

Current Vote Totals:
2050 Yes
1574 No

476 votes in ALU’s favor after resuming the count today on the last box.

— Amazon Labor Union (@amazonlabor) April 1, 2022

Memphis Starbucks has fired 7 of its employees involved in unionization

Former CEO and also former vaporware presidential candidate Howard Schultz has returned as CEO in order to crush the unionising push and its going great

If @SBWorkersUnited can win new benefits with just 9 unionized stores, imagine the gains Starbucks workers can win with hundreds of unionized stores. https://t.co/VFQF9fRb2F

— Josh Miller-Lewis (@jmillerlewis) March 31, 2022

Starbucks' appeal of a decision ordering a union election, which was due last Friday, was mislabeled and filed with the wrong part of the labor board, Starbucks' law firm Littler said in a new NLRB filing today that ends "Thank you in advance for your...professional cooperation"

— Josh Eidelson (@josheidelson) March 30, 2022

^ this is the second SBU union the law firm has failed to stop in recent weeks due to misfiling an appeal. Labor and employment law specialists Littler Mendelsohn PLC… welcome to the resistance

From earlier this month, guess the union busting podcast didn’t work.

VICTORY: by a vote of 86%, workers have voted to unionize with @RWDSU, officially making REI SoHo the first unionized @REI store in the nation! We go further together! #REIunion pic.twitter.com/tywvPzZAf9

— REI Union SoHo (@reiunionsoho) March 3, 2022

lmaooooo

“We want to thank Jeff Bezos for going up to space, because while he was up there, we were organizing a union,” a jubilant Chris Smalls said in remarks outside the NLRB offices in Brooklyn: https://t.co/PxBsVBAgGL

— Richard Kim (@RichardKimNYC) April 1, 2022

The latest unionized Starbucks is here in Knoxville, first one in the South. It was an 8-7 vote and there was a 16th ballot that Starbucks is challenging (because it was cast by an assistant manager who they say shouldn't have been able to vote), but the fact that they're the ones challenging it means they know it was a vote in favor. So I think either they lose 9-7 or 8-7, but it's going through either way.

this shit is my "inspirational fb meme" - just makes me feel immediately better xp

The first hometown one to unionize was last week - I got off the train three stops (40 min walk) early to stick my face inside a a Starbucks door for the third time ever and call out congrats to the workers

that's awesome. pretty sure it's never going to happen here (utah) for so many reasons, one of which is that conservatism runs so deep in the blood that almost all workers hate their own interests. i mean if it ever does happen i'd be shocked and elated.

Howard Schultz' new pitch for why workers shouldn't unionize: by the end of the year, Starbucks will be the most successful NFT platform in the world.

Why drink coffee when you can have a JPG of an ape drinking coffee?

Not sure if this is the right thread or not, but I've really been looking forward to K1m K3lly's book since it was announced. I was mostly offline for the long weekend and just now catching up on the brouhaha whipped up by the excerpt in the WaPost this weekend. Disappointing to see, even if it sounds like the book itself provides the proper citation. It also seems like the book's "Untold" subtitle is still stirring up a little bit of controversary today.

I like her writing a lot and I've really gotten a lot of our her labor reporting, this is a bummer all around.

There are currently 69 Unionized Starbucks in America! pic.twitter.com/sxOa69LDVm

— Every Union Starbucks (@everyunionsbux) May 15, 2022

Replies check out

Breaking: Dodger Stadium Workers Vote 99% to Authorize Strike Ahead of MLB All-Star Game pic.twitter.com/nQ70evlQj4

— UNITE HERE Local 11 (@UNITEHERE11) July 11, 2022

yessssss

fuck em up

brb gonna organize amazon corporate wish me luck

dan, do you mean friends at Amazon? or are you referring to a different strike? if the former, are you able to clarify how workers are striking outside of Staten Island? just curious.

I do mean at Amazon, specifically at the Skokie facility outside Chicago. I'm not able to clarify anything because I live an hour away, so I don't see/speak to them all that often and I don't know specifics.

Nearly 5,000 health care workers at 14 Providence facilities to strike Jan. 10
It will be the first doctors' strike in state history and the largest nurses' strike, according to the union representing the health care workers.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Nearly 5,000 doctors and other health care workers at 14 Providence Health facilities around Oregon are scheduled to strike at 6 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.

On Monday, the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) — the union representing the workers — gave a 10-day notice to Providence Health and Services management about the intent to go on strike. It will be the first doctors strike in Oregon's history and the largest nurses and health care workers strike, according to ONA.

