Baton Rouge, LA – In the early morning hours of Monday, March 3, workers for Baton Rouge’s Capital Area Transit System (CATS) went on strike. CATS provides bus services throughout Baton Rouge. Supporters joined the picket line as early as 3 a.m. carrying signs in solidarity with the picket.

The transit system workers have been unionized since 1973, with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1546. They moved to strike after CATS attempted to illegally impose a contract which contained many issues that the union had previously rejected in negotiations. Workers also cited deplorable working conditions as a big issue.

Speaking about the illegal imposition of the union contract, Senior Organizer Stanley Smalls said, “If we allow that, what? What is the purpose of bargaining anymore? You could just go through the motions and make your proposals, let us reject it and force it on the workers anyway. That’s never going to happen in Baton Rouge. Those days of taking advantage of workers are over.”

Workers rallied outside the CATS terminal from the cold early morning to late afternoon all week, with the strike ending Sunday, March 8 after CATS agreed to rescind the imposed contract and return to negotiations with the union.

#BatonRougeLA #LA #Labor #Strikes

We in Freedom Road Socialist Organization stand with the 75,000 workers of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the 65,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) who are striking for not only higher wages and benefits but also against the threat posed by automation.

Members of The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), actors and other performance workers, have been on strike since July 14 after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down.

Writers Guild of America members have been on strike after negotiations with the AMPTP fell apart on May 2. The simultaneous strikes have dealt a gut punch to Hollywood and the film industry, shutting down every major television and film production in the country and have postponed the Emmys that were scheduled to take place in September.

The last time that the WGA went on strike was from November 5, 2007 to February 12, 2008 and it ended in a victory for the writers. For SAG members, this is the first strike since 1980 and the first time that the two unions have been on strike together since 1960. All three past strikes were won by the unions and resulted in major gains for the members, from better pensions to residual pay for home media like DVD and VHS tapes.

This time workers are demanding higher pay and fair compensation from streaming services, which has changed the way actors and writers are paid for residuals. They are also demanding protections against artificial intelligence (AI). In its contract proposal, the AMPTP said it wants to use AI to make “digital replicas” of actors based on detailed body scans. Actors’ voices, faces and bodies could be changed or recreated without their consent or compensation. For writers, AI would be used to write scripts based on various topics and prompts with minimal human input. Many SAG-AFTRA and WGA members worry that AI is an existential threat to their profession.

In a capitalist economy, capitalists replace workers with machines to boost profit in the short term by cutting labor costs and making production more efficient. While AI technology usually has a high initial and maintenance costs, it’s worth it for capitalists to avoid paying workers higher wages and benefits, and it eliminates the need to address worker demands or potential strikes. The threat of automation is not new to the working class; it first emerged in the industrial revolution, when corporations began building factories and replacing laborers with machines. Since then, the threat of being replaced by a machine has been used as a crude form of propaganda to convince workers in key industries that they can’t have higher wages or better working conditions.

In Karl Marx’s Capital Volume 1, he wrote: “…machinery not only acts as a competitor who gets the better of the workman, and is constantly on the point of making him superfluous. It is also a power inimical to him, and as such capital proclaims it from the roof tops and as such makes use of it. It is the most powerful weapon for repressing strikes, those periodical revolts of the working-class against the autocracy of capital.”

Today, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) threaten jobs across industries and across different sections of the working class. Self-checkout stations replace cashiers, autonomous driving trucks replace truck drivers, software programs replace office workers, and now “digital replicas” and AI-generated scripts are threatening to replace actors and screenwriters.

The SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes represent one of the largest organized labor efforts against automation and artificial intelligence, and the workers are unwilling to settle until the AMPTP agrees to their demands.

Many of us in Freedom Road Socialist Organization are trade unionists. We have a long history of leading shop floor struggles, taking on the boss, and leading strikes. Recently, the Teamsters reached a tentative agreement with United Parcel Service. Automation and use of technology is an important issue that threatens workers at UPS. The tentative agreement addressed some of these issues, as well as many others resulting in many big wins. This only happened because the workers took to action – with pickets, rallies and a credible strike threat. Surely, there is much to gain with this historic strike in Hollywood. We in the FRSO stand with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA and raise our fists in solidarity. Dare to struggle, dare to win!

#Strikes #SAGAFTRA #FRSO #Statement #FRSOLaborCommission

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization stands in solidarity with the 1400 workers of UE Locals 506 and 618 who have been on strike against Wabtec Corp since June 22, 2023.

Members with the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE) Locals 506 and 618, who build locomotive engines for Wabtec Corporation in Erie, Pennsylvania voted down the company’s last, best and final offer on June 22 and have been out on the picket line now for over two months.

