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Walleye
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Thu Oct-21-21 08:35 AM

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"Striketober"


          

Turns out that seventeen months of watching our bosses make real time calculations of how much our lives and the lives of our families were worth was a transformative experience for American workers. A united, organized working class has the power to transform this country and after decades of traditionally anti-worker conservative and ascendent neoliberalism successfully marginalizing the influence of unions, they screwed up and poked the hornet's nest.

https://news.yahoo.com/striketober-american-workers-battle-for-power-amid-labor-crunch-202634154.html

'Striketober': American workers battle for power amid labor crunch
Christopher Wilson

Workers in Hollywood have a tentative agreement to stave off a strike that would effectively shut down the entertainment industry as workers across the United States flex their muscle in what activists are calling “Striketober.” The unrest comes as the nation is beset by labor shortages, potentially giving workers more power than they have had in decades when dealing with corporations.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) was set to strike Sunday night but came to an agreement with Hollywood production companies over the weekend, although the deal still needs to be approved by members. More than 60,000 workers, including costumers, makeup artists, camera operators and set builders, were threatening a walkout as they negotiated a living wage for the lowest earners, more rest periods and compensation from streaming productions.

“We went toe-to-toe with some of the richest and most powerful entertainment and tech companies in the world,” IATSE International president Matthew Loeb said in a statement. “Our members stood firm.”

However, many of those IATSE members have expressed dissatisfaction with the deal and said they might vote it down. Work will continue until the ratification vote in a few weeks. The vote earlier this month to authorize the strike was nearly unanimous, just one example of widespread labor militancy across the country.

More than 10,000 John Deere workers in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas began striking last week, citing soaring profits for the company and a 160 percent raise for the CEO as they work to renegotiate their contract. Representatives from the farm equipment manufacturing company and the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America returned to negotiations Monday, the fifth day of the strike. Union leadership had reached a tentative contract agreement earlier this month, but it was soundly rejected by workers.

Meanwhile, more than 28,000 health care workers at Kaiser Permanente in California and Oregon voted overwhelmingly this month to go on strike if their contract demands are not met. They would join other, smaller health care strikes already ongoing around the country, including one conducted by more than 2,000 workers in Buffalo, N.Y., who walked out on Oct. 1 seeking better pay, working conditions and staffing.

Workers in a wide range of industries — from breakfast cereal manufacturing to whiskey distilling to home health care to coal mining — have walked out in recent months. Earlier this year, workers at Nabisco and Volvo reached new contracts after strikes. According to the Labor Action Tracker project at Cornell, dozens of strikes have been started in October alone.

“The pandemic pushed a lot of buttons for people,” Todd Vachon, a labor expert at Rutgers University, told Yahoo News. “We saw a lot of unrest around workplace safety ... and even nonunion workers walking off the job and organizing in ways we haven’t seen in a long time.”

Over the last several decades, worker compensation has lagged well behind productivity, and CEO pay has risen sharply in comparison to that of the average worker. But labor activists say pandemic-related shutdowns and relief programs such as the expanded unemployment insurance and stimulus payments gave Americans a chance to assess their situations.

Millions have switched industries, and many who left the workforce and took on child care responsibilities have yet to return. In August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that a record 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs, especially within the service, hospitality and retail sectors. All of this comes during a time when public sympathies have shifted toward labor.

According to a September Gallup poll, support for unions is at its highest point since 1965; 68 percent of Americans now say they approve of unions, up 20 points from a low in 2009. That includes 90 percent approval by Democrats and 66 percent approval by independents.

At the federal level, President Biden has consistently touted himself as pro-union, even encouraging Amazon workers to organize earlier this year. Labor activists have called on Congress to pass the Pro Act, a piece of legislation that would make workplace organizing easier, but it’s unlikely to overcome Republican opposition and the Democratic refusal to remove the Senate filibuster.

“People are choosing not to take the jobs that are being offered, so that builds some power and leverage for unions and bargaining that they haven’t had in decades, really, to be honest,” Vachon said.

“ can bring in replacement workers, and that makes the strike less effective. But when there’s folks refusing to take the jobs being offered, the strike is a lot more powerful of a weapon because it actually shuts down the production and the facility and brings the employer back to the table more quickly.”

In addition to the organized strikes, there have been waves of workers walking off the job in nonunion positions, such as fast food workers protesting allegedly unsafe working conditions and low wages despite being lauded as essential workers.

