US RAILWAY workers, Amazon Workers Union, Pilots union and NY State Communist Party among others, gathered outside of New York’s Grand Central Station at 5pm on Wednesday – to demand full sick pay and union rights.
‘To take away our right to be sick is an attack on our human rights,’ said speakers.
Placards said ‘Solidarity with railroad workers’, ‘striking is a human right, and ‘Biden is no friend of Labour.’
A statement was issued by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President Mark Dimondstein on ‘Congressional Action Against the Union Rights of Railroad Workers’ last Friday, December 2, 2022
The post workers leader said: ‘The right to strike, the right of all workers to withhold their labour to improve their well-being, is a fundamental and vital working class right.
‘It was the Great Postal Strike of 1970 that laid the foundation for the standard of living, rights and benefits we enjoy today as postal workers, including our right to collective bargaining.
‘While striking is hard on workers, it is a powerful weapon of last resort when workers face-off against greedy, unscrupulous companies and their benefactors of Wall Street finance capital.
‘On December 1, Congress, at the urging of the White House and with bipartisan action, attacked and undermined the entire labour movement and the right to strike by imposing a “tentative agreement (TA)” on the country’s unionised Class 1 railroad workers.
Members of four of the 12 rail unions, representing the majority of 100,000 railroad workers, had already democratically voted to reject the TA and were ready to begin strike action on December 9.
‘With great sacrifice, railroad workers, like so many essential workers, served the country keeping goods flowing through this pandemic. Yet these same workers have little control over work scheduling and are essentially on call 24/7.
‘In essence, the rail corporations are maintaining their domination of these unionised workers in what amounts to the casualisation of railroad workers.
Shockingly, they do not receive a single paid sick day and often face adverse consequences and discipline when they are off for sickness or to care for sick family members.
‘These quality-of-life issues of fair scheduling and paid sick leave were the core of the dispute between the unionised workers and management. Workers should be working to live, not living to work. As the TA failed to address these crucial issues, the majority of workers rejected it.
‘The Wall Street-funded billionaires running the rail industry cut 45,000 jobs over the last six years, 30% of the workforce, creating massive and chronic short staffing, while raking in $21 billion in profits so far this year! It is outrageous that these obscenely profitable railroads refused the workers’ just demands and that Congress came down on the side of the bosses and corporate greed and became strike breakers.
‘Many labour leaders claim that Joe Biden is “the most pro-union president.” While we appreciate that President Biden has expressed pro-union sentiments, strengthened the NLRB, nominated a pro-union Secretary of Labour and signed the historic Postal Service Reform Act, the labour struggle in rail was a fundamental test of “Which Side Are You On,” to quote the old labour song.
‘This Administration and the majority of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and Senate failed the test by imposing a TA rejected by workers and without legislating paid sick time and fair scheduling.
Unfortunately, the AFL-CIO’s top leadership failed to organise a united resistance to the pending Congressional action against the railroad workers, nor have they condemned Congress’ overriding the workers’ collective bargaining rights, along with their right to strike.
‘Negotiations, and the prospects of strikes, are about power and leverage. At a moment when the railroad workers had maximum power in relation to the supply chain and the need for their essential work, the White House and the Democratic and the Republican Party leadership put their fingers on the scale and tipped it in favour of corporate America at the expense of the workers and human decency.
‘It is unconscionable for any workers to have so little control over work schedules and receive no paid sick leave. The struggle for dignity and respect for railroad workers and their justified quest for a better quality of life will undoubtedly continue, and the APWU stands with these workers and all workers seeking equity and justice.
‘Congress “justified” their anti-union actions by claiming that it was in the “national interest” to stop a rail strike. If they truly care for the national interests rather than the massive private profits and greed of Wall Street and the rail owners, then Congress should seriously consider nationalising the railroads and running the essential rail network of our country as a national public treasure similar to the public Postal Service – and afford full collective bargaining rights for the workers.’
- On Thursday, more than 1,100 New York Times employees began a day-long work stoppage at midnight in one of the most dramatic labour disputes at the company in decades.
Union members of the New York Times Guild – which covers about 1,400 Times workers, including non-newsroom departments such as advertising and security — said the walkout is the culmination of months of frustration over contract negotiations on a range of issues, particularly compensation.
The previous employee contract expired in March 2021.
In a letter to members this week, Guild organisers wrote that ‘we cannot get to a deal until the company makes wage and benefit proposals that truly share the company’s gains with its employees.’
They accused the company on Wednesday evening of failing to ‘bargain in good faith.’
NY Times staffers also urged readers to express solidarity with their cause by boycotting Times products for the day — including the addictive Wordle game.
It is the first major walkout at the Times since 1981 — a work stoppage that lasted for just six and a half hours.
In 2017, Times journalists and technicians staged a brief lunchtime walkout to protest at staff cuts and other changes to copy-editing operations.
In their latest earnings statement, Times executives said they had grown the newsroom and projected a total adjusted operating profit of between $320 million and $330 million by the end of the year.
Many staffers say they should share more of the fruits of this recent success, after enduring stagnant wages and belt-tightening during leaner times for the company.
Film critic A.O. Scott said: ‘That’s where it feels more than just a matter of disagreement on numbers, but really a slap in the face.
‘We have devoted so much of our time, energy, work and love to this paper, which seems unwilling to recognise or to reward that contribution.’
In negotiations earlier in the week, the Guild sought average pay raises of 5.5% in both 2023 and 2024, while the company countered with two years of 3% increases.
The two sides also disagree on minimum salaries and how much to pay in retroactive bonuses that would cover the period since the old contract expired.
