LABORNotes Labor Wins Some in the Face of Economic Crisis
Thousands of union workers have gone on strike for better work hours, pay and benefits at food plants operated by Kellogg’s, Nabisco and Frito-Lay. At Kaiser Permanente in California, more than 24,000 healthcare workers voted to authorize a strike. Some 10,000 United Automobile Workers walked off the job and onto picket lines at John Deere — the first strike against the farming equipment manufacturer in 35 years — saying they were forced to work overtime while the company’s stock price hit an all-time high. The list goes on and includes more than 1,000 coal miners on strike for months at Warrior Met in Alabama. Some are calling it “Striketober,” but workers would have to sustain their militance much longer than one month to wrest back decades of concessions.
Illegal layoff of truckers after union vote
Universal Intermodal, which oversees multiple companies that handle goods coming through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, was ruled to have violated multiple counts of federal labor law by laying off 70 employees in retaliation for their vote to join the Teamsters Union. Administrative Law Judge Michael A. Rosas ordered Universal Intermodal to rehire the fired workers, give them back pay with interest and negotiate wages and benefits with the unionbacked employees.
IATSE in Tentative Agreement
Some call it “Striketober” as IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union of 60,000 television and film production workers, averted a strike when it reached a tentative agreement with an association of Hollywood producers representing companies like Walt Disney, Netflix and Amazon. The tentative deal brings members of IATSE, , higher pay, longer breaks, better healthcare and pension benefits.
Some members say the deal doesn’t go far enough, reports Democracy Now! Members are concerned with what’s called turnaround times, which is the minimum amount of time a worker has from when she leaves work to when she is expected to be back. Proposed wage increases for many members are only 3% a year, whereas currently, inflation is 5%.
About 40,000 members from 13 Hollywood locals must still approve the pact. Jacobin writer Alex Press says the averted strike is part of a “broader moment” of labor militancy across the United States, including workers at Amazon, Kellogg and elsewhere. “Workers are willing to fight back,” she says. “They understand they have more leverage right now.”
Strike vote at Kaiser Permanente
An overwhelming majority of Kaiser Permanente employees represented by UFCW 770 in Southern California authorized economic actions, including a strike. The employees are standing in solidarity with thousands of Kaiser employees across the country who have already voted to authorize a strike.
UFCW 770 represents nearly 2,000 skilled employees in Southern California at laboratories and pharmacies including pharmacy technicians, pharmacy assistants, clinical laboratory scientists and medical laboratory techs, as well as admins and medical assistants, among other health care specialists. “Our workload increased due to COVID, adding new duties such as curbside pickups and arranging for special home deliveries. The company took away a whole distribution center which also increased our workload but did not provide additional staffing. We have been there for our patients even though we ourselves got infected,” said Tracy Cason, a pharmacy assistant at Kaiser Permanente, Baldwin Hills, who recovered from COVID-19.
“Kaiser Permanente makes billions of dollars in profits. The company keeps $45 billion dollars in reserves. There’s no reason why they can’t take care of their employees when as frontline workers, we provide extremely critical care to our patients,” said Christopher Porter, an inpatient/oncology pharmacy technician at Kaiser Permanente, Antelope Valley.