Milwaukee, WI – On November 16, nearly 50 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 998 and their supporters marched from their union hall to the Milwaukee County Courthouse, raising the demands for greater security on their buses, better healthcare, and an overall decent contract. Chants of “Who are we? ATU!” and “Who moves this city? We move this city!” could be heard as the demonstrators marched through the streets of downtown Milwaukee. At least one on-duty MCTS bus driver along the route opened her window with a beaming smile and voiced her support for the action.

ATU 998 represents the bus drivers for Milwaukee County Transit Services and the mechanics who maintain those buses. These workers have been in contract negotiations with Milwaukee County since April of this year, but negotiations came to a standstill in October when the members voted to reject the county’s final offer. The rejection was followed by a successful strike ratification vote, but no strike action has been taken as of the writing of this article. Negotiations with the county are expected to resume on November 18, but the union is adamant in their demands.

ATU 998 Vice President Michael Brown spoke, referring to County Executive David Crowley, “Crowley, I hope you’re listening, because we’re tired. During COVID, we worked 24 hours a day. We kept those buses moving. And you forgot about us. You said you were gonna take care of us, but you didn’t. So now we’re asking you to give us a fair contract. You’ve doubled [the cost of] healthcare for us. Hell, the pay don’t even match with inflation. You said you were gonna take care of all the departments that work for the county, but you forgot about transit, and we’re calling you out.”

ATU 998 President Donnell Shorter picked up the same line as his VP. “When the pandemic first started, MCTS didn’t want their drivers to wear facemasks to ‘protect their image.’ They put the company’s interests before those of their workers. And then, when the pandemic got worse, MCTS stopped allowing workers to come into the administration building to even use the bathroom, once again putting the company over their employees. And then, when the vaccine was made available to the public, the county gave other workers a day's wages to go and get vaccinated, but they only offered transit workers $100.”

“I did contact Crowley on that and he wanted to keep it the way it was, told us to talk at contract time,” Shorter continued. “Now it’s contract time and we’re asking you to pay up.”

A point that highlighted the demand for greater security on the job was the fact that Milwaukee County is suppressing news about drivers being assaulted by angry passengers. The issue of safety is one that all workers at the rally, transit or otherwise, felt strongly about, although the particulars of their respective jobs are different. Whether it’s package handlers being overworked in the package hub, or healthcare workers facing unsafe patient loads, or manufacturing workers being expected to speed up production, safety measures are slashed in all industries to help make more money for the bosses.

Allies present at the action included members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 344, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 212, and the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP) Local 5000.

Yasin Madhi, president of United Auto Workers Local 180, which represents almost 700 manufacturing workers at a factory in nearby Racine who’ve been on strike since April, was also there and spoke in solidarity with the drivers and mechanics. The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association had several members at the demonstration and delivered a message of solidarity to their union comrades in their fight against MCTS.

“Our community relies on public transportation here in Milwaukee. We are here today to support our brothers and sisters at ATU because just like public schools can’t run without us, public transportation cannot run without ATU,” said Adrienne Hicks, a member of MTEA and president of the Milwaukee Educational Assistants’ Association. “With gas prices up, our city should be expanding public transit, getting more people out of their cars and onto buses. Students, educators and MPS families rely on public transportation and we demand the county invest in transit workers and in our public transit system.”

The rally at the courthouse ended with ATU members passing out flyers calling for action in the form of phone calls and emails to members of the Milwaukee County Executive Board pressuring them to meet the demands of the transit workers for better pay, better healthcare and better security on the job. ATU 998 VP Michael Brown assured the crowd that there will be future actions if their contract demands are not met.

#MilwaukeeWI #PublicSectorUnions #transitWorkers #contractFight

American Federation of Teachers Local 3535, a union of faculty, academic staff and graduate student workers at UW-Milwaukee and UW-Parkside, said enough is enough. In a statement, AFT 3535 explained that the request comes as a result of UWM administration’s irresponsibility. “The university has failed to attract adequate paid staff to service the students they have admitted.” They also identified many solutions the administration should have taken before trying to guilt overworked and underpaid professors into working overtime for nothing.