The workers are striking to win wage increases, better vacation scheduling and more environmentally friendly production. However, some workers have reported that the most important issue that led to the walkout was the right to strike over grievances. Striking over grievances used to be common, but now it’s nearly unheard of in the United States.

Although fighting for the right to strike during a contract is rare, it is an important tool for class struggle unionists. The ability to strike over grievances is powerful. UE has a long, proud history of class struggle unionism, making it an outlier in history and a beacon for labor militants wanting to build a union movement capable of challenging our oppressors. UE’s pamphlet “Them and Us Unionism” published in 2020 draws a clear line in the sand between workers and the capitalist class.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization is proud to raise our fists in solidarity with the 1400 members on the picket line in Erie. Many of us are trade unionists leading fights on the shop floor every day. We hope that all workers, union or otherwise, join us in standing in solidarity with the strikers from UE. Talk to your coworkers about the courage displayed by these workers and encourage your union to send messages of support and donations to the strike fund. A united working class can accomplish anything. When we fight, we win!

#EriePA #UnitedElectricalWorkers #Strikes

Chicago, IL – 200 workers at Loretto Hospital are on the ninth day of their #StrikeForStaffing. This is their slogan because they are the lowest-paid CNAs, housekeepers and tech workers in any safety net hospital in Chicago. Because of their low wages, workers have to work 50 or 60 hours a week to make ends meet. Being forced to work excessive overtime isn’t best for patient care.

Ebony Childs is a striker who has worked as a patient care tech for 18 years on an addiction unit. On the picket line today, she said, “We are on strike for better wages, for respect, for safe staffing, and for the community to have better service as well.”

On August 7, Mayor Brandon Johnson urged management to come back to the table. At rallies throughout the strike, Illinois legislators have confirmed that the $10 million provided to the hospital this year is for staffing and support.

Other workers shared that there reportedly there are only 20 patients staying in the hospital, yet the bosses have hired scabs at agency wages much higher than the union workers.

To press management to reach a deal at the table, workers have been stopping deliveries by picketing in front of the entrances to the loading docks. According to Childs, the deliveries they have stopped include, “Yes, linen. The food trucks, the medication trucks, the mail. Yesterday I helped stop two FedEx trucks. This morning we stopped a UPS truck. Yesterday we stopped a bread truck, a sterilized equipment truck. And just a few minutes ago, we stopped another big truck. I don't know what type of truck it was, but we was able to stop that one as well!”

Kendra Sims Morris, a substance use disorder counselor, was asked if management respects employees. “Okay, I'll leave you with this. The Bible says that when the righteous is in leadership, you see the people rejoicing. But when the wicked is in leadership, the people are mourning. So if we on a picket line, we're mourning.”

#ChicagoIL #Strikes #Hospital

Chicago, IL – 200 workers at Loretto Hospital on Chicago’s West Side walked out of work at 7 a.m. Monday, July 31.

Represented by the Service Employees International Union – Health Care Illinois Indiana (SEIU-HCII), the strikers include patient transporters, certified nursing assistants, respiratory and radiology technicians, and housekeepers.

Workers charged Loretto management of paying some titles $2 per hour less than workers at other West Side safety- net hospitals. They also denounced the hospital because the wages are so low that they have to work extra shifts to make ends meet. Workers pointed out the excessive overtime is a threat to patient care.

Pleading poverty, the bosses offered most workers only 30 cents per hour raises, but spent about $1 million to bring in temporary workers. The workers will continue their strike until victory.

#ChicagoIL #SEIU #strike #Strikes

Milwaukee, WI – On July 6, Local 344 Teamsters held practice pickets at the Elm Grove UPS location to gear up for the potential nationwide strike in August.

Just the day before, Teamster leadership announced that, after over 24 hours of negotiating, no agreement had been reached. UPS walked away from the table at 4 a.m. on July 5, continuing to rob membership, especially part-time workers, of a decent economic proposal. There were no further negotiation dates scheduled.

This news was relayed to the members at the practice pickets and the importance of being out on the picket line was heavily stressed.

“We are the tip of the spear, and we need to win all that can be won, not just for us but for future generations,” stated Kevin Schwerdtfeger, a Local 344 business agent and representative for the Elm Grove building.

Teamsters held signs with demands such as “Just practicing for a just contract” and calling for recognition of Juneteenth as a holiday.

Teamsters picketed by the road, shouting chants such as “Who are we? Teamsters!” and “UPS! Pay up!” One member had even brought a giant blue custom-made Teamsters flag, flying in the wind, while cars on the road honked in solidarity.

