Troublemakers Blog

U.S. Unions Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

A group of people hold a black banner that says CEASEFIRE.
October 19, 2023 / Alexandra Bradbury, / Luis Feliz Leon
While many union members and other workers are worried and horrified at the mounting war in Israel and occupied Palestine, U.S. unions so far have mostly remained silent. »

Record-Setting Strike Moves Kaiser the Old-Fashioned Way

Workers in purple SEIU Local 49 T-shirts march across a street. Some carry picket signs that say SEIU and some other words too small to read. A large purple banner says "We stand for our patients." The person in front is talking into a bullhorn and others appear to be chanting.
October 18, 2023 / Alexandra Bradbury
Seventy-five thousand Kaiser Permanente health care workers struck October 4-6 in what was billed as the biggest health care strike in U.S. history. »

Book Review: Soldiers as Workers in a Toxic Workplace

Book cover of “Our Veterans” shows a black woman veteran in a parade carrying the edge of a huge American flag with other marchers.
October 13, 2023 / Betsy Zucker
For decades, the armed services and contractors on bases abroad used massive burn pits for waste disposal, rather than safer methods. They burned everything from tires to computer equipment to medical waste and more, often using jet fuel, a known carcinogen, as an accelerant. »

‘Where There Are Scabs, There Is Violence’—That’s Why Scabs Are Illegal in Two Canadian Provinces

October 04, 2023 / Bill Cole
Auto Workers President Shawn Fain has vigorously condemned violence on the picket lines in Michigan, Massachusetts, and California—laying the blame on management for using replacement workers, or as we usually call them in the »

VIDEO: Stand with the UAW: Record Profits Means Record Contracts

A group of workers march in Detroit holding signs that say "UAW Stand Up: Fair Pay and COLA Now."
September 26, 2023 / Labor Notes staff
With 18,000 United Auto Workers members on strike at three Big 3 assembly plants and 38 parts distribution centers around the country, Labor Notes held a free national Zoom call on September 23, 2023, to hear reports from the rank-and-file members massing on picket lines and taking creative actions to win their bold demands. »

First Tire Workers to Organize in 40 Years Win First Contract

Workers outside a big plant approach a car with leaflets.
September 26, 2023 / Finley Williams
It was late summer 2017 at the Overtyme Bar and Grill, a hotspot off a busy highway in Macon, Georgia, and Kumho Tire plant worker Mario Smith had important questions for local United Steelworkers (USW) president Alex Perkins: he wanted to know how he could bring a union to the one-year-old factory. »

Viewpoint: With No Reform Caucus, Auto Workers Would Not Be on Strike

Workers in red shirts picket outside. Many of the picket signs are white with UAW logo, Local 412, and the words "Stellantis Bargaining in Bad Faith."
September 26, 2023 / Jane Slaughter
What can workers seeking to reinvigorate their unions learn from the new spirit in the United Auto Workers? »

Ford and GM Agree to End At Least One Tier, Stellantis Still Holding Out

Workers in red shirts chant. Most are Black women. Many fists in air, one blowing whistle, one speaking into bullhorn. Printed signs say "UAW Stand Up, COLA and Fair Pay Now"
September 25, 2023 / Jane Slaughter
The Auto Workers announced encouraging progress in their negotiations with Ford and General Motors September 22, including an end to one of the many concessionary tiers in the union’s contract. »

En México, trabajadores automotrices enfrentan lista negra después de campaña sindical

September 25, 2023 / Charlie Saperstein y Daniel DiMaggio
En agosto de 2022, los trabajadores automotrices de VU Manufacturing ganaron una elección histórica para obtener el reconocimiento de un nuevo sindicato independiente, La Liga Sindical Obrera Mexicana. Un año más tarde, después de negarse a negociar un nuevo contrato, la compañía ha cerrado, dejando a 400 trabajadores sin trabajo y a 70 trabajadores sin su »

Viewpoint: Auto Bargaining in Canada—Stuck in the Past?

A man and a woman in suits stand holding a binder together in front of a screen that has Ford and Unifor logos projected on it.
September 21, 2023 / Tony Leah
Bargaining with the Detroit 3 auto corporations is happening in Canada and the United States at the same time this year—the first time that bargaining has aligned since the disastrous bankruptcy negotiations and forced concessions of 2009. »

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