Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where it’s been an exhausting day working on our data migration transfer to the open-sourced, non-profit platform Ghost.
500,000 Workers in the US Could Be on Strike in the US in 2 Weeks
Payday needs your donations to help to cover the over 160,000 SAG-AFTRA members, who are now striking alongside 11,000 Writers Guild members for the first time in 60 years. Increasingly, it appears that 340,000 Teamsters at UPS will also join them on strike on August 1st.
This summer, we will likely see 500,000 workers strike at once in the US. As our work covering the strike wave has shown, the more coverage that strikes get, the more likely workers feel emboldened and confident that they, too, can strike.
Donate to Help Us Cover the Summer Strike Wave. Please, sign up as one of our 751 recurring donors today.
22,000 Teamsters to Strike at Yellow
As the “Summer of Strikes” continues to grow, the Teamsters gave notice that 22,000 truck drivers and warehouse workers employed by Yellow are preparing to strike as soon as July 24th. The strikes come after Yellow failed to pay $50 million to the Teamsters-run Central State Pension Fund.
“Darren ‘Do Nothing’ Hawkins and the management team at Yellow cannot hold the Teamsters hostage as they dream up disingenuous offers to save themselves from their own incompetence,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “It is not left to rank-and-file Teamsters to drag Yellow’s sinking ship to shore. We are not going to agree to informal offers for new wages in the hopes of getting a fair contract next year when YRC Freight and Holland can’t even figure out how to pay their bills right now.”
For more, check out the Teamsters website.
Amid Hollywood Strikes, Cartoon Network and Warners Brothers Unionize
With over 171,000 Hollywood workers on strike, union fever is hot in the Film and TV industry.
Yesterday, 62 staffers at Warners Brothers Animation and 22 at Cartoon Network requested voluntary recognition from their employers. A group of Disney animators is also expected to go public with a union drive shortly.
“Although many might not think it, production is a specialized skill; we might not be artists or writers, but what we bring to the table goes beyond traditional creativity and gets content on the air,” Warner Bros. Animation production manager Hannah Ferenc said in a statement “Having lived through the existing state of the animation industry for the past seven years, I want to make sure that not only our current workers, but all those who choose to join us in the future, can feel secure in following their passion by earning livable wages and being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
For more, check out the Hollywood Reporter.
16-Year-Old Boy Dies in Mississippi Poultry Plant
Finally, a 16-year-old Guatemalan immigrant died n a horrific accident at a poultry plant in Mississippi. The boy was killed despite federal law stating that it is illegal for minors under the age of 16 to work in a poultry plant. NBC News has more:
A worker who was on duty at the time of the accident spoke of hearing the boy screaming for help, but it was already too late.
“Two times he began to scream, ‘Help! Help!'” the worker said.
“I knew he had died,” the worker added.
The victim, identified by local authorities and a family member as Duvan Tomas Perez, was a middle school student who arrived in this country from the town of Huispache about six years ago.
“We’re very sad,” said the relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they face a pending immigration issue. “He was generous, smiley and very fun and very responsible at work.”
May Duvan’s memory always be a blessing in the fight for economic and racial justice. For more, check out NBC News.
Folks, that’s all for today. Keep sending tips, story ideas, comments, and articles to [email protected]
Donate to help us continue to fight for workers like Duvan. May his memory always be a blessing in the fight for racial and economic justice.
Saravah!
