Upcoming Events 🗓
Join EWOC this Wednesday, Jan. 12, at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) for “This Is An Emergency: Flattening the Curve From the Bottom Up” a panel with nurses and teachers who are refusing profit-driven government policies and organizing on the job for better COVID health and safety standards. RSVP here.
Starbucks workers everywhere are unionizing! Join the Restaurant Organizing Project on Tuesday, January 18, at 7 p.m. ET to hear from them and organize the coffee shop where you work, too! RSVP here.
Join NYC DSA labor branch Monday, January 24, at 7:30 p.m. ET for a panel discussion about how socialists are organizing our workplaces! Panelists will talk about what has worked, what hasn’t, and how EWOC will fit into the larger struggle. RSVP here.
It’s a new year, but the COVID-19 pandemic is still very much with us. Cases are at an all-time high in America, with no signs of slowing down in the near term. Even worse is the response to this new wave. Rather than increasing efforts to stop the spread, the CDC has shortened the recommended isolation period, while the Biden administration has told Americans to accept COVID as “the new normal.” Employers for their part are taking advantage of the new guidelines to cut paid leave and workplace protections. The message being sent to workers is clear: No help is coming. We cannot expect even the (insufficient) relief and protections we had at the beginning of the pandemic. We are on our own.
This is a difficult and important moment for the working class. Keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe will require solidarity on a massive scale. We’ve seen the power of the worker in the wave of strikes and organizing over the last year. Our job is to continue building that power in 2022, and beyond. Our lives depend on it.
World of Work 🌍
NY: The largest strike in the country is finally over. After 10 weeks, student workers at Columbia University have reached an agreement with management. The new deal includes increased wages, recognition of the entire bargaining unit, and third party arbitration for discrimination and harassment cases. This has been a hard fight, and the win represents a breakthrough for higher education worker organizing.
USA: Starbucks workers across the country are continuing to organize with Starbucks Workers United. Campaigns are now underway in Chicago, Ill.; Cleveland, Ohio; Eugene, Ore.; and Mesa, Ariz. (The latter just won a favorable ruling from the NLRB and will begin voting this month.) Meanwhile, workers at Elmwood Ave in Buffalo, N.Y., the first Starbucks to officially unionize, walked off the job last week in protest of unsafe working conditions.
IL: As schools across the country are going ahead with in person classes, the Chicago Teachers Union is fighting to keep their students safe by returning to remote learning. The teachers are facing opposition from Chicago Public Schools, the mayor’s office, and even the White House. The outcome remains to be seen, but for now the teachers are holding strong.
Solidarity,
Team EWOC
