Upcoming Events 🗓
Looking to get more involved? We’re having a new volunteer meeting Monday, November 1, at 8 p.m. ET. This will be a good chance to learn about the different parts of EWOC and various ways to plug in. Register here!
October may be over, but the rebellious energy of Striketober continues, with workers across the nation engaged in historic levels of labor action. Let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the concessions workers have wrested from employers over the past few months alone:
After weeks of striking, Nabisco and Frito-Lay workers received pay increases, and Frito-Lay workers said goodbye to their brutal seven-day workweek. The mere threat of a strike by Hollywood workers of IATSE resulted in a new contract, winning them mandatory break periods and weekends off, pay increases, and pension fund contributions. After nearly three weeks of striking, 10,000 John Deere workers are in the midst of evaluating a new contract. And it’s not just striking workers who are winning improvements on the job: After weeks of staging walkouts and rallies, workers at the Chicago-based El Milagro tortilla factory have filed complaints with city and state labor departments over what they say are unsafe working conditions. Just one day after the filing, management announced that it would be ending the seven-day workweek and giving workers Sundays off. Coincidence? We think not.
It’s worth celebrating these victories, which can only be achieved when a majority of workers come together to demand change. We commend the brave workers who risked their jobs and went without pay and benefits to go on strike last month, and we offer our support and encouragement to anyone who wants to carry that militant energy into the future. Now the only question is: what do we call the next month of work stoppages and walkouts? No-show November? We’re looking forward to the next hashtag.
World of Work 🌍
IL: John Deere workers will vote this Tuesday on a tentative agreement to end the 10,000 worker strike. This news comes after one striking worker was killed by a driver while leaving a picket in Milan, IL last Wednesday morning. Workers had been complaining for weeks about having to cross dangerous roads on foot to reach the picket, as the John Deere would not allow them to park on company property. If you can, please donate to their family.
PA: Social services workers at Community Integrated Services (CIS) in Philadelphia have been organizing in their workplace and presented a petition to management last month. Turn out to support them against intimidation by management this Friday, November 5th at 5pm at 441 N. 5th St. if you’re in town, or support them online.
NY: As the CWA 1133 strike at Mercy Hospital in Buffalo enters its second week, Catholic Health has cut off healthcare for the 2,000 striking workers. Dennis Trainor, vice president of CWA District One has called the decision “a blatant attempt to intimidate workers.” and added that the workers “remain united and strong, determined to last one day longer.”
NY: Elsewhere in Buffalo, Starbucks Workers United won a favorable NLRB decision, meaning that they will vote on a union at separate stores, rather than across a whole regional chain. The workers, who have been organizing for months, have already faced a brutal anti-union campaign, but are holding their ground.
USA: What does McDonald’s do when it’s under pressure to pay employees a living wage? Why, recruit child labor, of course! Meanwhile, McDonalds workers organizing with Fight for $15 walked off the job in 12 US cities last week, in protest of the ongoing sexual harassment and violence they’ve faced at work.
New From Our Blog 🗣
Based on our political education event last week, We broke down the so-called “labor shortage,” what’s causing it, why the media narrative doesn’t tell the whole story, and how workers can use the leverage to their advantage.
Solidarity,
Team EWOC