Two practice pickets were conducted – one at 8 a.m. for the drivers and preloaders, and another at 4:30 p.m. for the twilight shift. Combined, over 100 workers attended. Most were drivers and part-timers, wearing their uniforms and sporting red and gold “Pay up” t-shirts. A decent number of members from other unions and community members were there to show solidarity.

Jason Sanchez, a former part-timer and now driver of four years, stated, “I’m excited for a new contract and I’m excited to get our part-timers what they deserve.”

Local 344 is a statewide local, and in addition to Elm Grove, around 12 other buildings held practice pickets over the last week to show the company that members are taking the possibility of a strike seriously.

Dave Burgdorf, a 37-year Teamster, remarked in comparison to the ’97 strike, “This strike is so much bigger because we have a lot more employees now than we did back then. Corporations always want to take things away from the working class. Pensions, healthcare. It’s so important to get a good contract that sets the bar.”

He continued, “It’s time to tell corporations that it’s time to give back to the workers. CEO pay compared to hourly workers’ have exploded in the last 20 years. It’s the workers that make the huge profits for the corporations. This is a watershed moment for workers in the entire world and we’re not going to back down.”

Only 23 days remain before the Teamster contract at UPS expires. Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien continues to make it clear that if a contract is not voted in by that time, UPS Teamsters nationwide will be going on strike for the first time in 26 years. President O’Brien wants to see higher wages and more full-time opportunities for the 70% of UPS workers who are part time.

#MilwaukeeWI #Teamsters #UPS #picket #Strikes

New Orleans, LA – On July 1, fifteen people gathered for a panel at the Nora Navra Library to hear report backs from the successful unionization of two local Starbucks coffee stores. The panel also included a report from the frontlines of the UPS-Teamster contract negotiations.

Starbucks workers win union election

Billie Nyx, former shift lead at the Maple Street Starbucks, opened by sharing their experience organizing the union with Starbucks Workers United. Baristas at their store began their campaign to unionize in April 2022 due to issues like understaffing, inconsistent hours and unsafe working conditions.

After months of organizing, and a couple of weeks before the union vote at the Starbucks on Maple Street, Starbucks fired Nyx, allegedly for closing the store early one evening.

“The union-busting that we faced was nothing compared to the outpouring of support that we got from the community,” Nyx said. “It helped everyone stay on board with the drive to unionize.”

Nyx’s unfair labor practice case against Starbucks is still pending with the National Labor Relations Board. On June 4, 2022, the Maple Street Starbucks voted to unionize 11 to 1, making it the first Starbucks store in Louisiana to join Starbucks Workers United.

“The union is us organizing to improve our working conditions; us coming together to fight for something better than what we have,” Serena Sojic-Borne, employee at the Poydras Street Starbucks, said.

Sojic-Borne continued, “It’s really important that people do not buy into union-busting myths that Starbucks corporate will spread, adding, “they’re either lies or they’re things that Starbucks has done that are illegal and that we fight against. And in all cases, it is better to have a union than to not.”

Sojic-Borne detailed how she and coworkers worked together to successfully unionize their Starbucks store – the first majority-Black Starbucks in New Orleans to unionize. On May 22, the Poydras Street Starbucks became one of the 331 stores, as of June, to join Starbucks Workers United.

Starbucks Workers United formed in late 2021 and has a membership of over 8000 workers across the U.S. The union is demanding Starbucks meet them at the bargaining table.

Teamsters prepare strike at UPS

Efforts to unionize at Starbucks are part of the uptick in labor organizing taking place across the U.S. In June, 97% of UPS Teamsters approved the use of a strike if their contract expires before negotiations finish. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is made up of over 1.3 million workers, including over 350,000 UPS workers, many of them lower wage part-timers. A UPS strike would be the largest single-employer strike in U.S. history.

“We’re really putting pressure on the company. The end result of this is that other companies – like Amazon, like Starbucks – are going to see the result of the rank-and-file struggle in action and actively want to replicate that,” said Hannah Keith, shop steward of Teamsters Local 396 Los Angeles.

Keith continued, “The whole of the U.S. labor movement is looking towards UPS as a critical moment. I think we can win and I’m excited to see my coworkers in action.”

Contract negotiations with UPS have been underway for months, and while significant gains have been made, UPS management walked out of contract negotiations over raising part-time pay for Teamsters. As the July 31 contract expiration date approaches, Teamsters across the country are holding practice picket lines. A strike grows ever more likely.

