Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where local PBS TV station WQED announced that they intended to lay off 19 employees.
WQED to Lay Off 19 Employees
WQED was the 1st public television station in the United States and for many years the broadcasting home of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Earlier today, WQED announced that they would lay off 19 employees in response to Trump’s funding cuts, which eliminated $1.8 million annually from their budget.
“In response to the recent elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting, WQED Multimedia has taken steps to ensure its long-term financial stability, including laying off 19 employees—primarily in its Marketing, Membership, and Production departments,” WQED said in a statement today.
For more, read the full statement from WQED.
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Largest Canadian Union Denounces IDF Beating Chris Smalls
Yesterday, the Amazon Labor Union called on the rest of the labor movement to mobilize to denounce the detention of Amazon Labor Union founder Chris Smalls.
"We honor the call from Palestinian labor unions to disrupt the arms trade and support global workers' actions such as strikes, direct protests, and other efforts," the Amazon Labor Union said in a statement.
However, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, whose union the Amazon Labor Union is affiliated with, has yet to denounce his detention. Instead, O’Brien, who famously spoke in praise of Trump at the RNC this summer, took to social media today to promote an interview with Tucker Carlson.
American Flight Attendants Association President Sara Nelson did denounce the IDF’s beating of Smalls.
“If this is how the IDF treats American citizens traveling with media attention, it brings even more credibility to the reports of their abuses of Palestinian civilians,’ Nelson wrote on Bluesky late Wednesday. “I stand in solidarity w/ my brother Chris, the civilians in Gaza and all working towards peace and dignity for all. End this horror.”
While most American union stayed silent, g the 750,000 member Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the largest union in Canada, did denounce the IDF’s treatment of Smalls.
“CUPE stands in solidarity with US labour leader Chris Smalls and all the activists unlawfully detained by Israel while on board the @freedomflotilla.bsky.social #Handala, delivering aid to Gaza,” CUPE wrote on Bluesky late Wednesday. “We condemn this brutality and call for their immediate release.”
Help Payday Cover Labor’s Fight for Free Palestine
While most of the mainstream media and labor movement in the US has ignored the IDF’s beating of Amazon Labor Union founder Chris Smalls, Payday has repeatedly helped draw attention to this. Our story “Amazon Union Leader Chris Smalls Detained & Beaten by IDF, But US Media Ignores it” has attracted more than 4,000 shares on social media.
Trump Exempts 634 Brazilian Products from Tariffs
Another story that Payday Report has covered that many outlets in the US have ignored is how Brazilian President Lula has been leading international coalitions to resist Trump.
Earlier this month, Trump announced that he would impose a 50% tariff on products from Brasil in retaliation for fascist former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro facing trial for attempting to assassinate Brazilian President Lula.
However, today, Trump announced that 634 products made in Brasil would be exempt from the tariffs including aircraft supplies, pig iron, precious metals, wood pulp, energy, and orange juice. Not exempted was Brazilian coffee, which accounts for about 30% of all coffee imported to the United States.
Brazilian President Lula remains defiant though.
“Be sure that we are treating this with the utmost seriousness. But seriousness does not require subservience,” the Brazilian president told The New York Times. “I treat everyone with great respect. But I want to be treated with respect.”
Earlier today, The New York Times published a fascinating profile of President Lula titled “No One Is Defying Trump Like Brazil’s President”:
“There is perhaps no world leader defying President Trump as strongly as Mr. Lula.
The president of Brazil — a leftist in his third term who is arguably this century’s most important Latin American statesman — has been hitting back at Mr. Trump in speeches across Brazil. His social media pages have suddenly become filled with references to Brazil’s sovereignty. And he has taken to wearing a hat that says “Brazil belongs to Brazilians.”
On Tuesday, he said that he was studying retaliatory tariffs against American exports if Mr. Trump carries through with his threats. And he said that if the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol had happened in Brazil, Mr. Trump would be facing prosecution just like Mr. Bolsonaro.
“The democratic state of law for us is a sacred thing,” he said in a lofty room draped in a colorful tapestry in the modernist presidential palace, where emus roam the lawns. “Because we have already lived through dictatorships, and we don’t want any more.”
For more, check out The New York Times.
Boeing CEO Says Firm Can Weather Fighter Jet Workers Strike
Earlier this week, 3,200 Boeing jet fighter workers overwhelmingly voted to reject a 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 union members said they want to hold out for more.
Today, Boeing CEO’s declared that his firm could weather another strike by Boeing jet fighter workers.
“We’ll manage through this,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told Defense News today. “I wouldn’t worry too much about the implications of the strike.”
For more, check out Defense News.
SMART Union Opposses Union Pacific & Norfolk Southern Merger
This week, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern announced that they intended to merge, creating the largest railroad company in the United States.
However, SMART-TD, the largest railroad workers union in the country, intends to oppose the merger.
“SMART-TD urges all relevant regulatory bodies, elected officials, and stakeholders to conduct a rigorous, transparent, and labor-informed review of this proposed merger,” said the union in a statement. “Our labor organization has every intention to oppose this merger when it comes before the Surface Transportation Board for approval.”
To read the union’s in-depth analysis, go to their website.
MLB Threatens Outspoken Phillies Players Over Union Talks
Finally, earlier this week, it was reported that Philadelphia Phillies star player Bryce Harper confronted MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred when he visited the players locker room. Harper, the son of a union ironworker, reportedly told Manfred, “If you’re talking about a salary cap you can get the fuck out.”
In response, The Athletic is reporting that MLB’s representative Mark DeRosa threatened the players:
After Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper got in the face of Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred during a heated meeting last week, Mark DeRosa, a former big leaguer who now works for Manfred, said something some players took as a threat, according to four people who attended the meeting or were briefed on it.
“The commissioner’s a powerful guy, don’t fuck around with him,” was the tone of DeRosa’s message.
Some players were angry at his implication that a commissioner, who has oversight of so many on- and off-field personnel and processes in the sport, could retaliate if they didn’t fall in line with what a commissioner wants, the sources said. After DeRosa’s statement, a player in the room raised the possibility of MLB using the drug-testing program as a means of retribution.
For more, check out The Athletic.
News & Headlines Elsewhere
- United Airlines flight attendants’ union rejects a new contract with a 26% pay raise
- It's the summer of strikes in Boston as unions embrace work stoppages
- Airgas workers strike in Hawaii.
- In Italy, immigrant workers launch a wave of strikes for a 40-hour week
- Riot police scuffle with demonstrators on Greek island during visit by Israeli cruise ship
- The Taliban are sending Afghan workers to Qatar to ease unemployment in Afghanistan
- Stephen Starr’s D.C. restaurant workers bring their pro-union protest to Philly
- Finally, Trump says that federal employees can pray and preach in the workplace under new Trump rules
Alright folks, that’s all for today. Keep sending comments, complaints, and news tips to melk@paydayreport.com
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Thanks again for all the support.
Love & Solidarity,
Melk
