2,000 Texas Nurses Strike – Florida Truck Drivers to Strike for Immigrants’ Rights – Wabtec Strike in Erie Could Drag On

2,000 Texas Nurses strike across the state (National Nurses United)

By: June 27, 2023

Folks, 

Greetings from Erie, where I spent the day on the picket line talking to striking UE locomotive workers. 

UE Wabtec Strike in Erie Could Drag On 

The strike here in Erie could drag on for some time. Wabtec appears to be dragging its feet on reaching a settlement. Their next bargaining session is scheduled for July 6th. 

The UE says they are prepared to go for as long as necessary. 

“Our members aren’t scared of a long strike and are prepared to stay out for as long as it takes,” says UE Local 506 President Scott Slawson. 

(Check out our preview of the strike)

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Donate to help us cover our expenses covering the strike at Wabtec in Erie. Please, sign up as one of our 753 recurring donors today. 

2,000 Texas Nurses Strike 

In Texas, over 2,000 nurses are on strike at Ascension Health Systems. Nurses say that they are protesting against understaffing and excessive bureaucratic work that delays them from treating patients. 

“Nurses spend anywhere from 40 to 50% of their shift, just documenting alone. And that means that they are not at the bedside, taking care of their patients and providing them the care that they deserve,” Texas Nurses Association President told KXAN. 

For more, check out KXAN. 

Florida Trucker Drivers to Strike for Immigrants’ Rights 

On July 1st, a new restrictive immigration law will go into effect. The law will make it more difficult for undocumented workers to find employment. 

According to the American Trucking Association, there is already a shortage of 80,000 truckers nationwide. The bill likely only makes it more severe. 

A group of truck drivers are going on strike this week to protest the law. 

“If you go to the supermarket, if the truckers don’t bring the food, there won’t be any food there,” Luis Vargas, a trucker in Florida for 23 years, told Spectrum News 9. “I’ve decided not to transport here in the state of Florida to protest this new law and support those immigrants, because I’m also an immigrant.”

For more, check out Spectrum News 9. 

Alright, yinz, I am gonna go back out to the picket line to do some interviews. We will have a bigger newsletter tomorrow. 

Donate to help us cover the strike here in Erie. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our 753 recurring donors today. 

Keep sending tips, story ideas, and complaints to [email protected] 

See yinz, 

Melk 

About the Author

Mike Elk
Mike Elk is an Emmy-nominated labor reporter and alumni of the Guardian. In addition to filing nearly 2,000 stories from 46 states, Elk traveled with Lula from Sáo Bernando do Campos all the way to the Oval Office in the White House. Credited by the Washington Post for being the first reporter to track the strike wave systematically, Elk started Payday Report using his NLRB settlement from being illegally fired for union organizing in 2015. He lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh and works frequently in Rio de Janeiro, where he attended college at PUC-Rio. He speaks both Portuguese and Pittsburghese fluently. His email is [email protected]