A strike at Legacy hospitals and clinics in the US state of Oregon that began on Tuesday 2nd December goes into its third week today.
The initial group of 135 advanced practice providers walked out after months of fruitless negotiations between Legacy and Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) over a first contract.
Advanced practice providers is a health care union category that includes nurse practitioners, physician assistants and others whose training and responsibilities are between those of nurses and physicians.
Now two other newly unionised groups of advanced practice providers have issued notice that they’ll strike in solidarity with the first group.
A unit of 50 at Legacy Go Health clinics went on strike on Sunday and today, and a unit of 30 paediatric advanced practice providers will strike tomorrow and Wednesday.
On the picket line outside Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Centre, oncology nurse practitioner Megan Barckert said striking workers were living two realities at once.
She said: ‘We’re energised in terms of standing up for what we and our patients and our communities deserve.
‘On the flip side, it’s heartbreaking not to be at the bedside and in our clinics caring for our patients.’
‘Unfortunately, Legacy really pushed us into our corner.
‘We had no other option except to strike, in terms of getting what we deserve.’
Marianne Wachalovsky, a nurse practitioner in palliative care, said she is striking because she wants to work shorter hours and be paid better wages.
Wachalovsky said: ‘We do a lot of the work that physicians are doing, but we are putting a lot of long hours in that and we are not getting compensation.’
Legacy refused to bargain after the union issued their strike notice.
Meanwhile, unionised Starbucks’ employees at Little Rock’s Rodney Parham location began participating in the ‘Red Cup Rebellion’ last Thursday, a nationwide strike that started 13th November.
Elio Thompson said: ‘We are fighting for better pay, better staffing, better treatment of all of our employees nationally and worldwide.
‘We are hopeful that a contract will be reached despite the disturbance caused. We will keep fighting until we get one.’
The Little Rock baristas join hundreds of other stores across the United States protesting against unfair labour practices.
Last week, more than 3,000 baristas had joined the strike, which has spread to more than 180 stores across 130 cities, but the company said: ‘There was no meaningful disruption to its business anywhere in the world, adding that it would return to the bargaining table as soon as the union was ready.’
- Film technicians working on The Gun on Second Street have decided to go on strike in its battle for industry-standard wages and benefits, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) has announced.
The producers have refused to recognise the workers’ union.
In the absence of these talks, the unionised started their action last Thursday.
Crew members have reported they are not receiving industry standard wages and health/retirement benefits, and have been misclassified as 1,099 independent contractors rather than employees.
Misclassification is a serious issue that can deny workers essential rights such as unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation coverage, employer-provided healthcare insurance, and Social Security contributions.
The film’s cast includes notable actors, Tom Arnold, Noah Fearnley, Shô Oyamada, Poppy Delevingne, Jack Kesy, and Dianna Agron.
The film is shooting entirely in the Wheeling, West Virginia.
The production is covered under a SAG-AFTRA Agreement, but not under agreements with the Directors Guild of America (DGA), the Teamsters, or IATSE.
‘Every production, regardless of budget or political connections, must respect the rights of the people who make film and television possible.
IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb said: ‘These workers deserve the same rights and protections film and TV workers have across the country.
I’m proud of this crew for standing together in this moment and fighting for what’s right in the face of tremendous pressure.
It is now the producers’ responsibility to meet them at the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith.’
- Workers at the Adler Planetarium voted last Thursday to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union.
Members of Adler Planetarium Workers United began organising in October to bargain a contract that addresses staffing shortages, management’s communication and unilateral changes to working conditions.
The bargaining unit includes 70 staff members who handle all aspects of the institution’s operation.
The AFSCME stated: ‘Throughout Chicago’s cultural sector, a movement has been building for the last five years.
‘On the Museum Campus and across the city, cultural workers are forming unions with an echoing call: We deserve to be heard.
‘At Adler, we too deserve to be heard – not as singular voices asking questions in isolation, but united as one, with the right to the discussions and answers we need.’
Massive US $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan
THE United States has greenlit a record $11.1 billion (£8.3 billion) arms package for Taiwan, the biggest weapons sale in the Chinese island’s history, as tensions persist between Washington and China over Chinese Taipei.
The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the package includes eight proposed deals covering howitzers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Altius drones, HIMARS rocket systems, military software, and parts for other equipment.
It marks the Trump administration’s second arms sale to Taiwan, announced against the backdrop of mounting pressure from Beijing.
Taiwan continues to reject Beijing’s sovereignty over the island.
The US Department of War has pressured the Taiwan government to upgrade its armed forces to be able to wage ‘asymmetric warfare’, using mobile, smaller, and often cheaper weapons.
The government thanked the United States for the weapons.
Chinese Taipei’s separatist leader, Lai Ching-te, announced last month an additional defence budget of $40 billion for the period from 2026 to 2033.
Lai said: ‘There is no room for compromise on national security.’
China is opposed to the sales of weapons to Chinese Taipei, emphasising that the move is against international law.
China has repeatedly expressed its opposition not only to arms sales but also to any form of official diplomatic relations between the United States and Taiwan.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has reiterated that it opposed efforts by the US Congress to pass bills ‘related to Taiwan and firmly opposes any form of military contact between the US and Taiwan’.
A Chinese government statement said: ‘We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques: Stop “arming Taiwan”, stop reviewing relevant bills, and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.’
China said Taiwan’s political leaders were pursuing ‘independence’, and were willing to let external forces turn the island into a ‘war porcupine’, which could result in the population becoming ‘cannon fodder’ and ‘slaughtered at will, which is despicable’.
Beijing says under the internationally recognised ‘One-China’ principle, also accepted by the United States, Beijing is the only official representative of the Chinese nation.