Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Labor

By staff

UFCW members.

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.

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By Joseph Nohava

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.

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By Simon Rowe

Florida teachers are defending their rights and public education.

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.

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By Simon Rowe

Chrisley Carpio.

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.

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By staff

Strikers rally in LA.

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.

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By Fight Back

Georgia Teamsters sign Unity Pledge.

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.

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By staff

LA school worker on the picket line

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.

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By staff

LA public school workers are ready to strike.

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.

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By staff

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!

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By staff

SEIU picket line at Unity Hospital.

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).

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