Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where I am slowly getting back in the swing of things after struggling with some over-exhaustion and Long Covid-related issues.
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3,300 UPS Pilots Vow to Strike w/ Teamsters Drivers
With 340,000 Teamsters at UPS moving towards a strike on July 31st, the Indepedent Pilots Association (IPA), representing 3,300 UPS pilots, has declared that they would not cross any picket lines in the event of a strike.
“If the Teamsters are on strike, we will honor that strike and we will not fly,” IPA spokesman Brian Gaudet told FreightWaves.
The small independent union has no strike fund and has informed its members to prepare financially to support any strike by UPS drivers.
“We don’t have a strike fund. If you’re a UPS pilot and you’re being asked to not cross that picket line, that means you stay in your hotel, you don’t show up, you don’t fly and it’s on your nickel,” Gaudet told FreightWaves.
For more, check out FreightWaves.
Teamsters President Askes Biden to Not Intervene in UPS Strike
Last year, President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress intervened to stop a strike of railroad workers, using their federal power to impose a contract on these workers that the majority of railroad workers had previously voted down.
Now, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien is asking Biden not to intervene if UPS workers go on strike at the end of the month.
“My neighborhood where I grew up in Boston, if two people had a disagreement and you had nothing to do with it – you just kept walking,” O’Brien told the AP. “We don’t need anybody getting involved in this fight.”
Louisville Coffee Workers Walk Out Across Chain
Louisville has been a hotbed of organizing coffee shop workers. In March, over 200 coffee shop workers at a dozen Heine Brothers locations won a historic first contract.
Now, workers at Sunergos, a local coffee shop chain, and Starbucks workers are walking out together to demand first contracts from their employers.
“It honestly makes me kind of emotional,” Sunergos worker Bekah Ryherd told WDRB about the cross-union solidarity. We’ve been at this since January, and it’s just very exciting to have the support of so many people. Because it can feel really discouraging in the day-to-day.”
LA City Controller to Investigate Universal Studios for Cutting Shade on Picket Lines
Earlier this week, workers for Universal Studios trimmed trees that lined a picket line that striking writers and actors have been using. The trees provided the only shade on the picket line as temperatures have consistently been above 90 degrees.
Now, LA City Controller Kenneth Meija is vowing to investigate Universal Studios for cutting the trees, which were the city’s property.
“Our Office is investigating the tree trimming that occurred outside Universal Studios where workers, writers, and actors are exercising their right to picket,” tweeted Meija. “The trimmed trees are LA City managed street trees.”
For more, check out the LA Times on how workers are braving the heat on picket lines this summer.
Erie Hotel Facing Heat for Housing Scabs
Last Friday, UE locomotive workers on strike at Wabtec in Erie picketed the Avalon Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Erie. The union says that the hotel is housing “scabs” being brought to replace striking workers.
“They (the hotel) are hurting our efforts to get a good contract,” UE Eastern Regional President George Wasmunski told the Erie Times-News. “Whether or not they want to be a part of it, they are now a part of it.”
For more, check out the Erie Times News.
Links & News Elsewhere
- ‘West Side Story Star Russ Tamblyn Recalls 1960 SAG Strike: ‘Don’t Sell Out Like Ronald Reagan’
- Staten Island Ferry workers walkout
- Michigan Amazon workers walkout during Prime Week
- America’s thirst for vacationing results in $10 billion raise for United Airlines pilots—up to 40% higher pay over the next 4 years
- Pullman preserving labor history with New National Historic Park Status
- Maine votes to ban anti-union captive audience meetings
- Finally, a viral Tik Tok video of a “strike nurse” describing “scabbing” has stirred a massive public backlash.
Alright, yinz, that’s all for us today. Keep sending emails, tips, story ideas, and cooking recipes to [email protected]
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See yinz tomorrow.
Love & Solidarity,
Melk
