Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where I’m talking tonite at the Pittsburgh Liberation Center at 630 at 733 North Highland, which can be watched online here. Drinks at 8 PM afterward six blocks away at Lorelie at 124 South Highland (just six blocks away)
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400 Macy Workers to Strike in San Francisco on Christmas Eve
At Macy’s in San Francisco, 93% of its unionized workforce, members of UFCW Local 5, have voted to authorize a strike. The workers are upset by the management’s proposal to eliminate guarantees of full-time work for employees and eliminate seniority. The company is only offering a $1 dollar-an-hour raise over a year three period.
The workers plan to strike on December 23rd and 24th.
“Macy’s workers face the same impacts from rising inflation that the rest of the Bay Area has, and they deserve a fair contract that recognizes their hard work and sacrifice over the past couple year,” United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 President John Nunes told the NBC News.
Largest Nurse Strike in UK History
In the United Kingdom, over 100,000 nurses in the National Health Service and members of the Royal College of Nursing are on strike. It is the largest strike in British history.
With inflation at 11%, the union is demanding a raise of 19%. Nurses say the low wages contribute to understaffing.
“We need to stand up for our health service, we need to find a way of addressing those over seven million people that are sitting on waiting lists, and how are we going to do that? By making sure we have got the nurses to look after our patients, not with 50,000 vacant posts, and with it increasing day by day,” RCN general secretary Pat Cullen told the BBC.
3 West Virginia Reported Fired After Criticizing Blankenship Interview
Three reporters at the Charleston Gazette-Mail say they were fired after criticizing an interview done by its publisher of coal magnate Don Blankenship, who was convicted for his role in failing to follow safety protocol that contributed to the death of 29 coal miners at Upper Big Branch mine explosion in 2010.
“I don’t have the words for how screwed up this is,” Cathy Coyne, one of the paper’s fired reporters, told the Washington Post. “I’ve met families whose loved ones died in UBB. I’ve watched them cry as they remember their relatives and their fight for answers after the disaster. Who cares where Blankenship’s heart lies? What a slap in the face to them.”
For more, check out the Washington Post.
Alright, folks, I have to run to the talk. You can watch online or show up at 731 North Highland at 630.
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Thanks again for all the support.
Love & Solidarity,
Melk
