Jenny Brown

East Coast Longshore workers with the International Longshoremen’s Association are returning to work, after three raucous days on the picket lines. They received a promise of a $24-an-hour pay raise over six years, bringing top pay from $39 to $63.

The strike paralyzed shipping in huge port complexes like Newark, Houston, and Charleston, stopping loads of fruit, vehicles, and heavy equipment. It was the first coastwide strike for the ILA since 1977.

Longshore workers walked off the job at midnight at Atlantic and Gulf ports from Boston to Houston. This is the first coastwide strike since 1977 for the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), and took many by surprise. The workforce loads, unloads, and tracks ship cargo, and maintains port machinery.

The 19,000-worker walkout shut down 14 port complexes, as ILA members drew the line at automation that threatens their jobs. Wages are also an issue; the last contract was negotiated in 2018 before shocks from the pandemic and inflation.

Flight attendants at American Airlines were celebrating September 12 after approving a new five-year agreement by 87 percent, with 95 percent turnout. They won a big retroactive pay package and an immediate wage increase of 20 percent.

They also became the first flight attendants to nail down boarding pay in a union contract. Flight attendants typically are not paid until the aircraft doors close. All that greeting, seating, sorting out problems, and assistance with bags is off the clock.

Boeing has increased its offer to striking Machinists, hoping to end a work stoppage that entered its eleventh day today. According to the Seattle Times, the new proposal would raise wages 30 percent over four years, as opposed to 25 percent in the offer that workers rejected by 94.6 percent.

Third-shift workers walked out of Boeing’s giant factories at Renton and Everett, Washington, as their contract expired early Friday morning, blasting music and airhorns, shooting off fireworks, and waving hand-made signs. They immediately formed picket lines and began setting up homemade burn barrels with “IAM” carved in the side.

With their contract expiring at midnight on Thursday, the Machinists union at the aircraft giant Boeing announced a tentative contract agreement September 8. It was a shock to many union members.

“Insulting,” “Joke of a contract,” and “Hard no” were some of the more polite reactions registered on X in response to the proposal, which would raise wages 25 percent over the four-year life of the deal, but eliminate an annual bonus of 3 to 6 percent of wages.

Mondays and Wednesdays are loud at the vast Boeing factory in Everett, Washington. As the Machinists’ contract campaign heats up, the workforce has been serenading management at lunch with air horns, train horns, and vuvuzelas—plus chants of “Out the Door in ’24.”

The dissident Retiree Advocate caucus in the giant New York City teachers union won a decisive victory over the incumbents in the retiree chapter election June 14, winning 63 percent of the 27,000 votes cast. Turnout jumped compared to previous elections.

In addition to running the 70,000-member Retired Teachers Chapter, they will send 300 delegates to the union’s delegate assembly.

Project 2025: Eliminate Unions

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Corporate backers of the Trump campaign have tipped their hand. In “Project 2025: Presidential Transition Project,” the Heritage Foundation unveiled its 900-page wish list for a new Trump presidency and a compliant Supreme Court.

Trump’s victory last time was a surprise, and many corporate types view his chaotic term as a missed opportunity. This time Heritage, which is a mouthpiece for big employers, has compiled a long list of people they want Trump to hire and appoint, and a scorched-earth plan for his first 180 days.

They’ve really stepped in it. The incumbent Unity Caucus that runs the huge teachers union in New York City is facing a challenge from the Retiree Advocate slate who hope to take leadership of the powerful 70,000-person retiree chapter within the union. Ballots were mailed May 10 and will be counted June 14.

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