Greetings from the Burgh, where Payday is raising money to keep tracking “Days Without Immigrants.”
Payday Tracked “Days Without Immigrants” Strikes in 120 Cities & 40 States
This week, the national media largely ignored the “Days Without Immigrants” strikes. However, Payday tracked strikes in 120 cities and 40 states. (See our map here)
Donate to help us track more strikes. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our recurring donors today.
Girl Scouts Won't Cross Picket Line of 10,000 Colorado Grocery Workers
In Colorado, over 10,000 grocery workers at 77 King Soopers grocery stories are on strike. The workers, who are on strike at the Colorado chain for the second time in 3 years, are striking over a variety of issues including a general sense of disrespect.
One group that won’t be crossing the picket line is the Girl Scouts of America. Typically, they sell Girl Scout Cookies outside of King Soopers, but they won’t be this year.
“We certainly realize that the strike is bigger than us and than Girl Scout Cookies but it does have a significant impact on our girls,” Girl Scouts of Colorado CEO Leanna Clark told KDVR. “So we’re trying to teach them what is a strike, what’s the history behind them, why do people strike, so it’s beyond the frustration”.
Utah Passes Bill Banning Collective Bargaining
Earlier this week, many in labor were optimistic that the Utah State Senate may kill a ban on collective bargaining for public sector workers. However, today, the bill passed by a margin of 16-13.
“Utah is less safe now,” Jack Tidrow, president of the Professional Firefighters of Utah, told the Salt Lake Tribune shortly after its passage.
For more, check out the Salt Lake Tribune.
County Couldn’t Afford Raise, Instead They Gave Workers 32-Hour Work Week
In San Juan islands off the coast of Washington, the county could not afford to give workers their desired wage. Instead, they decided to cut work hours down to 32 hours a week while keeping pay the same. The results surprised many. From the CBS Evening News:
In the year since the reduced work week went into effect, avoiding a big pay raise saved San Juan County nearly $1 million. Job applications are up 85%, the turnover rate is down 43% and employees calling in sick is down 23%.
The workers seem happier, too.
"At the end of the day, money only does so much for you. And what's the good of having money anyway if I can't use it to do anything for fun?" said Nadine Varsovia, who works in Human Resources.
For more, check out CBS Evening News.
Air Force Removes Name Tags from Troops Doing Deportations
Finally, last month, Brazilian President Lula complained when immigrants were deported from the United States back to Brazil chained in handcuffs for the entirety of the 8 hour flight. Deported immigrants have complained about abusive practices by Air Force personnel.
Now, the United States Air Force is instructing all personnel aboard deportation flights to remove both their name tags and their unit badges.
"This is very unusual, because when I deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, nobody ever asked me to, or nobody ever ordered me to, strip off my insignia or name tapes," Dan Grazier, a senior fellow with the National Security Reform Program at the Stimson Center told Military.com. "So it seems really odd that the Air Force is doing this for missions here in the United States."
For more, check out Military.com
News & Headlines Elsewhere
- N.Y.C. officials give city workers leeway to yield to ICE agents
- HuffPost to lay off 20% of its workforce
- Are record labels doing enough to support emerging artists? SAG-AFTRA weighs in after Chappell Roan’s Grammy speech
- New Orleans University Medical Center nurses strike during Super Bowl week, call for better working condition
- Julia Doubleday at The Gauntlet has a long guide to the problems plaguing people with Long COVID
- Finally, a long look at how jazz musician and actress Hazel Scott launched a strike over Black women's costumes in a film, ultimately costing her film career
Donate to keep tracking “Days Without Immigrants” Strikes. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our recurring donors today.
That’s all for today. Keep sending tips, story ideas, comments,and complaints to melk@paydayreport.com
Thanks again for reading & supporting,
Melk
