THE Teamsters trade union on Friday accused the management of the world’s largest food and beverage company Nestlé of stopping its US workforce from joining trade unions at its factories in Cedar Raips in Iowa and Shaumberg a suburb of Chicago, Illinois.
Jesse Case, Director of the Teamsters Food Processing Division, said: ‘Nestlé is actively engaging in union-busting at facilities where workers with Teamsters Local 238 are fighting for a voice on the job – a direct contradiction of the company’s own global commitments to respect the right to organise.
‘Around the world, Nestlé claims to uphold policies that protect workers’ freedom to form and join unions without interference.
‘But in the United States, the company is doing the opposite — deploying pressure tactics, stalling organising efforts, and denying workers a fair process.
‘They market themselves as a global leader in human rights and corporate responsibility, but behind the branding and polished reports is a very different reality.
‘For workers in America, Nestlé has created a double standard — neutrality abroad, union-busting at home.
‘You can’t claim to support human rights globally while undermining them in your own facilities.
‘Nestlé’s commitments mean nothing if they refuse to honour the basic principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining in the United States.
‘The Teamsters are calling on Nestlé to immediately end all anti-union activity and adopt true neutrality and card check recognition nationwide.
‘Workers deserve the right to decide their future free from coercion, intimidation, or delay.
‘If Nestlé continues to ignore its workforce and hide behind its carefully crafted public image, it will be forced to answer for that hypocrisy.
‘Teamsters across North America are prepared to take coordinated action to expose the gap between what Nestlé says and what it does.’
Elsewhere, administrative, public works and street workers in the City of Indio in California have voted to join Teamsters Local 1932.
The new members organised for improved workplace protections, fair wages, and a strong voice on the job.
The newly organised workers span multiple departments and play a vital role in delivering essential public services to the residents of Indio.
Randy Korgan, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 1932 said: ‘We are proud to welcome these dedicated public servants into our union family and look forward to fighting alongside them for the respect and protections they deserve.’
Primary care providers at MetroHealth are organising to join the SEIU trade union, saying it is needed to improve working conditions and patient care.
The group includes physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants who say they are organising because of increasing workloads and limited time with patients.
Nurse practitioner Alyssa Osysko said: ‘We are coming together to form our union because when primary care providers have the time, support and voice in our jobs, our patients are going to get better care.
‘By coming together we’re fighting for a stronger future for primary care here at MetroHealth and for better care for the community that we serve.’
Organisers say they want a greater role in decisions affecting patient care, as well as conditions that allow them to spend more time with patients and retain providers in the system.
MetroHealth said in a statement that providers have opportunities to engage in decisions related to patient care and that the system will continue to welcome their feedback.
The effort follows a similar push by physicians at University Hospitals in Cleveland last year.
Two doctors involved in that organising effort said they were fired in retaliation. A spokesperson for UH said the physicians were terminated for violating hospital policy.
Health care union activity has been increasing a lot in recent years.
Locally, behavioural health nurses at MetroHealth unionised last year.
Organisers plan to hold a rally on Tuesday 28th April outside of MetroHealth’s main campus.
Todd Lyons, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is planning to leave the agency, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed on Friday.
Lyons, who oversaw hundreds of thousands of deportations, will step away from the role after 31st May to join the private sector.
He has worked in the federal agency for nearly two decades, and previously served in the US Air Force and as a police officer.
It is not immediately clear who will replace Lyons as head of the law enforcement agency with a workforce of over 27,400 people.
Trump named Lyons as ICE’s acting director in March 2025, after Caleb Vitello was reassigned from the post.
Secretary Mullin, who was confirmed last month, will be tasked with finding Lyons’ replacement.
Trump appointed Mullin, a Senator, in March to oversee the nation’s immigration enforcement, border protection and airport security after removing former Department of Homeland Security DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from the position.
ICE has faced increased scrutiny for its role at the centre of Trump’s mass deportation initiative.
During a tense congressional hearing in February, Lyons and and Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) forcefully defended the president’s immigration agenda.
Facing sharp questions from lawmakers in Congress, the immigration bosses blamed protesters for inflaming rhetoric against agents and said their agencies would not be deterred.
‘Let me send a message to anyone who thinks they can intimidate us. You will fail,’ Lyons said at the time.
That hearing came after ICE agents shot and killed two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, sparking outrage across the country.
Trump has significantly expanded ICE, its budget and its mission since returning to the White House.
The agency enforces immigration laws and conducts investigations into undocumented immigration. It also plays a role in removing undocumented immigrants from the US.
- Thousands of New York City apartment building door persons, superintendents and other workers voted to authorise a strike last Wednesday after contract negotiations snagged over issues including health care and pensions.
A strike would be the first in 35 years and would affect 1.5 million renters, co-op owners and condo dwellers across the city, according to the workers’ union, the SEIU.
Residents could have to take on such tasks as staffing doors, sorting packages, mopping hallways, sweeping side walks and hauling trash to the curb.
If no deal is reached, a strike will start at midnight today, when the current contract expires.
The union says building owners are trying to squeeze 34,000 workers who already strive to afford the pricey metro area on salaries that average about $62,000 (£46,000) a year for door persons. Averages tend to be lower for other jobs.
Building owners, represented by an umbrella group called the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, say they are facing financial pressures themselves.
They want the workers to start paying health insurance premiums and want new hires to come in under a new job classification that the union says would be lower-paying.
Adam Cintron, a door person at a building elsewhere in Manhattan, was hoping a deal would avert a strike, but he is concerned about keeping up with the cost of living.
Cintron said: ‘I love my job. I am proud to do it.
‘I cannot afford to live in New York on that money. The cost of living is going up and that means higher costs for groceries.’
- The SEIU, Teamsters and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) unions staged a joint demonstration in San Francisco against the sacking of municipal workers in the city.
Bianca Polovina, San Francisco resident and IFPTE Local 21 President said: ‘City leaders must support fair solutions that stand up to Trump and his corporate backers in our budget.’
Brittany Hewett, a registered nurse at San Francisco General Hospital and San Francisco resident said: ‘The city has come a long way since the pandemic, but cutting public services now would be a huge step backward we can’t afford to take.
‘Clean streets, strong hospitals, and green transit are just a few of the essential services that our recovery relies on, and those don’t happen without city staff to do them.’