April 24, 2013
By John Upton of Grist:
If there’s anything darker than coal, it’s the hearts of coal company executives. They ask workers to risk their lives to extract the filthiest of all fossil fuels — and then they screw over those workers.
On Thursday, police arrested 14 people in St. Louis, Mo., during the latest in a series of large union-organized protests against such dark-heartedness by Peabody Energy. Workers say the company robbed them of desperately needed retirement health benefits through a cynical corporate maneuver.
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April 24, 2013
By Arturo Garcia of the RawStory:
Hundreds of fast food and retail employees in Chicago began a mass walkout Wednesday morning, calling for the city’s minimum wage to be raised to $15 an hour.
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April 24, 2013
By Dave Jamieson and Saki Knafo of the Huffington Post:
Labor groups are predicting that hundreds of Chicago-area fast-food and retail workers will walk off the job for a one-day strike on Wednesday, just weeks after similar strikes hit New York City.
The would-be striking workers are affiliated with the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago, which has launched a campaign calling for a living wage of $15 per hour in the city’s fast-food and retail stores. Many such workers earn the Illinois minimum wage of $8.25 per hour or close to it, often without health care coverage or sick days due to scheduling practices that leave them with too few hours to qualify for those benefits.
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April 10, 2013
From The Organizer:
On Saturday, April 6th, passers-by were treated to the sight of a large picket outside of Minnesota’s highest volume liquor store, Chicago-Lake liquors. Picketers held signs and chanted slogans of support for the workers of the store, five of whom were fired after asking for higher wages as a part of a union drive with the Industrial Workers of the World.
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January 19, 2013
From Libcom:
First, they occupied the factory to get their wages from the bosses that owned the machinery. Then, they occupied their factory to keep the second bosses from shutting down their machinery. And, now, they are on their way to owning and running the machinery.
The group of workers who occupied their Chicago factory in 2008 and again in 2012 incorporated a worker-run cooperative on May 30, 2012. The factory window makers will take over was formerly owned by Republic Windows and Doors and then Serious Energy, and will now be run by New Era Windows, LLC.
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December 9, 2012
Oringinally posted on Libcom, by Chilli Sauce:
Although there can be little doubt that class struggle in on the uptick, the past month has seen two remarkable events. The first was the UFCW-backed Walmart strikes on Black Friday. The second was the series of SEIU-backed fast food walkouts in New York City.
What’s immediately evident about these strikes is that they symbolize quite a dramatic shift in the tactics of the American trade union establishment. This is especially noteworthy given that the UFCW is one of the largest unions in the country. Similarly, the massive SEIU led the breakaway of Change to Win from the AFL-CIO. So we’re not talking about independent unions taking it upon themselves to innovate. Nor has it been small unions who may have to operate differently due to lack of resources. The unions who’ve helped organize these strikes are the big boys of big labor.
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October 9, 2012
BY JOSH EIDELSON
For the second time in five days – and also the second time in Walmart’s five decades – workers at multiple US Walmart stores are on strike. This morning, workers walked off the job at stores in Dallas, Texas; Miami, Florida; Seattle, Washington; Laurel, Maryland; and Northern, Central, and Southern California. No end date has been announced; some plan to remain on strike at least through tomorrow, when they’ll join other Walmart workers for a demonstration outside the company’s annual investor meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas. Today’s is the latest in a wave of Walmart supply chain strikes without precedent in the United States: From shrimp workers in Louisiana, to warehouse workers in California and Illinois, to Walmart store employees in five states.
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September 27, 2012
Taken from Libcom, an article by Chris Agenda coming out against contractualism in the IWW, based on experience with a contract shop in Portland:
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September 25, 2012
Chicago Teachers Union delegates voted overwhelmingly this week to approve a new contract, just weeks after the end of a 7 day long strike they launched, which had effectively shut down all of Chicago’s public schools.
The decision comes just weeks after the latest round of negotiations between Chicago Public Schools and the CTU succeeded in reaching a deal that negotiators felt they could recommend to the union’s embattled teachers.
The strike originally began on September 10, after the CTU and the city failed to reach an agreement during negotiations. Following the breakdown in the discussions, nearly twenty-six thousand teachers and support staff walked off their jobs for the first time in 25 years .
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September 11, 2012
From First of May Anarchist Alliance
The following is from a Chicago member of First of May Anarchist Alliance. It is an overview of the situation and was drafted over the weekend in the lead up to the strike that has started today.
It is looking increasingly likely that the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers will go on strike on Monday, for the first time in 25 years. I’m biased, as my wife is an active member of the union, but I will try to offer some perspective as an anarchist, as well as a parent of two CPS students and the spouse of a potential strike captain.
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