Labor Rights News Thread

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caltrek
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The above article (see bottom of previous page) makes reference (in the portion not cited) to an organization called Arise Chicago. Here is an introduction from their web site.

https://www.arisechicago.org/about
About
Faith - Labor - Action

Arise Chicago builds partnerships between faith communities and workers to fight workplace injustice through education, organizing, and advocating for public policy changes.

The Foundation of Our Work

Drawing from sacred scriptures, Arise Chicago upholds the belief that every person is created in the image of God and therefore deserving of dignity and respect, including in the workplace. Arise Chicago was founded in 1991 by a diverse group of religious leaders who created a model to combat some of poverty's root causes (workers being paid improperly, workers receiving less than a living wage, etc.) by bringing the moral voice to both non-union and union workplace struggles. Learn more

The Arise Chicago Worker Center (Centro de Trabajadores)

The Arise Chicago Worker Center is a membership–based community resource for workers, both immigrant and native-born, to learn about their rights and organize with fellow workers to improve workplace conditions. Since opening its doors in 2002, the Arise Chicago Worker Center has collaborated with nearly 50,00 workers to recover over $8.3 million in owed wages and compensation. ACWC's workplace justice campaigns train workers to know their rights, file complaints with government agencies, organize direct actions, and access legal representation.

ACWC boasts the most comprehensive workers' rights publication in the state of Illinois (free, and available in English, Spanish, and Polish) regularly distributed throughout the Chicagoland area and provides a unique popular education-style workshop to hundreds of workers each year. With over 400 low-wage Polish and Latino immigrant worker members, majority of whom are women, it is the only ... Chicago-based organization that regularly involves the religious community in its campaigns and is the only worker center in the country with a Polish organizer focusing solely on the Polish community.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek
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'An Enormous Inspiration': More Than 30 Starbucks Locations Have Voted to Unionize
by Jake Johnson
April 26, 2022

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/ ... d-unionize

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Overcoming increasingly aggressive opposition from the company's management, workers at more than 30 Starbucks locations across the U.S. have now voted to unionize as the wave of organizing spurred by historic wins in Buffalo just four months ago continues to mount.

On Monday, workers at a Starbucks shop in the township of Hopewell, New Jersey voted unanimously to unionize and join Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The store was the 30th Starbucks location to unionize in the U.S. and the first in New Jersey.

"Howard Schultz's big anti-union campaign seems like a dud that's backfiring."

"We are incredibly proud of the brave and strong Starbucks workers who voted to join Workers United," Lynne Fox, the international president of the union, said in a statement. "Our collective success in Hopewell today reflects the power that working people have to demand positive changes from their employers."

...

The Hopewell victory was followed by a union win in Baltimore—the first Starbucks location in Maryland to unionize—and announcements from several more shops in California, Washington state, and Texas that they intend to join the rapidly spreading movement.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek
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House Democrats Back Marijuana Industry Workers in Unionizing Push
by Julia Conley
April 26, 2022

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/ ... izing-push

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Workers in the marijuana industry joined union representatives and Democratic lawmakers Tuesday for a round table discussion about a growing push to organize workplaces in the sector and about federal legislation to protect workers' rights in all industries.

Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Donald Norcross (D-N.J.). met with employees from marijuana businesses in New Jersey, where legal sales for recreational use began last week.

Recreational use of marijuana has now been legalized in at least 18 states, with the pace of decriminalization picking up in recent years.

At the same time, workers at Amazon, Starbucks, John Deere, and other workplaces have garnered national attention for forming labor unions and staging strikes to demand fair pay, stronger safety protections, and a say in decision-making.

"I think that one of the things we look at is the cannabis industry really is prime for organizing right now—just like you're seeing with Starbucks, just like you're seeing with Amazon," Pocan told Marijuana Moment ahead of the round table.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek
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Workers at Second Staten Island Amazon Location Reject Union Bid
by Abigail Weinberg
May 2, 2022

https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2 ... bor-union/

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) To cap off a disappointing day for Amazon labor organizers, workers at a second Staten Island Amazon warehouse have overwhelmingly voted not to form a union.

Following an aggressive union-busting campaign from Amazon that included mandatory anti-union presentations, the workers voted 380–618 against the union on Monday. The election was disheartening for labor activists in light of last month’s union victory at another Staten Island warehouse. (Amazon is now challenging the results of that election with the National Labor Relations Board.)
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek
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After a Week on Strike, Stanford Nurses Just Approved a New Contract
by Jackie Flynn Mogensen
May 2, 2022

https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2 ... -contract/

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) After a week-long strike, the union representing nearly 5,000 nurses at Stanford Health Care and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital has voted to approve a new, three-year contract with the hospitals. The nurses plan to return to work on Tuesday.

