Lansing, MI – Teamsters in Lansing and Detroit conducted practice pickets at UPS centers on Friday, June 30. Members marched, held signs and chanted, putting pressure on the company to present a last, best and final offer. These pickets come days after the National Negotiating Committee issued a 48-hour deadline for UPS to issue such an offer. In a June 28 press release, General President Sean O’Brien said, “The largest single-employer strike in American history now appears inevitable.” Later that day, the company softened its bargaining stance and the deadline was extended to July 5.

Lansing, MI – As UPS moves out from its peak season, the company is ending market rate adjustments (MRAs) and bonus programs designed to attract workers and boost part-time employees’ pay. The negotiated part-time pay rate for workers hired since August 1, 2018 is $15.33 per hour, with a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) included. Teamsters Local 623 reports that UPS paid its members $19 an hour as part of an MRA and the workers are taking a 27% pay cut as the adjustments expire.

Lansing, MI – 120 protesters rallied for Palestine at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing. After handing out flags, signs and water, the crowd gathered on the capitol steps to hear from the organizers and to chant, “Free, free Palestine!”

Lansing, MI – 120 protesters rallied for Palestine at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing. After handing out flags, signs and water, the crowd gathered on the capitol steps to hear from the organizers and to chant, “Free, free Palestine!”

Lansing, MI – On Saturday, March 20, hundreds of protesters gathered in southwest Lansing to unite against police crimes, eviction, ICE detention centers, military intervention and capitalism. 17 groups hosted the event in Risdale Park.

Lansing, MI – A group of 40 stagehands from across Michigan gathered at the State Capitol building in Lansing, March 17. The IATSE union stagehands are marking one year without work and demanding the extension of unemployment benefits until it is safe to return to their jobs.

Lansing, MI – 120 union members and supporters marched through downtown Lansing, July 15, chanting, “They say cut back! We say fight back!” The march stopped at a union worker statue where Nick Eaton of IATSE Local 247 spoke, “This statue represents the workers who built the new buildings you see in front of you. It also reflects the history of factory workers before deindustrialization left ugly scenes and empty lots, like many cities in the Midwest.”

Lansing, MI – Police brutality protests continue in both Lansing and East Lansing after the downtown march on May 31 but they are not the only challenge to police brutality based in the Lansing metropolitan area. Black Lives Matter-Lansing and One Love Global hosted a live “Call to Action” on Facebook and Eventbrite.

Lansing, MI – UPS announced first quarter profits of $965 million. The profits are down only slightly from last year’s $1.1 billion, despite the closure of many commercial businesses. UPS has filled this commercial business shortfall with an increase in residential delivery, causing long hours of work for package car drivers.

Lansing, MI – In the April 13 edition of USA Today, Teamster head James P. Hoffa and three other labor leaders signed an outrageous letter entitled “Coronavirus is a stress test for capitalism, and we see encouraging signs.” The article fawned over the same companies that rank-and-file Teamsters across the country are fighting every day. It was especially outrageous given that Teamsters in many industries still lack appropriate PPE, sanitary working conditions, information and hazard pay.

Lansing, MI – UPS Teamsters across the country are speaking out about their experience battling for masks, gloves, cleaning supplies and transparency about potential exposures. Due to either crowding or contact with the public, every job at UPS puts workers at increased risk of exposure. Even if workers had all the supplies they needed, the inherent risk can never be eliminated.

Lansing, MI – In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world, UPS Teamsters are concerned about the lack of safety precautions taken by the company. While UPS workers were deemed essential workers, there has been little to no effort on the part of UPS to make the workplace safe from the virus. There has been no scale-back of operations to only essential or critical packages, there have been no additional jobs created for cleaning and sanitizing work spaces, and any efforts to supply the work force with cleaning and hygiene supplies has been at the discretion of local managers and supervisors on a case-by-case basis.

Lansing, Michigan – The United Auto Workers (UAW) called a strike on Sunday, September 15. Fight Back! interviewed Jean “Johnny Bravo” Duchemin, an alternate committee member in UAW Local 1753 in Lansing, Michigan about the GM strike.

Lansing, MI – Upwards of 10,000 union workers and their supporters rallied outside the Michigan State Capitol today, Dec. 11, chanting, “Kill the bill!” People of all ages rallied, from Vietnam Vets to high school students. The United Auto Workers, Michigan Teachers Union, government workers with AFSCME and AFGE, construction, fire fighters and other unions joined together to oppose so-called ‘right to work’ bills.

In the coming days, the unfolding events in Lansing, Michigan will be at the center of the class struggle in this country. A battle is under way that pits the labor movement and its allies against raw corporate power. At issue is anti-union ‘right to work’ legislation passed by Republican legislators Dec. 6.

Lansing, MI – Nearly 200 protesters rallied here July 25. They stood for three hours on the steps of the Michigan “Hall of Justice,” to demand an end to Governor Rick Snyder’s use of Emergency Financial Managers (EFM).

Lansing, MI – Taking their lead from Wisconsin, 1200 protesters rallied against attacks on unions and democracy at the Michigan State Capitol, Feb. 22. Union fire fighters were out in force and in uniform, carrying signs reading, “Support Act 312,” a 1969 law establishing binding arbitration. Binding arbitration requires towns and cities to work out their differences with the workers.