The union claims Providence allows hospitals and clinics to be understaffed, fails to follow the state's safe staffing law, and does not pay competitive wages and benefits.

"Just last night I had someone say, 'I came in here with back pain and I've been sitting here in the waiting room in a chair for six hours before I got seen,'" said Dr. Jahnavi Chandrashekar, a hospitalist at Providence St. Vincent.

"A lot of times we have to take care of them in the waiting room or in the hallways of our Emergency Room. It's so backed up," echoed Kelly Peeler, an ER nurse at Providence Portland. "It's not something I'd want for myself, not something I'd want for my family and it's definitely not something I want to continue to be in the situation to take care of patients that way."

In a written statement, Providence said it has made competitive offers for each hospital bargaining union, including double-digit pay increases for hospital nurses representing over $12,000 a year for a typical nurse.

"You don't get to a big agreement without having a lot of small agreements," said Raymond Moreno, chief medical officer for Providence.

The group set to strike includes doctors, nurses, physician associates, nurse midwives and nurse practitioners. The health care workers are from eight hospitals and six clinics, including the following:

Providence Portland Medical Center
Providence Seaside Hospital
Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Providence Women's Clinic
Providence Milwaukie Hospital
Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center
Providence Medford Medical Center
Providence Newberg Medical Center
Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital

Providence said in its written response that it has replacement workers and has "identified other strategies to help us care for our patients" during the strike. Providence also said unionized health care workers who don't want to strike and want to work can still do so.

During the 10 days leading up to the strike, Providence said that all bargaining is on hold. The Oregon Nurses Association said that the pause in negotiations was disheartening.

"We are taking a strike notice as people at their word saying they're going to do something," Moreno said. "It would be irresponsible of us not to focus on how we would take care of patients during that eventuality."

is this legal?

Hochul: Fired prison officers will not 'ever' work for NY again

ALBANY — More than 2,000 correction officers who are being terminated after they declined to report for duty following a statewide prison strike are being prohibited from trying to get their jobs back or from working for any other state agency.

“There are 2,000 people who refused the multiple, multiple, multiple efforts we had to resolve this over a three-week period,” Hochul said Tuesday. “It has been all-consuming; it has been wildly expensive for taxpayers — approaching $100 million — it created a very dangerous situation which I called out from the second day.”

“Individuals walked off their jobs and left the incarcerated population alone, left other union members from (the Public Employees Federation) and (The Civil Services Employees Association), who work in health care and in the food support area, left them alone,” Hochul continued. “Thank God we were able to get this done, and there are consequences when people break the law, and that means you’re not working in our state workforce, ever.”

Police aren’t Labor.

^^^

yeah if Pritzker can refuse to hire any J6 people in Illinois, this is a fair trade (also, fuck those pigs)

this is one instance where there is no solidarity to be had

fair enough, not shedding any tears

Fuck em!

Our union (AFT-Wisconsin) had an action today in Madison to advocate against the billionaire evisceration of higher education and for a formalized meet and confer relationship at campuses statewide. This involved showing up at the workplace of one of the members of the state Board of Regents, a tactic that we plan to continue in the coming months. I was sad not to be able to attend.

Figured this is the thread to street-team with this podcast episode — I talked to Vonda McDaniel, longtime leader of the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council in Nashville. She was cool.

https://theprogressivesouth.org/ep-3-a-union-veteran/

awesome, will listen

tipsy do you (or anyone else itt) know much about unionization of charter schools? a friend of mine is studying teachers unions and in the data he’s collected he found a surprisingly high (and rapidly rising) share of charters are now unionized (including cyber charters started during the pandemic). i haven’t read much about it, seems maybe underreported (or i’m just not paying attention)

Huh, no! I've always assumed most of them aren't unionized, but haven't looked into it.

most still aren’t but it was surprisingly high in his data in the latest period, like 15-20%. i’d assumed way lower, like 0-5%. his numbers are not nationally representative so could be a quirk

Success Academy I have to imagine would have an absolute meltdown, they cannot possible tolerate unionization and still operate according to their model.

SEIU are one of the few unions that still recognize that this as a fight.. they don't go golfing with management (as far as I know)

Labor unions around US demand release of union leader arrested in LA protest

Labor unions around the US are demanding the release of a labor leader arrested and injured during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raids on 6 June in Los Angeles.

David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-USWW, was serving as a community observer during an Ice raid in Los Angeles, and was arrested by federal agents over allegations of interfering.

He was initially hospitalized and released later on Friday for injuries sustained during the arrest. Videos circulating online show officers shoving Huerta to the ground during the arrest before handcuffing him. He is expected to make an initial court appearance on Monday afternoon.