In New Orleans, FRSO is calling a strike support committee to ensure members of Teamsters Local 270 are supported if they go on strike. The committee will meet on Saturdays at 1:30 at 2533 Columbus Street. It can be reached at makeUPSdeliver504@gmail.com.

#NewOrleansLA #Teamsters #strike #Strikes #Starbucks

Austin, TX – On Tuesday, June 27, over 200 nurses and supporters formed a picket in 100-degree weather outside of Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin. A part of the historic one-day strike of over 2000 nurses across Texas and Kansas, National Nurses United members authorized the strike by 98%.

Vanessa Villarreal, a nurse on the picket line said, “I'm a NICU nurse, so I take care of patients as small as my hand. I'm a mom and I shouldn't have to choose between taking care of my own baby and two others at work.” Villarreal continued, “I don't do it for the money, I love taking care of babies. But I also didn't become a nurse to be dragged through the dirt. The hospital has the money, but they don't want to negotiate.”

Starting in September of 2023, nurses at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin voted 72% in favor to join NNOC/NNU, with the primary complaint being the poor quality of patient care. Beginning before the COVID-19 pandemic came to the U.S., Ascension began short-staffing their hospitals to raise their profit margins, creating unsafe working conditions for nurses and a potentially dangerous situation for patients. Because of this short-staffing, there are 128,000 registered nurses in Texas alone who either cannot find work in their field or are choosing not to due to the poor conditions at work.

Ascension is registered as a non-profit that provides “spiritually-centered holistic care,” but mistreats and understaffs its nurses so the CEO can take home $13 million a year. Despite their aim supposedly being to provide care for the communities they operate in, Ascension operates 13 investment accounts that are worth $41 billion and have $19 billion in cash reserves.

In response to the strike authorization, the management at Ascension is choosing to do a three-day lockout of all striking nurses. This move shows the bankruptcy of Ascension's supposed care of both their employees and the patients that are treated there.

Kris Fuentes, a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit said, “Ascension’s dangerous staffing practices disrupt our ability to provide quality care and it puts our patients at risk every day. This is a clear sign Ascension would rather use its vast resources to delay improvement than to invest in the care our patients and our communities deserve with appropriate staffing.”

Other unions, including AFSCME and IBEW, came out to support in solidarity of the strike and stood on the picket line. All in all, over 200 people came out to the picket, showing the greater community support for the nurses’ struggle.

#AustinTX #nurses #Strikes

Tampa, FL – Early in the morning June 5, over 40 Maximus employees, Communications Workers of America (CWA) members, and other supporters rallied in front of Maximus, a federally contracted call center, in Riverview, Florida. The rally was part of a nationwide one-day strike put on by the CWA in response to hundreds of layoffs nationwide and to demand a living wage.

As commuters rolled by, honking horns and waving in solidarity, picketers chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, poverty wages have got to go!” Laid-off workers spoke about the type of abuse they received from management at Maximus such as timed bathroom breaks.

Laid-off Maximus Tampa employee Dedra Dawes spoke out, saying, “Maximus should be protecting their employees but instead they laid us off. I have parents and kids to take care of, which is hard enough to do on $16 an hour.”

Later in the day the picket moved to another Maximus location in Tampa. The nationwide action is part of a larger campaign called Call Center Workers United.

#TampaFL #CommunicationsWorkersOfAmericaCWA #Strikes

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.

LAUSD and SEIU Local 99 have been in contract negotiations since 2020. After three years of bargaining, they decided to call a strike to show the boss they are serious about winning a contract with significant wage increases, expanded health care benefits and sufficient staffing and resources to keep schools clean and safe.

On Friday, March 17 LAUSD filed charges saying that a strike by the school workers would be against the law. However, those charges were quickly found to not have merit and dismissed. The union members say they are ready to move forward with the strike as planned.

David Huerta is the president of SEIU California and SEIU United Service Workers West. Huerta released the following statement about the strike.

“Workers’ right to take collective action – free from threats or intimidation – is what binds us together as a labor movement. We won’t stand by while a powerful employer like LAUSD bullies and harasses workers to gain leverage at the bargaining table. SEIU members in California – 700,000 strong – stand united with SEIU Local 99 school workers who are striking to demand the district respect their fundamental rights. School workers have our unwavering support as they bargain in good faith for wages that allow them to put food on the table for their own children and for the staffing and support that matters to all students in LAUSD.”

The strike is set to run from 4:30 a.m. Tuesday through the school day on Thursday.

#LosAngelesCA #PeoplesStruggles #strike #LAUSD #Strikes #TeachersUnions

Los Angeles, CA – On March 15, the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) and SEIU Local 9