Both the hospitals and the nurses union, the Committee for the Recognition of Nursing Achievement, hailed the agreement as a success. “CRONA’s new contracts represent an enormous victory for nurses at Stanford and Packard, who have been fighting tirelessly for improved work and patient care conditions,” union president Colleen Borges, said in a statement. “We have won improvements across all the priorities nurses identified at the beginning of our contract campaign.” Eighty-three percent of the union voted in favor of the contract.

The nurses began striking on April 25 after weeks of negotiating with the hospitals. As my colleague Emily Hofstaedter wrote last month:

To avoid burnout and to continue to offer care during the chaos of the pandemic, the nurses say they need more staff, better mental health resources, better pay, and more paid time-off. More than ninety percent of the 5,000 nurses who belong to the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA) union at the two hospitals voted for the strike.

According to the union statement, the new contract includes greater access to mental health care and wage increases of seven percent in 2022, five percent in 2023, and an additional five percent in 2024. Under the agreement, nurses in the union will be able to pre-schedule an additional week of vacation, among other benefits.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 8:58 pm Workers at Second Staten Island Amazon Location Reject Union Bid
by Abigail Weinberg
May 2, 2022

https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2 ... bor-union/

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) To cap off a disappointing day for Amazon labor organizers, workers at a second Staten Island Amazon warehouse have overwhelmingly voted not to form a union.

Following an aggressive union-busting campaign from Amazon that included mandatory anti-union presentations, the workers voted 380–618 against the union on Monday. The election was disheartening for labor activists in light of last month’s union victory at another Staten Island warehouse. (Amazon is now challenging the results of that election with the National Labor Relations Board.)
Sad, Amazon needs to be regulated, unionized and broken up. It should at the very least be forced to have a large percentage of its company in the united states and pay taxes.
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caltrek
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Federal Labor Officials Accuse Starbucks of Unfair Labor Practices in Buffalo
May 7, 2022

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/06/10973522 ... r-official

Introduction:
(AP via NPR) BUFFALO, N.Y. — Federal labor officials filed a sweeping complaint Friday accusing Starbucks of unfair labor practices at its stores in Buffalo, New York, including retaliation against pro-union employees.

The National Labor Relations Board's Buffalo regional director outlined a host of labor law violations in a filing seeking reinstatement and backpay for the employees.

There's been a wave of unionization drives at Starbucks stores nationwide, with the first union votes coming in December at three stores in Buffalo.

Starbucks says employees getting new benefits, but not at stores that are unionizing
The coffee chain called the allegations "false" and vowed to fight them at an upcoming hearing.

"Starbucks does not agree that the claims have merit, and the complaint's issuance does not constitute a finding by the NLRB," spokesman Reggie Borges wrote in an email. "It is the beginning of a litigation process that permits both sides to be heard and to present evidence."
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
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Amazon fires 2 union organizers tied to first U.S. labor win
HALELUYA HADERO
,
AP Business Writer
Updated: May 10, 2022 8:24 a.m.
Amazon has fired two employees with ties to the grassroots union that led the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the retail giant’s history.

The company confirmed Tuesday that it fired Michal, or ‘Mat,’ Cusick and Tristan Dutchin of the Amazon Labor Union on Staten Island, New York. But it claims the “cases are unrelated to each other and unrelated to whether these individuals support any particular cause or group.”
Read more: https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/ ... 162061.php
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Re: Labor Rights News Thread

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weatheriscool wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 7:24 pm Amazon fires 2 union organizers tied to first U.S. labor win
HALELUYA HADERO
,
AP Business Writer
Updated: May 10, 2022 8:24 a.m.
Amazon has fired two employees with ties to the grassroots union that led the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the retail giant’s history.

The company confirmed Tuesday that it fired Michal, or ‘Mat,’ Cusick and Tristan Dutchin of the Amazon Labor Union on Staten Island, New York. But it claims the “cases are unrelated to each other and unrelated to whether these individuals support any particular cause or group.”
Read more: https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/ ... 162061.php
This is why i do not trust Amazon one bit.
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
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caltrek
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Re: Labor Rights News Thread

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Ok, I am not supposed to "share" this article (see below). I am also not a subscriber to the Financial Times. So, instead of "sharing" I will provide a link and a brief review. It is apparently written by Melinda Gates. Thats right, as in "the" Melinda Gates of Microsoft fame. She writes of the "informal workforce" of women in places such as rural India. She also discusses the ninety-three billion dollars mobilized "recently by the World Bank’s International Development Association, (so that) governments in low-income countries have the opportunity to take decisive action to support these women and jump-start their economies." Whatever you might think of the Bill Gates' ex-wife, it is an interesting read.

Read more here: https://www.ft.com/content/09ad7dd1-bdb ... 922ed5c#LI
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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