Buena Park, CA – Workers at Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament, represented by the American Guild of Variety Artists, walked off the job on February 11 after the company filed a lawsuit against the union for trademark infringement due to their local’s name, Medieval Times Performers United. This is one of the many ways the company has retaliated against and attempted to silence the workers who have now, as of April 27, been on strike for 75 days.

Fight Back! News has collected a partial list of International Workers Day marches, events and celebrations that members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization are helping to build and lead. We encourage you to find the event nearest to you and attend. Events are listed in alphabetical order by city.

Milwaukee, WI – Teamsters across the country are beginning to schedule parking lot rallies ahead of the national contract negotiations, but Wisconsin Teamsters Local 344 are taking it one step further. Local 344 has created their own “Pay up” shirts for local members to wear every Friday in solidarity. The idea for these shirts came from a steward and rank-and-file member out of 344’s Oshkosh barn, Lori Jensen.

Orange, CA – On April 15, Teamsters in southern California held a rally around ongoing contract negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS. The rally was attended by hundreds of Teamsters from Locals 396 and 952 and featured speeches from Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien, Local 396 Secretary Treasurer Victor Mineros as well as rank-and-file members.

Chicago, IL – The bell rang, and teachers, staff and students slowly rolled out the school doors. Today they were all wearing union red at the two Instituto del Progeso Latino (IDPL) schools in Chicago. They grabbed signs and started to chant and picket, “Who’s schools? Our schools!”

New Orleans, LA – On April 14, employees at the Starbucks on Poydras Street filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. The store is located in a downtown hotel building, mainly serving tourists, professionals and workers in the area. Over 70% of staff support unionizing.

Minneapolis, MN – Union members at Planned Parenthood rallied on Tuesday evening, April 11, along with community supporters. The central demands of the action were that Planned Parenthood immediately reinstate a member of the bargaining committee who they fired recently, and to stop engaging in union-busting activity.

Chicago, IL – On Wednesday, March 22, seven Starbucks stores in Illinois joined around 115 others across the country on strike, demanding an end to the ruthless and illegal union busting campaign being waged by the company against its workers. Five stores in Chicago as well as one in Rockford and one in Carbondale joined their coworkers nationwide in their demand for Starbucks to sit down and bargain in good faith.

Minneapolis, MN – Around 3000 Workers at 33 Cub Foods grocery stores in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs who are represented by UFCW Local 663 were poised to begin a strike that had been set to start at 5:30 a.m. on April 7. Instead, after months of playing hardball, around 2 a.m. on the morning of the strike the boss caved and met many of the workers’ core demands.

St. Petersburg, FL – The Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association and Pinellas Educational Support Professionals Association rallied dozens of their members, members of the community, and other supportive groups on Saturday, April 1, in response to a slew of right-wing attacks on public education in the state.

Bartow, FL – About 40 teachers and supporters protested in downtown Bartow on Saturday, April 1 demanding funding for public schools and protection of collective bargaining rights. The Polk Education Association hosted a picnic at their union hall followed by a march to State Senator Ben Albritton’s office. The PEA protest as part of a statewide day of action against Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature’s attacks on teachers’ unions.

Tampa, FL – Almost 200 trade unionists and supporters signed an open letter to the University of South Florida demanding AFSCME member Chrisley Carpio keep her job. Carpio is one of the protesters the USF Police Department brutalized at a Students for a Democratic Society protest for diversity on March 6. She is one of four protesters arrested and facing felony charges for battery on a law enforcement officer. Carpio was placed on administrative leave on March 7.

Los Angeles, CA – With chants of, “We are the union, the mighty, mighty union – fighting for justice, respect and fair wages,” 30,000 SEIU and UTLA teachers and service workers in Los Angeles went on strike from March 21 to March 23. Los Angeles Unified School District and SEIU’s contract expired in 2020, and, after three years of negotiations hitting dead ends, they decided to strike, and they are determined to win better wages, healthcare and staffing.

Atlanta, GA – Members, stewards and executive board members from Teamsters Local 728 have been collecting contract unity pledges at UPS barns across the state of Georgia. The statewide effort has been a part of the national campaign started by the International in February. The contract unity pledges are being used as a bargaining tool by the Teamsters in the lead-up to contract negotiations with UPS and as a way to talk to members about a potential strike at UPS later this year.

Los Angeles, CA – At 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday March 21, over 30,000 school workers in the Los Angeles Unified School (LAUSD) including food service workers, custodians, special education assistants and many more job titles will walk off the job on a strike. The workers are members of SEIU Local 99, also known as Education Workers United.

Los Angeles, CA – On March 15, the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) and SEIU Local 99, which represents cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, teacher assistants and other education workers, held a massive rally at Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles. The action culminated with the announcement that UTLA and SEIU Local 99 would go on a joint three-day strike, the first in the two unions’ history, from March 21-23.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the influential Greek labor organization, the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME). Thursday 16 March, ALL ON STRIKE! All at the strike rallies of the unions across the country! In Athens 11:30am at the Propylaea! OUR LIVES ARE NOT A COST – OUR LIVES HAVE VALUE!

Minneapolis, MN – On March 1, workers held pickets at three Allina Hospitals in the Twin Cities metro area. The pickets were held at Allina’s Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, and Unity Hospital in Fridley. Coon Rapids and Fridley are suburbs of Minneapolis. The pickets were part of a fight for first contracts for a large collection of groups who recently organized and joined the Service Employees International Union, Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa (SEIU HMNIA).

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the World Federation of Trade Unions.

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Transit Authority fired trans bus operator and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241 member Russia T. Brown for waging a struggle for his right to healthcare while refusing to address rampant transphobia that culminated in death threats.