Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, but big news is once again in Brasil today.
Bolsonaro Placed on Full House Arrest
Last month, fascist former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was placed on limited house arrest, where he was allowed to leave between the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
However, after it was revealed that Bolsonaro had been communicating with the Trump Administration to impose sanctions and tariffs on Brasil, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexander de Moraes imposed much stricter restrictions on Bolsonaro.
Now, Bolsonaro will not be allowed to leave his home for any reason. He is also not allowed to receive any visitors, other than lawyers or doctors, and is prohibited from communicating using a cell phone.
For more, check out the Guardian.
$1,000 Labor Reporter Vacation Fund
Next Friday, I am going down to Wheeling, West Virginia for Bernie’s rally. Afterwards, I was hoping to take a few days off to explore West Virginia and enjoy the gorgeous weather.
However, as a self-employed labor reporter, I don’t have any paid vacation time off. So, I need your help
Pittsburgh’s NPR Stations WESA & WYEP Raise 70% Funding Gap
Pittsburgh’s NPR station WESA was expected to have a $700,000 funding gap as a result of Trump abolishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. However, in just 8 days, listeners of WESA and sister station WYEP raised enough to cover 70% of the funding gap.
“This was a moment of crisis, and Pittsburgh showed up,” said stations CEO Terry O’Rielly. “Our community made it clear, they will not let these stations go silent.”
3,200 Boeing Jet Fighter Workers Strike
In the St. Louis area, 3,200 Boeing fighter jet workers, members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), are out on strike after voting down a union contract that would have included a 20% raise over 4 years.
Last fall, Boeing ended a 53-day strike in Washington State by offering workers a 38% wage increase over a 5-year period, but St . Louis area union members said they want to hold out for more.
“IAM District 837 members build the aircraft and defense systems that keep our country safe,” said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Sam Cicinelli. “They deserve nothing less than a contract that keeps their families secure and recognizes their unmatched expertise.”
UAW Vice President Speaks Out About “Culture of Intimidation"
In a wide-ranging interview with the Detroit Free Press, UAW Vice President Rich Boyer spoke out about a culture of intimidation within the union:
In an exclusive interview last week with the Detroit Free Press, Boyer said the Fain administration is rife with infighting, red tape and pettiness. Boyer spoke publicly for the first time as he awaits the results of a federal monitor's investigation of retaliation claims he lodged against Fain.
Boyer is engaged in an internal legal battle to regain his oversight of the union's Stellantis department — a responsibility stripped from him in June 2024 when Fain deemed Boyer derelict in his duties. Overseeing Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, means working with approximately 40,000 UAW employees, and is among the highest responsibilities in the UAW.
The federal monitor overseeing union affairs has been investigating Boyer's claims that Fain punished him for refusing to take actions that would benefit Fain's fiancée and her sister.
When a memo was sent to Boyer on July 29, indicating Boyer does not have the right to bring an attorney to an executive board meeting this week where he hoped to appeal his case, he said he hit a breaking point, frustrated by what he sees as an endless series of bureaucratic hurdles standing between him and justice.
For more, check out the Detroit Free Press.
Fenway Park Workers Warn of Indefinite Strike
Last month Fenway Park concession workers employed by Armark went on a three-day strike. Last week they returned to work, but with little progress at the bargaining table. The workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 26, are threatening an indefinite open-ended strike.
“I wasn’t that hyped up about the whole thing until I went to the bargaining meeting,” said Peter Dankens, a beer server who began working at the ballpark in 1976, “[A]nd the person who represented Aramark said, ‘Well, you people make enough money.’ I couldn’t believe someone said that. I make at the top very good money, sure, but my money doesn’t come from Aramark. My money comes from the fans.”
MLBPA Called Out for Silence on Immigration
Finally, over at The Nation, sports editor Dave Zirin calls out the MLBPA for their silence on immigration:
This is a union where a quarter of its members were born in Latin America and many of the rest of its players are from comfortable suburban backgrounds and colleges with names like Gunnar, Colton, and Adley (to just use my favorite team as an example). What a statement to a divided country and a nativist president if this union of both Kades and Eduardos could publicly condemn the terror being imposed on their members. The players would become leaders giving voice to people who right now are living in shadows, deliberately unheard.
The Nation reached out to the MLBPA, but on this issue, it has been less deliberately unheard and more deliberately silent. “The PA is closely monitoring all U.S. immigration developments that could impact our members,” a representative of the MLBPA wrote. “We have advised non-U.S. citizen Players to carry proper immigration documentation with them when they travel and to ensure that their paperwork and personal information is up to date with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). We are available to Players and agents around the clock as a source of information and support, and we will remain attentive to any enforcement trends that could impact Players and their families.
This echoes what Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLBPA, told the Baseball Writers Association of America during the All-Star break. The following was sent to us by the union, complete with vocalized pauses. After Clark made the same declaration of legal support, he said, “We told them to carry their documentation, uh, uh, wherever they go.… we’ve got immigration council [sic] and immigration lawyers on staff to provide, support in a way that we have in the past, but not to the extent that we do now in order to ensure guys are in the best position possible to get to the ballpark and do their job.”
For more, check out The Nation.
Alright folks, that’s all for today. Keep sending tips, comments and complaints to melk@paydayreport.com
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