One possible solution was that Chancellor Mark Mone could have taken a pay cut from his $452,000 salary to redistribute it to a living wage to attract more employees. In comparison, some faculty and staff do not even make $45,000 for full-time positions. “Asking them to accept starvation wages is insulting enough, but asking them to work more hours for free is inexcusable,” read the union’s statement.

AFT 3535 went on to point out that teachers are often the target of such requests. When administrators mess up, they think they can fall back on teachers by claiming it’s for the sake of the students. When teachers stand up for themselves and say no, that’s more ammunition they have against teachers so they can pit students, their families, and lawmakers against educators. It is not the responsibility of already overworked and underpaid staff and faculty to solve the problem the university administration made by not creating a hospitable and worthwhile work environment. Fortunately, the Students for a Democratic Society chapter at UW-Milwaukee understood this and took a decisive stand in solidarity with AFT 3535.

“Many students recognize that staff and faculty are already working above the university’s standards, doing unpaid work to provide a better learning experience for students. Asking them to volunteer their hours for a whole other job is abusive,” said Liam Farin, a student at UWM and member of SDS.

SDS chapters across the United States stand behind the slogan “Chop from the top,” meaning that budget cuts should be made to the top first before cutting things that support students. When budgets get tight, student support, particularly for Black, Chicano and other oppressed nationality students, is usually one of the first things to go. Meanwhile, the administrators at the top still enjoy their excessive salary and put out empty statements about how they value the student experience and diversity on campus, and that we have to come together during economic hardships.

The UWM administration has yet to respond and rectify the situation. For now, AFT 3535 and UWM SDS know that when students and teachers unite, they win!

#MilwaukeeWI #Labor #unions #PublicSectorUnions #studentworkerSolidarity

“Florida State University wants GAs basically to come to work, be overworked, underpaid and just die on their own dime and do nothing about it. There are a lot of things on this campus that are impacting GA safety in particular,” said Jordan Lenchitz, grievance officer for GAU. Lenchitz went on to explain how COVID-19 threatened both teachers’ livelihoods and ability to financially support themselves. “We’re here today to let the university know that we’re not going to go quietly, and we’re not going to die and pay for our own funerals, because they don’t pay us enough for that anyway.”

Organizing chair for GAU, Jordan Scott, elaborated on the conditions FSU students and faculty have been facing. “With the majority of graduate workers making between $16,000 and $25,000 annually, we cannot afford to subsidize Florida State University’s response, or lack thereof to the crisis.” He said they wanted to unite other organizations on FSU’s campus to fight for better conditions within the pandemic.

“We are currently building relationships with different student organizations including but not limited to Students for a Democratic Society and an array of international students’ organizations on campus, and the staff and faculty unions. The best thing that anyone can do is show up to the impact bargaining. Our first impact bargaining meeting. There will be a hybrid option. The best way to hear about any updates is by following us on social media Twitter @fsu_gau, Facebook facebook.com/fsugau/ or on Instagram at fsugau.”

Some of GAU’s demands include workplace modifications for disabled workers, compensation for in-patient medical costs, and paid sick leave when a graduate worker is exposed to COVID-19.

GAU members say they will keep fighting for a successful bargaining and to hold FSU accountable for its role in allowing the COVID-19 pandemic to spread.

Jordan Lenchitz also criticized FSU for attempting to hold in-person meetings for their negotiations when several members from GAU had contracted COVID-19. He urged people to come support them at their bargaining meeting. “People are welcome to come and get involved. FSU’s entire team is six people, and so, if we can bring out 50 people, we can outnumber them nine to one.”

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PublicSectorUnions #GraduateAssistantsUnionGAU #FloridaStateUniversityFSU #TeachersUnions #COVID19

“Florida State University wants GAs basically to come to work, be overworked, underpaid and just die on their own dime and do nothing about it. There are a lot of things on this campus that are impacting GA safety in particular,” said Jordan Lenchitz, grievance officer for GAU. Lenchitz went on to explain how COVID-19 threatened both teachers’ livelihoods and ability to financially support themselves. “We’re here today to let the university know that we’re not going to go quietly, and we’re not going to die and pay for our own funerals, because they don’t pay us enough for that anyway.”

Organizing chair for GAU, Jordan Scott, elaborated on the conditions FSU students and faculty have been facing. “With the majority of graduate workers making between $16,000 and $25,000 annually, we cannot afford to subsidize Florida State University’s response, or lack thereof to the crisis.” He said they wanted to unite other organizations on FSU’s campus to fight for better conditions within the pandemic.

