Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where Payday is preparing to end its monthly fundraising session.
$873 Short of Monthly Fundraising Goal
Big thanks to everyone who has donated this month to Payday while I have been struggling with health issues. Your assistance has been beneficial.
Currently, we are only $873 short of our fundraising goal and need your help.
Donate to help us keep covering the labor movement. Please sign up as one of our 761 recurring donors today.
6,800 Stellantis Workers Join UAW Stand Up Strike
Today, the UAW announced that 6,800 workers at a Ram Truck factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan, would join the growing ‘Stand Up” strike at the Big Three. Now, over 40,000 UAW members are on strike at the Big Three.
“Despite having the highest revenue, the highest profits (North American and global), the highest profit margins, and the most cash in reserve, Stellantis lags behind both Ford and General Motors in addressing the demands of their UAW workforce,” said the UAW in a statement. “Currently, Stellantis has the worst proposal on the table regarding wage progression, temporary worker pay and conversion to full-time, cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), and more.”
St. Lawrence Seaway Workers Strike
On Sunday, over 400 workers went on strike at the St. Lawrence Seaway, saying they were “1,000 natural miles apart” from management.
“I think of my salary 19 years ago and what my purchasing power could actually purchase and what I can purchase now it has gone downhill,” St. Lawrence Seaway worker Marjolaine Brunet told the CBC.
Walgreen & CVS Workers Could Strike Again
Late last month, workers went on strike at two dozen CVS locations across Kansas City. The strike led to promises by CVS that they would improve working conditions.
Now, more CVS & Walgreens workers are moving to strike nationwide at the end of this week.
“I feel more positive now than I have at any point in the last couple of years,” CVS Pharmacist Corey Schneider told WDAF. “I feel like the message got through and the response has been encouraging.”
Writers’ Guild Refuses to Condemn Israel’s Attack on Gaza
While some unions like UE have denounced Israel’s attack on Gaza, the Writer’s Guild is refusing to do so, citing that their union represents a number of journalists.
“A little over a year ago, the WGA East went through a referendum to find a path forward as a Guild that was now 40% journalists. In doing so, we in leadership agreed to move away from public statements that did not directly involve our Guild, our industries or the labor movement. Such statements hindered journalist members’ work, and divided rather than united us,” the union said in a statement. “Since the referendum, we have made two such statements, both about the protection of reporters.”
However, the union did not comment on the more than two dozen journalists who have been killed since Israel began attacking Gaza.
Check out the Committee to Protect Journalists reports for more on journalists being killed in Gaza.
Foreign Workers Flee Israel
Finally, as guest workers flee Israel, the government has announced that they will be replaced by West Bank Palestinians over the age of 60. From the Time of Israel:
The Agriculture Ministry says that there is a shortfall of about 10,000 laborers, and it will be working to extend existing residence permits for foreign workers and is working with the Population and Immigration Authority to bring foreign workers from additional countries.
Since the start of the war, 2,000 Thai foreign workers have left the country, reports Army Radio.
The Government Press Office has said that 15 Thai nationals were killed in Hamas’s devastating October 7 terror onslaught, and another five are missing or abducted into the Gaza Strip.
For more, check out the Times of Israel.
Strikes & News Happening Elsewhere
- 1,300 PeaceHealth workers strike in Vancouver, Washington
- SAG-AFTRA & AMPTP to resume bargaining on Tuesday
- LA Hotels are recruiting residents of “Skid Row” to break as scabs during the hotel strike
- IATSE Locals Form Contract Captain System Ahead of 2024 Negotiations
- Cremation Service Workers Unionize in Oregon
- Allina Health ‘not going to challenge’ clinic doctors’ vote to unionize
- Finally, Planet Money has a long look at the failed union drive at Volkswagen Chattanooga 10 years ago.
Alright, yinz, that’s all for today. Keep sending tips, story ideas, and comments to melk@paydayreport.com
Donate to help us meet our monthly goal. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our 761 recurring donors today. Thanks again for all of the support & solidarity.
Love & Solidarity,
Melk
