NHS workers demand a green recovery to save lives and help the country get back on its feet

WORKERS PROTEST IN UK

Matt Trinder

Morning Star | April 09, 2021

NHS workers protest for a pay rise for health workers outside 10 Downing Street

NHS workers are demanding a green recovery to help get the country back on its feet after Covid-19 and save thousands of lives.

In a new report published this evening, health staff say decarbonising the economy to zero emissions by 2030, 20 years ahead of the government’s target, could create jobs and prevent nearly 14,000 pollution-related deaths annually in Britain.

How a Janitors Union in San Francisco Got Over Its Fear and Struck

WORKERS PROTEST

Luis Feliz Leon

Labor Notes | April 08, 2021

Striking janitors picketed the huge Salesforce Tower and other office buildings, as tech workers begin to trickle back after months of remote work. Roughly 3,000 Bay Area janitors were laid off last year. They want everyone rehired, with improved ventilation and protective gear. Photo: SEIU Local 87

With their contract negotiations stalled, hundreds of San Francisco janitors represented by Service Employees (SEIU) Local 87 went on strike March 24.

Roughly 3,000 Bay Area janitors were laid off as the pandemic spread last year. Their union is now demanding a return to work for all laid-off workers—but with improvements.

They want better ventilation in buildings, protective gear for workers, a wage increase, health coverage, additional sick days, and protections against sexual harassment for a workforce that is largely immigrant women of color.

US steelworkers go on strike over unfair wages and work contract

WORKERS STRIKE IN USA

Peoples Dispatch | March 31, 2021

Striking workers locked out of Allegheny Technologies hold a picket at one of the factories on Tuesday, March 30. Photo: United Steelworkers via Twitter

Steelworkers at one of the United States’ largest specialty steel mills have gone on an indefinite strike after failing to arrive at a fair work contract with the company. More than 1,300 workers at nine plants of Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) across five States started striking on Monday, March 29, rejecting last-minute offers from the company and began their picket of the company on Tuesday, March 30.

Workers organized by United Steelworkers (USW) have been in negotiations with the company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for a fair four-year work contract since January this year. The main point of contention has been the rate of wage hike. Workers at ATI have not received any raise since 2014 and have also accused the company of not coming to the negotiating table in good faith.

Counting underway for historic union vote at Alabama’s Amazon unit

WORKERS ORGANIZE 

Anish R M

People’s Dispatch | March 31, 2021

Locals and residents of Bessemer came out in support of the unionization drive by Amazon workers on March 20. Photo: Liberation

After more than seven weeks of ballot submissions, the workers at Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse in Alabama submitted their final votes on Monday, March 29, to decide whether or not they want a union. On Tuesday, March 30, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) began the count of over 5,800 ballots, the results of which could take the next couple of days to be released.

The unionization drive has grabbed national limelight over the past two months, not only because of the historical nature of the vote and the impact it could have on union organizing across the country, but also because it revealed the abysmal work culture at one of the United States’ largest employers. At the same time, the campaign unlike previous campaigns for unionizing Amazon workers managed to attract nationwide solidarity and support.

12 deaths per week: More than 6,500 migrant workers died during Qatar’s World Cup prep

OPPRESSION ON WORKERS

A Journal of People report

More than 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar amid the nation’s preparation to host the 2022 World Cup, The Guardian reports.

The report cites government data from the home nations of migrant workers, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Deaths that occurred in the final months of 2020 are also not included.

The data have been compiled since Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010, working out to an average of 12 deaths per week, according to the report.

FIFA awarded the World Cup to Qatar despite widespread concerns over human rights violations and treatment of migrant workers.

Google Employees and Other Alphabet Units Form a Union

WORKERS OF TECH GIANTS ARE FIGHTING BACK

teleSUR | January 05, 2021

The new labor group focuses not only on wages and benefits like most unions, but also aims to play a role in the tech giant’s ethical decisions and protection against arbitrary firings for activism.

Employees of U.S. tech company Google and other units of its parent company Alphabet announced Monday the creation of a union, intensifying a period of activism targeting the Silicon Valley giants.

According to a statement, the Alphabet Workers Union, affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, aims to represent well-paid workers in the tech sector and temporary employees and contractors.

The Year The Unions Kept Us Strong

WORKERS’ STRUGGLE

Pavan Kulkarni

People’s Dispatch | December 31, 2020

Community health workers in India blockade a road during the historic strike on November 26. Source Newsclick

[Peoples Dispatch brings you a series of articles and videos on 2020, a momentous year that saw humanity face unprecedented challenges. The beacon of hope remained the historic resistance mounted by people’s movements, and the care and solidarity they epitomized, proving yet again that our collective struggles alone can dismantle and end oppression. You can read the full series here]

From the over 1,100 strikes in the US, averaging over three a day, to history’s largest known general strike witnessed in India, labor actions across continents in 2020 demonstrated the firm refusal of the working class to passively accept on to its shoulders the burden of an unprecedented economic that has been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 in Review: Workers Struggle Under the Weight of the Pandemic

2020

Dan DiMaggio and Saurav Sarkar

Labor Notes | December 21, 2020

The labor movement struggled to find its footing in the biggest workplace health and safety crisis of our lifetimes. Photo: Jim West / jimwestphoto.com, cropped from original.

Workers will feel the ramifications of this unprecedented year long into the future.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 300,000 lives, destroyed millions of jobs, busted gaping holes in public budgets, and magnified the myriad inequalities that have come to define life in the United States.

Notwithstanding a few bright spots, the labor movement struggled to find its footing in the biggest workplace health and safety crisis of our lifetimes.

Labour Unions’ Nationwide Strike: Near Total Shutdown in Bengal, Kerala; Rallies in Other States

INDIAN WORKER’S STRIKE

The Wire | November 26, 2020

Labour union strike supporters block the railway tracks at Kolkata’s Jadavpur station. Photo: By arrangement

New Delhi: The nationwide strike called for by central trade unions on Thursday, coupled with the ‘Delhi Chalo’ rallies of farmers in north India, led to a near total shutdown in a few states and protests in others.

West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have already seen rallies in support amidst what appears to be complete observance of the strike. AITUC General Secretary Amarjeet Kaur said Odisha, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Maharashtra and Goa have also seen a “good response.”

To Advance, Workers Must Break the Law: A Reply to John Kerr

CLASS STRUGGLE

Don Franks

Red Line | November 18, 2020

In response to my piece NZ union structure past its use by date John Kerr wrote:

Bit of a cop out of an article: some penetrating analysis of what’s wrong (echoed in other pieces by Trotter et al) but no concrete suggestions around possible solutions…

I agree that ‘if we really want to be addressing child poverty we would do so by lifting wages, decreasing rents and increasing benefits.’

And I agree the current union model ‘isn’t working’ in this regard, but there are no suggestions in this piece of an alternative that might…

Don complains about there being no structures where workers can get involved,