“We are currently building relationships with different student organizations including but not

limited to Students for a Democratic Society and an array of international students’ organizations on campus, and the staff and faculty unions. The best thing that anyone can do is show up to the impact bargaining. Our first impact bargaining meeting. There will be a hybrid option. The best way to hear about any updates is by following us on social media Twitter @fsu_gau, Facebook facebook.com/fsugau/ or on Instagram at fsugau.”

Some of GAU’s demands include workplace modifications for disabled workers, compensation for in-patient medical costs, and paid sick leave when a graduate worker is exposed to COVID-19.

GAU members say they will keep fighting for a successful bargaining and to hold FSU accountable for its role in allowing the COVID-19 pandemic to spread.

Jordan Lenchitz also criticized FSU for attempting to hold in-person meetings for their negotiations when several members from GAU had contracted COVID-19. He urged people to come support them at their bargaining meeting. “People are welcome to come and get involved. FSU’s entire team is six people, and so, if we can bring out 50 people, we can outnumber them nine to one.”

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PublicSectorUnions #GraduateAssistantsUnionGAU #FloridaStateUniversityFSU #TeachersUnions #FSUGAU

(Photo by Brad Sigal)”)

Minneapolis, MN – On March 12 a car caravan brought honks of solidarity to Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) negotiating committee members while they were in talks with the school district administration at the Davis Center after a week of being on strike.

Organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, the caravan started on Lake Street in the heart of immigrant communities of south Minneapolis. The cars in the caravan were adorned with signs supporting Minneapolis Public Schools educators who are on strike for the safe, secure and fully-funded schools that Minneapolis students deserve. The caravan started on Lake Street in south Minneapolis and then wound through many different neighborhoods before ending at the Davis Center on the Northside, honking the whole way and spreading the message of support for educators through the streets of Minneapolis.

When the caravan arrived at the Davis Center, union negotiating committee members waved and showed appreciation out the window from inside the building. The educators’ strike remained strong through the first week. Now on top of that, community pressure is also increasingly being brought to bear on the district to meet the educators’ demands.

#MinneapolisMN #ImmigrantRights #PeoplesStruggles #PublicSectorUnions #teachersStrike #Strikes #TeachersUnions #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommitteeMIRAC #MinneapolisTeachersFederationMFT

Minneapolis, MN – Teachers and education assistants in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul will hold a joint march on February 12 to call for the safe and stable schools that their students deserve. The Minneapolis educators are members of the Minneapolis Teachers Union, and the Saint Paul educators are members of Saint Paul Federation of Educators. Both groups have been in bargaining over their next contract.

The march will start at the Wabun Picnic Area at Minnehaha Falls Park at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 12, and they are calling for educators as well as parents and community supporters to come out to show the school districts that they will fight for the schools that their students deserve.

While the two groups have separate proposals and bargaining, both groups of educators are fighting for enforceable caps on class size, COVID safety, workload language, mental health support for students, proposals to recruit and retain oppressed nationality educators, and competitive compensation to recognize their work.

Educators in Minneapolis have announced a strike vote starting on February 14, and the Saint Paul educators will hold their strike vote starting on February 17. The two groups of educators are expected to strike in early March if the strike vote passes.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #strike #PublicSectorUnions #Strikes #TeachersUnions #MinneapolisTeachersUnion #SaintPaulFederationOfEducators

Chicago, IL – Hundreds of workers clad in purple rallied in 90-degree heat in front of Provident Hospital on Chicago’s South Side today, July 5. According to Ericka White, a county employee in the business office and an elected member of the bargaining committee for Local 73, “Our members are strong and we’re going to win our demands.”

The strike of 2500 employees of Cook County Health, County Jail, and the county corporate offices continues because of this strength. A popular chant heard for two hours was, “One day longer, one day stronger!”

Earlier last week, management settled with three other unions: National Nurses United (who had staged a one day strike on Thursday, June 24), the Teamsters, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. On June 28, a “best and final offer” was made to Local 73, but management hid that the other agreements included additional pay raises in anniversary steps.

Local 73 members include the county employees with the lowest pay grades, and the negotiators for County Board President Toni Preckwinkle are threatening to make worse the pay disparity between SEIU and the other workers.

