Trumka Stopped Talk of General Strike Against Trump – Peoria Teachers Walkout – Hawaii Nurses to Strike

Richard Trumka has quashed talk of General Strike within the labor movement (AFL-CIO)

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Trumka Killed General Strike Talk in Letter to Vermont AFL-CIO 

Last week, the AFL-CIO and nearly every major union in the country sent out statements calling on Trump to resign from the presidency or be impeached immediately. 

However, instead of calling for a General Strike to remove Trump (as unions and labor federations representing over 600,000 members said they would do in the past), unions merely sent out press releases last week denouncing Trump.  

The result was that nothing happened. 

The General Strike, which some unions had prepared to undertake last fall, had been previously ruled out by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, according to an email obtained today by Payday Report. 

In late November last year, as Trump continued to challenge the vote, the Vermont AFL-CIO prepared to pass a resolution calling for a General Strike. 

Then, Trumka fired off an email to Vermont AFL-CIO instructing the labor federation not to pass the General Strike. 

“Per Rule 19 of the Rules Governing AFL-CIO State Central Bodies, ‘No state central body shall have the authority or power to order any local union or other organization to strike or take a strike vote.’ Therefore, the Vermont State Labor Council may not hold a vote to authorize any strike and thus any debate is not germane at your convention,” Trumka wrote in the email obtained by Payday Report. 

As a result of Trumka discouraging local labor groups from mobilizing for a General Strike, it appears that labor has little leverage in forcing Trump from office. 

Payday will continue to cover how unions are mobilizing to force Trump to leave the office in the upcoming days. 

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Peoria Teachers Sickout Strike 

While General Strike talk has cooled nationwide, wildcat strikes across the country over unsafe working conditions are heating up, particularly in Arizona. 

In Peoria, Arizona, hundreds of teachers engaged in a “sick-out” strike to protest the Peoria Unified School District. 

“Hopefully this sends a message that we need to be heard and hope they install metrics and come up with a plan. If not we will have to do it again,” said the Peoria Education Association in a statement. 

For more, go to KNXV. 

Cicero, Illinois Teachers Strike 

In Cicero, Illinois, in the suburbs of Chicago, teachers are also refusing to work in classrooms. The move comes after the Western Suburbs Teachers Union filed unfair labor practices against Cicero School District 99 for refusing to bargain a COVID-19 safety agreement with the union. 

“By demanding that we return to classrooms in the midst of the pandemic, Superintendent Rodolfo Hernandez and the District 99 Board of Education are not prioritizing the safety of our teachers and school staff,” Cicero Council President Rachel Esposito said.

For more, go to WGN. 

Nurses in Hawaii Vote to Strike by 93% 

Nurses at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children voted to strike this week. More than 93% of the bargaining unit voted to strike in a show of strong force. 

“The nurses have spoken. It is very clear they feel the hospital has left them no choice but to take this action to protest Kapiolani management’s disregard for our concerns and the hospital’s continued unfair labor practices,” Daniel Ross, president of the Hawai’i Nurses’ Association, said in a statement. 

For more, go to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 

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About the Author

Mike Elk
Mike Elk is an Emmy-nominated labor reporter and alumni of the Guardian. In addition to filing nearly 2,000 stories from 46 states, Elk traveled with Lula from Sáo Bernando do Campos all the way to the Oval Office in the White House. Credited by the Washington Post for being the first reporter to track the strike wave systematically, Elk started Payday Report using his NLRB settlement from being illegally fired for union organizing in 2015. He lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh and works frequently in Rio de Janeiro, where he attended college at PUC-Rio. He speaks both Portuguese and Pittsburghese fluently. His email is [email protected]

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