Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where Payday is preparing for its 9th-anniversary fundraiser this Friday at Hemlock House starting around 5. (Details of the party can be found here)
Can't make the fundraiser? You can donate here.
EL Salvador Won't Return Illegally Deported SMART Union Member
Last week, Payday wrote about how SMART union successfully pushed the Supreme Court to order the release of a union member, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was illegally sent to a violent prison in El Salvador despite no criminal record.
Today, El Salvador's fascist president Nayib Bukele says he won't release Gacia despite the Supreme Court ruling.
"The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?" Bukele replied when asked by reporters.
Trump also joked that he now wanted to send Americans to El Salvador's ultra-violent prisons as well.
"Homegrown criminals are next," Trump said to Bukele. "I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You've go to build about five more places."
For more, check out USA Today.
UAW Profit-Sharing Checks to Plunge from Trump Tariffs
Last week, Payday Report covered how union leaders were upset with UAW President Shawn Fain for backing the "Trump Tariffs."
The "Trump Tariffs" have already resulted in the layoff of 900 union members at Stellantis, who provide parts for Canada. Analysts expect UAW members to receive small profit-sharing bonuses due to the tariffs.
"For some automakers, with Stellantis being the most vulnerable at the current time, the effects of a prolonged tariff war could lead to operating losses that cause payouts to go to zero," the Anderson Economic Group told Axios.
Trump Admin Ends Dues Checkoff for Some Unions
Last month, the Trump Administration stripped collective bargaining rights. Now, they are stripping most unions of the ability to collect dues through workers' paychecks automatically. Some unions have already switched to an eDues system, but smaller unions say they will take longer to adapt.
"AFGE were way out in front of this, to their credit," IFPTE President Matt Biggs told Gov Exec. "But it costs money—significant money—to put this in place . . . We're smaller and don't have the same resources as they do. We're spending those resources now to get it set up and done, and that of course is part of their objective, to force unions to spend their own money on this."
Over 100,000 Israelis Refuse Call Up
Finally, the Israeli Army is seeing its largest refusal crisis in decades. From 972 Mag:
In recent weeks, the media has reported a significant decline in soldiers showing up to reserve duty. Although the exact numbers are a closely guarded secret, the army informed Defense Minister Israel Katz in mid-March that the attendance rate stood at 80 percent, compared to around 120 percent immediately after October 7. According to Kan, Israel's national broadcaster, that number was a fudge: the true rate is closer to 60 percent. Other reports speak of attendance rates of 50 percent or lower, with some reserve units resorting to trying to recruit soldiers via social media.
"Refusal comes in waves, and this is the biggest wave since the First Lebanon War in 1982," Ishai Menuchin, one of the leaders of the refuser movement Yesh Gvul ("There is a Limit") which was founded during that war, told +972.
Like conscription into the regular forces at age 18, it is compulsory for Israelis to serve in the reserves when summoned until the age of 40 (though this can vary depending on rank and unit). During wartime, the army is heavily dependent on these forces.
At the start of the war, the army stated that it had recruited around 295,000 reservists on top of the roughly 100,000 soldiers in regular service. If reports about 50-60 percent attendance in the reserves are accurate, that means over 100,000 people have stopped showing up for reserve duty. "That's a huge number," Menuchin noted. "It means the government will have a problem continuing the war."
For more, check out 972 Mag.
Links & News Elsewhere
- Target' employee' reveals mayhem in stores as staff hand in their notice and plan to unionize
- Ohio University seeks to toss out decisive faculty unionization vote
- U.S. Bird Flu response suffers as farm workers Fear Deportation
- Trump's federal worker cuts are destabilizing the nation's 2 richest Black counties
- Finally, SEIU members packed a federal courthouse in Vermont to demand the release of Rümeysa Öztürk
Alright, we'll see yinz tomorrow. Keep sending tips, story ideas, complaints and comments to melk@paydayreport.com
Donate to help us cover the fight to defend immigrants and union members. Please, sign up as one of our recurring donors today.
Thanks again,
Melk