A large number of Local 73 members were prevented from striking by a court injunction. Those workers report to the strikers that the county's plan to bring in strikebreakers failed because the agency workers are refusing to do the work and complaining about the hours. Earlier this holiday weekend, Larry Alcoff, lead negotiator for SEIU, said, “Management came to the table on Friday not to settle the contract, but to get you back to work, because they can’t run this hospital without you!”

Today, Alcoff reported that management had put more on the table than in their ‘final offer,’ but the two sides are still separated by a dollar amount so small, it amounts to one-twentieth of 1% of county’s $7 billion budget, not including the $1 billion county is receiving from the federal American Rescue Plan. The difference in the two sides amounts to $25 per worker per year.

“This is not an economic decision. This is a political decision by management,” Alcoff added. “We will give them 24 hours to get this deal done. If it’s not finished, tomorrow we will march the entire labor movement, and our elected officials, into Hyde Park [Cook County President Preckwinkle’s neighborhood] to show we’re not taking it anymore!”

#ChicagoIL #SEIULocal73 #PeoplesStruggles #publicSectorUnions #Strikes #CookCountyStrike

Chicago, IL – Striking members of SEIU Local 73 in the highway and transportation division of Cook County government shut down a construction site in Buffalo Grove, a town in the suburbs northwest of Chicago. This two-mile long bridge project was shut down on Friday, June 25, the first day of the strike. The union Operating Engineers, Laborers, and Carpenters are respecting the picket line at the county construction site in Buffalo Grove. This is a $60 million project with $29 million in federal funds.

Monday, June 28, in the southwest suburbs, the same division of Local 73 members shut down construction at 95th Street and Roberts Road in Hickory Hills at 6 a.m.

Tuesday, June 29 was the most dramatic day of protest yet. Hundreds of workers in purple marched around the building which houses Chicago City Hall and the Cook County offices. Then they marched in and occupied the building for an hour. Accompanied by drums and cymbals, they sat down and with purple whistles, filled the air with the noise.

Purple is SEIU’s union color.

After an hour, they marched across the street to Daley Plaza, where Stacy Davis Gates, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), addressed the rally. “Your dignity is embedded in what you are willing to fight for and win. CTU is here to say if you need six or seven days, we got your back. And if you need any more than that, we’ll shut it down with a sea of red and purple!”

Red the is union color of CTU.

After the downtown protest, 50 strikers went to Hyde Park to protest at a fundraiser for Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle. The politicians and big donors attending the event had to walk through a formation of strikers. Preckwinkle herself had to get through the picketers, who booed her on the way in. The workers appealed to Preckwinkle’s supporters to give their money instead to the hardship fund to supports the strikers. Local 73 members include the lowest-paid employees of Cook County.

#ChicagoIL #SEIULocal73 #PeoplesStruggles #strike #PublicSectorUnions #Strikes #TeachersUnions #CookCountyStrike

Many classrooms appeared as if they had not been cleaned since the district’s initial shutdown last March, while in others, window treatments remained covered in dust or with windows that would not stay open at all, despite CPS’ claim that “we worked to ensure every classroom has a working window or a mechanical ventilation system to dilute air particles that may have viruses or bacteria and allow old air to move out of the classroom.”

One school was asking workers whose rooms had no portable HEPA filters to sign a release saying they would not hold the school “liable for any health consequence of been [sic] in the building.”

A common concern was the Intellipure Compact air purifiers provided by the district, which work “best if used in spaces below 500 sq. feet,” according to the company website, but are being deployed by CPS to ‘protect’ much larger classrooms.

“CPS and the mayor are saying that they desperately want to open schools, but in many buildings, they’ve done nothing to make conditions any safer – and that’s without the threat of a pandemic,” Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Jesse Sharkey said. “Parents, students, teachers, community groups and elected officials aren’t demanding that CPS and the mayor keep buildings closed; they’re demanding that they exhaust all resources in making schools as safe as possible before reopening.”

More than half of the teachers scheduled to start teaching directly from unsafe school buildings on Monday chose to work remotely.

#ChicagoIL #PeoplesStruggles #ChicagoTeachersUnion #ChicagoPublicSchools #PublicSectorUnions #TeachersUnions #MayorLoriLightfoot