A MAJORITY of workers at a Ford Motor (F.N) joint-venture battery plant in Kentucky have signed cards indicating their support for the United Auto Workers (UAW), the union said last Wednesday.
The BlueOval SK plant is owned by a partnership of South Korea’s SK On and Ford, and is the latest electric vehicle-related battleground for the union as it seeks to grow its membership.
The UAW earlier this year invested $40 million to organise non-union automakers across the United States, a push that included companies such as Tesla and Toyota.
The UAW said a ‘supermajority’ of workers at the plant had signed union cards indicating their support.
BlueOval SK Human Resources Director Neva Burke said: ‘We want to maintain a direct relationship with our employees,’ in a statement.
Battery plants owned by Ford and General Motors have been in UAW President Shawn Fain’s six-week strike against the so called ‘Big Three’ which also included Stellantis last autumn, and have demanded workers at EV-related plants be union members in addition to those at existing gasoline-engine plants.
A UAW win would mean starting pay for workers there will increase from $21 an hour to $26.32, the union said, with the potential to make over $42 an hour after three years, in line with the current contract with Ford.
Elsewhere, Carrollton Railroad workers have voted unanimously to unionise with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) of the Teamsters Rail Conference.
Operating out of western Kentucky, this group of nine workers is made up of engineers, conductors, trainmen, and maintenance and yardmaster employees.
They joined the BLET to gain a stronger voice on the job and to secure the benefits that come with Teamsters representation.
BLET Vice President and Organising Director Randy Fannon said: ‘We are proud to welcome this group of workers into our brotherhood.
‘Now the hard work of securing them a fair contract that reflects their worth can begin.’
Public sector workers in City of Fontana in California represented by Teamsters Local 1932 have voted to ratify a new contract, marking a significant win for the dedicated workers who maintain and enhance the city’s infrastructure and public services such as parks, sewers, streets, sidewalks, and storm systems.
This contract is a major step forward in recognising the vital role Teamsters play in moving Fontana forward.
Under this new three-year contract, workers will see pay increases, improved health insurance coverage, and a new retiree medical benefit.
These significant improvements come after months of negotiations and strong advocacy by City of Fontana Teamsters, proving that when workers fight together, they win together.
Russell De La Fuente, a City of Fontana Teamster and shop steward said: ‘I feel proud voting yes on this contract because we were able to secure medical coverage for retirees, which will be a game changer for myself and my family when I eventually begin to plan for retirement.
‘I’ve worked here for 17 years, and since becoming a Teamster, I have seen significant improvements in my salary, work environment, and medical benefits.
‘This contract ensures that we can continue to support our families while serving the community we love.’
Randy Korgan, Secretary Treasurer of Local 1932 said: ‘Our Fontana public works Teamsters are the backbone of the city, ensuring that roads, parks, and facilities are safe and well maintained for everyone to live, work, and play in Fontana.
‘This contract not only rewards their hard work but also ensures they have the resources and protections they deserve, now and in the future.’
- After several weeks of intense negotiations and global action, the Lufthansa Group answered union calls to stop using the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel, where workers are on strike, for layover accommodation for their crews.
USA union UNITE HERE and the German union ver.di, both affiliates of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), have been working with the ITF to ask airlines to avoid hotels on strike and not compel their crews to cross picket lines.
In a significant win for striking hotel workers, Condor and now Lufthansa airlines have agreed to stop using the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.
Until Wednesday, 13th November, Lufthansa used the hotel for many years for their crew lay-overs for the 60 flights in and out of the city every week.
They used an estimated 60 rooms a day which would be 21,900 room nights a year.
Ver.di used its influence to engage Lufthansa in discussions which would prioritise crew rest and wellbeing.
Ver.di, met with the leadership from the Lufthansa Group to urge them to find alternative hotels for their employees until the dispute is settled.
Götz Boecke, ver.di representative on the Lufthansa’s cabin crew works council said: ‘This is an important victory not only for striking workers but for the airline staff who rely on a safe and supportive hotel environment to gain the crucial rest they need during lay-overs to safely operate flights.
‘Crossing picket lines and staying in hotels impacted by strike action does not give crew the rest they need.’
- The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would target non-profit organisations the Treasury Department deems to be supporting pro-Palestine groups.
HR 9495, the so-called Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act was passed by the House by a vote of 219-184 on Thursday.
Fifteen Democrats voted in favour of the bill, and a lone Republican voted against it.
The bill would grant the Treasury Department the power to revoke the tax-exempt status of any non-profit supporting pro-Palestine groups.
A bipartisan group of Democrats and Republicans introduced the legislation in two parts.
The first part would provide tax-exempt status and relief for American hostages being held abroad.
The second part would give the US Treasury Secretary the authority to issue notices to organisations to label them ‘terrorist’ supporting groups.
The US law gives the Treasury Department the power to issue these designations without explaining its reasons.
The bill now heads to the Senate, which could fail to pass with the Democrats enjoying a thin majority.
However, if it does fail, the bill could return in 2025 under Donald Trump’s Republican presidency, when the Senate and the House both would have a Republican majority.
Civil liberties groups straight away condemned the legislation, warning that it could be used to target pro-Palestinian groups in the United States as well as any groups working to facilitate aid into Gaza.
Israeli forces have been overseeing a devastating war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians since October 2023.
Kia Hamadanchy, senior federal policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement: ‘By voting for HR 9495 today, the House of Representatives chose fear over freedom.
‘After over 100 years of defending civil liberties in this country, we know that the American people won’t sit quietly as politicians try to ram through anti-democratic legislation like this one.’
A coalition of more than 300 civil liberties groups has signed a letter urging lawmakers against passing the bill.
They say it would ‘grant the executive branch extraordinary power to investigate, harass, and effectively dismantle any nonprofit organisation – including news outlets, universities, and civil liberties organisations like ours.’
Israel unleashed its bloody Gaza onslaught on 7th October 2023, after the Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
The Tel Aviv regime has so far killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 104,000 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel faces an ongoing South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