Investigative reporter Jennifer Valentino-DeVries said: ‘The Times is in good financial shape now, and we think that our work should be valued more highly than what they’re currently offering.’US RAILWAY workers, Amazon Workers Union, Pilots union and NY State Communist Party among others, gathered outside of New York’s Grand Central Station at 5pm on Wednesday – to demand full sick pay and union rights.
‘To take away our right to be sick is an attack on our human rights,’ said speakers.
Placards said ‘Solidarity with railroad workers’, ‘striking is a human right, and ‘Biden is no friend of Labour.’
A statement was issued by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President Mark Dimondstein on ‘Congressional Action Against the Union Rights of Railroad Workers’ last Friday, December 2, 2022
The post workers leader said: ‘The right to strike, the right of all workers to withhold their labour to improve their well-being, is a fundamental and vital working class right.
‘It was the Great Postal Strike of 1970 that laid the foundation for the standard of living, rights and benefits we enjoy today as postal workers, including our right to collective bargaining.
‘While striking is hard on workers, it is a powerful weapon of last resort when workers face-off against greedy, unscrupulous companies and their benefactors of Wall Street finance capital.
‘On December 1, Congress, at the urging of the White House and with bipartisan action, attacked and undermined the entire labour movement and the right to strike by imposing a “tentative agreement (TA)” on the country’s unionised Class 1 railroad workers.
Members of four of the 12 rail unions, representing the majority of 100,000 railroad workers, had already democratically voted to reject the TA and were ready to begin strike action on December 9.
‘With great sacrifice, railroad workers, like so many essential workers, served the country keeping goods flowing through this pandemic. Yet these same workers have little control over work scheduling and are essentially on call 24/7.
‘In essence, the rail corporations are maintaining their domination of these unionised workers in what amounts to the casualisation of railroad workers.
Shockingly, they do not receive a single paid sick day and often face adverse consequences and discipline when they are off for sickness or to care for sick family members.
‘These quality-of-life issues of fair scheduling and paid sick leave were the core of the dispute between the unionised workers and management. Workers should be working to live, not living to work. As the TA failed to address these crucial issues, the majority of workers rejected it.
‘The Wall Street-funded billionaires running the rail industry cut 45,000 jobs over the last six years, 30% of the workforce, creating massive and chronic short staffing, while raking in $21 billion in profits so far this year! It is outrageous that these obscenely profitable railroads refused the workers’ just demands and that Congress came down on the side of the bosses and corporate greed and became strike breakers.
‘Many labour leaders claim that Joe Biden is “the most pro-union president.” While we appreciate that President Biden has expressed pro-union sentiments, strengthened the NLRB, nominated a pro-union Secretary of Labour and signed the historic Postal Service Reform Act, the labour struggle in rail was a fundamental test of “Which Side Are You On,” to quote the old labour song.
‘This Administration and the majority of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and Senate failed the test by imposing a TA rejected by workers and without legislating paid sick time and fair scheduling.
Unfortunately, the AFL-CIO’s top leadership failed to organise a united resistance to the pending Congressional action against the railroad workers, nor have they condemned Congress’ overriding the workers’ collective bargaining rights, along with their right to strike.
‘Negotiations, and the prospects of strikes, are about power and leverage. At a moment when the railroad workers had maximum power in relation to the supply chain and the need for their essential work, the White House and the Democratic and the Republican Party leadership put their fingers on the scale and tipped it in favour of corporate America at the expense of the workers and human decency.
‘It is unconscionable for any workers to have so little control over work schedules and receive no paid sick leave. The struggle for dignity and respect for railroad workers and their justified quest for a better quality of life will undoubtedly continue, and the APWU stands with these workers and all workers seeking equity and justice.
‘Congress “justified” their anti-union actions by claiming that it was in the “national interest” to stop a rail strike. If they truly care for the national interests rather than the massive private profits and greed of Wall Street and the rail owners, then Congress should seriously consider nationalising the railroads and running the essential rail network of our country as a national public treasure similar to the public Postal Service – and afford full collective bargaining rights for the workers.’
- On Thursday, more than 1,100 New York Times employees began a day-long work stoppage at midnight in one of the most dramatic labour disputes at the company in decades.
Union members of the New York Times Guild – which covers about 1,400 Times workers, including non-newsroom departments such as advertising and security — said the walkout is the culmination of months of frustration over contract negotiations on a range of issues, particularly compensation.
The previous employee contract expired in March 2021.
In a letter to members this week, Guild organisers wrote that ‘we cannot get to a deal until the company makes wage and benefit proposals that truly share the company’s gains with its employees.’
They accused the company on Wednesday evening of failing to ‘bargain in good faith.’
NY Times staffers also urged readers to express solidarity with their cause by boycotting Times products for the day — including the addictive Wordle game.
It is the first major walkout at the Times since 1981 — a work stoppage that lasted for just six and a half hours.
In 2017, Times journalists and technicians staged a brief lunchtime walkout to protest at staff cuts and other changes to copy-editing operations.
In their latest earnings statement, Times executives said they had grown the newsroom and projected a total adjusted operating profit of between $320 million and $330 million by the end of the year.
Many staffers say they should share more of the fruits of this recent success, after enduring stagnant wages and belt-tightening during leaner times for the company.
Film critic A.O. Scott said: ‘That’s where it feels more than just a matter of disagreement on numbers, but really a slap in the face.
‘We have devoted so much of our time, energy, work and love to this paper, which seems unwilling to recognise or to reward that contribution.’
In negotiations earlier in the week, the Guild sought average pay raises of 5.5% in both 2023 and 2024, while the company countered with two years of 3% increases.
The two sides also disagree on minimum salaries and how much to pay in retroactive bonuses that would cover the period since the old contract expired.
Investigative reporter Jennifer Valentino-DeVries said: ‘The Times is in good financial shape now, and we think that our work should be valued more highly than what they’re currently offering.’
