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Greetings from the Burgh, where we’re raising money to cover the costs of our new website.
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Boeing Could Face Credit Downgrade Over Strike
In the Pacific Northwest, more than 32,000 Boeing workers have been on strike for nearly five days, which has surprised Boeing executives.
"They probably didn't think that we had enough people for the strike," Kushal Varma, a Boeing mechanic, told Reuters. "But this is a movement of people who are willing to put their livelihoods on the line to get what's fair."
Rating agencies have warned Boeing that they may downgrade the credit rating of Boeing if the strike drags on. So far, there appears to no end in sight.
For more, check out ABC News on how the safety scandals at Boeing helped create the conditions for the strike.
17,000 AT&T Workers Reach Deal; Raising Wages by 19%
After nearly a month, 17,000 AT&T workers throughout the Southeast have reached a tentative agreement to end their strike. The new contract provides for a 19% raise over a 5 year period.
“I believe in the power of unity, and the unity our members and retirees have shown during these contract negotiations has been outstanding and gave our bargaining teams the backing they needed to deliver strong contracts,” said CWA President Claude Cummings, Jr. “I’m not just talking about AT&T members in the Southeast and West, although the determination of our striking AT&T Southeast members was remarkable. CWA members and retirees from every region and sector of our union mobilized in support of our bargaining teams, including by distributing flyers with information about the strike at AT&T Wireless stores.”
For more on details of the contract, check out CWA’s website.
Crypto Spending $800,000-a-Day against Senator Sherod Brown
Across the border, crypto companies are investing in ads against Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who has taken on the industry in Congress.
Now, crypto companies are spending over $800,000-a-day in TV ads against the embattled Senator.
“Outside groups are spending record amounts to try to defeat Sherrod because they know he will always fight for Ohio, not special interests,” said Reeves Oyster, a Brown campaign spokesperson to Rolling Stone.
For more, check out Rolling Stone.
Sex Workers Protest Kamala Harris for Shutting Down Backpages.Com
Finally, Politico has an in-depth look at how sex workers are still upset at how Kamala Harris, as Calfironia’s Attorney General, played a major role in shutting down the site Backpages.com.
Some say that the website was used to help sex trafficking. However, independent sex workers say that the site allowed them to find clients without using a pimp. From Politico:
The charges Harris brought against Backpage never went to trial. But they sparked a nationwide crackdown against the site, including a follow-on federal case that has been making its way through the courts for nearly a decade.
Last month, after a meandering legal saga in that follow-on case, the website’s 76-year-old co-founder was sentenced to five years in prison on a federal money-laundering charge. He reported on Wednesday to begin serving his sentence, while his lawyers appeal.
But some advocates on the left see Harris’ approach to Backpage — and to sex work more broadly — as overly punitive. Before the site was shuttered, they say, it primarily served as a place where sex workers safely connected with — and vetted — adult clients for consensual services. They say that Backpage cooperated with authorities to identify sex trafficking and that, by driving the market for consensual sex-related services to more obscure corners of the internet (or back into the streets), the shutdown of the site hampered efforts to investigate underage or coerced prostitution.
“Unfortunately, Kamala Harris is just one of many, many politicians to conflate adult, consensual prostitution with horrific, violent, gender-based violence,” said Kaytlin Bailey, the host of “The Oldest Profession Podcast” and founder of the group Old Pros, which advocates for the decriminalization of sex work.
News & Headlines Elsewhere
- Tense Teamsters meeting with Harris ends with an endorsement still dangling
- New York Times’ tech staff threatens strike during Election Day crunch
- Nippon Steel’s doomed effort to court Steelworkers in US Steel takeover detailed in emails, letters
- Pope urges fair wages for Singapore's migrant workers
- Cambodian union leader freed from prison vows to continue a strike against Cambodia’s biggest casino
- Nearly 500 Starbucks locations in the U.S. have voted to form a union, according to Starbucks Workers United.
- Volkswagen workers In Chattanooga rally to win strong first contract
- GE workers hold rally with Louisville union leaders demanding better wages, working conditions
- Kapi’olani locks out hundreds of nurses after one-day strike
Alright folks that’s all for today. Keep sending comments, story ideas, complaints, and suggestions to melk@paydayreport.com
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Love & Solidarity,
Melk
