Luis Feliz Leon

Lessons from Lively Picket Lines

Blog: 
Blog
Author(s): 
Luis Feliz Leon
Alexandra Bradbury

The heat was scorching in Louisville, Kentucky, last Thursday. But what the windless day lacked in gusts, it made up in guts.

The union-made placards read: “United for a Strong Contract.” That resonated with auto workers at Ford who hadn’t been part of a contract rally for as long as anyone can remember.

And the picket line came alive when they broke away from the tedious repetition of “Who’s got the power? We’ve got the power!” and used their own chants.

Kentucky Auto Workers at Ford Are Preparing for a Strike

Five hundred Auto Workers (UAW) from Local 862 held rallies in Louisville, Kentucky, August 24 and 25, part of a wave of practice pickets and rallies around the country.

Class struggle was on everyone’s lips. A variety of issues brought them to the picket, but the auto workers there were unanimous about turbocharged wealth inequality leaving workers behind.

Fired-Up Auto Workers Are Ready to Battle the Big 3

Sunday afternoon at the Auto Workers (UAW) Region 1 Pavilion in Warren, Michigan, felt a lot like church. Auto workers came together in sweltering heat to rally each other with fiery speeches, cheers, and songs in the first Big 3 contract rally anyone can remember.

The contracts with Ford, General Motors (GM), and Stellantis expire September 14.

Despite Big Teamster Wins at UPS, Some Expectations Outpace Gains

Some 323,000 U.S. workers have struck so far this year. Another 340,000 were in gear to strike, until their nationwide mobilization forced the company to concede. UPS Teamsters are voting on the deal through August 22.

Wage Gains at UPS Have Amazon Workers Demanding More

Amazon warehouse worker Paul Blundell has spent the past year talking to his co-workers about how UPS Teamsters were getting organized to strike. So recently, he had big news to share: “A few days before the strike deadline, UPS caved.”

“Everybody’s jaw dropped” when they heard that night shift workers at the Philly UPS air hub will get an immediate raise to $24.75, Blundell said. “We top out around $20.90 after three years, so UPS is now starting well above that—with raises for the rest of the contract.”

UPS Teamsters ‘Just Practicing’

The clock is ticking on the August 1 strike deadline of 340,000 UPS Teamsters. It would be the largest strike at a private employer in decades.

“People are actually paying attention,” said delivery driver Kioma Forero, a Local 804 shop steward in New York City. Customers along her route stop her to say, “I hope your negotiations go well.” The hosts are talking about it on Hot 97, the city’s top hip-hop station.

Michigan Amazon Workers Stage Largest Delivery Station Strike Yet

In the middle of Amazon’s Prime Day promotional sales rush, 60 warehouse workers walked out for more than three hours at its delivery station in Pontiac, Michigan—bringing the facility to the brink of a total shutdown.

A delivery station is the last warehouse an Amazon package passes through before it is loaded into a truck or van en route to the customer.

Amazon Teamsters’ Rolling Pickets Hit Facilities Nationwide

Brandi Diaz was at a customer’s door in Palmdale, California, delivering stuff for Amazon, when the customer asked her, “What’s the difference between you and UPS drivers?”

“He said the difference is UPS is union, Amazon is not. He referred to us as ‘Jeff’s Bozos.’

“I am no longer Bezos’ Bozo!” Diaz said over honks and chants from 200 Teamsters from six different locals and some labor allies at a picket line outside an Amazon warehouse in northern New Jersey July 6.

Reform Caucus Rises, Sues for Elections in Amazon Labor Union

One year after the landmark union victory at Amazon's JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island, New York, the brightly colored posters that once adorned the glass at the iconic bus stop in front of the plant are gone.

Machinists Ratify Contract at Airplane Parts Supplier, But Expose Rift with Union Leadership

Six thousand Machinists working for Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas, ratified a new four-year contract last week, returning to work today. The company had locked workers out on June 22, two days before their strike.

Machinists (IAM) Local Lodge 839 accepted the latest offer on June 28 by 63 percent, compared to 79 percent who rejected the first tentative agreement and 85 percent who voted to strike.

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