Allynn Umel, director of the Fight for $15 campaign, told Yahoo News that “the hypocrisy between being called ‘essential’ and the need for workers to sacrifice themselves and their families over the course of the pandemic has been fueling a lot of frustrations that workers have been facing.” Low-wage workers, Umel said, “know this is a moment where they want to make it clear that the pre-pandemic status quo of unlivable wages and terrible working conditions are no longer acceptable."

All of these factors have combined to form what former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich called a “national general strike,” as workers potentially gain more power than they have had in decades amid labor shortages and widespread dissatisfaction with income inequality.

Workers, Vachon said, “are withholding their labor because they don’t like what’s being offered, and that’s essentially what a strike is.”

“It’s not organized by any organization, and they’re not all communicating about it across the whole economy. But what’s happening is there is a de facto general strike, and that just increases the economic power of the workers who go on real strikes.”


______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

  

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Topic Outline
Subject Author Message Date ID
John Deere Strike Fund
Oct 21st 2021
1
Labor411: How to support Kellogg's strike
Oct 21st 2021
2
They called them essential to exploit them. Pa’lante
Oct 21st 2021
3
RE: Striketober
Oct 21st 2021
4
I don't understand what you're asking
Oct 22nd 2021
6
Great post. Donating now.
Oct 21st 2021
5
NBC: Biden on the sidelines during Striketober
Oct 25th 2021
7
CEOs on average, now make 350x the average employee.
Oct 25th 2021
8
John Deere Workers approve contract
Nov 18th 2021
9
Starbucks just got it's first unionized store
Dec 09th 2021
10
Workers reject Kellogg's proposal (swipe)
Dec 09th 2021
11

Walleye
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Thu Oct-21-21 08:35 AM

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1. "John Deere Strike Fund"
In response to Reply # 0


          

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-john-deere-strike

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

  

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Walleye
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Thu Oct-21-21 08:37 AM

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2. "Labor411: How to support Kellogg's strike"
In response to Reply # 0


          

https://labor411.org/411-blog/five-ways-to-support-the-kellogg-strike/

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

  

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MEAT
Member since Feb 08th 2008
22247 posts
Thu Oct-21-21 09:35 AM

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3. "They called them essential to exploit them. Pa’lante"
In response to Reply # 0
Thu Oct-21-21 09:36 AM by MEAT

  

          

.

------
“There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus

  

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jimaveli
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Thu Oct-21-21 09:37 AM

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4. "RE: Striketober"
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

I am very compelled by all of this.

BUT

I have a bunch of questions. The one I think of first is layered: can this last?

If so, how? What does it turn into? A lot more people taking jobs they can do basically part time to give them more time to start their own businesses/side hustles/whatever we call alternate revenue streams now. I'm guessing that is the answer and have been told that here at least once recently.

BUT

I'm wondering how lots of companies can/will function if major chunks of its group is only kinda sorta working there? Does everything go full KPI crazy and turnover rates get higher as more companies make the call to casually run people off when they don't hit numbers?

Does the concept of stay, learn, grow, move up essentially die off in more industries than it already has? Is that what we want? I'm thinking it leads to even worse/more out of touch top management, hilariously unqualified/unskilled middle management (IE: more middle people who can't do the work that the people they manage do), and a peanut gallery of workers who dgaf about anything they're doing as long as they can hit the likely insufficient KPIs/numbers the bosses came up with. Volume over quality type stuff. And good luck getting that peanut gallery to help fix broken things/contribute to progress. It'll just be 'do 5 whatevers every *insert period of time here*' and then go watch Ozark, look at investment graphs, make your podcast with your cute significant other, or whatever you do.

See!? Layered! Loaded! Land minds all around. Maybe it is much easier than I'm making it out to be and I just don't get it since I grew up in an era where a few of my older uncles and aunties were just starting to go to college and get (mostly terrible) office gigs. Now, I'm surrounded by people my age who mostly tried to do the college --> job --> keep getting promoted even if it means you have to switch gigs thing. Some are doing amazingly well..most of them work way too much even now (20-ish years in). I'm fortunate as well but I'm kinda in limbo and asking a lot of above questions. Others are not..some of their own doing (they don't work hard, communicate well, and/or they move around too much so they can't ever get momentum enough to actually move up anywhere or even start off at a higher place). Some just got stuck in the wrong gig or industry and it just didn't work out.

>Turns out that seventeen months of watching our bosses make
>real time calculations of how much our lives and the lives of
>our families were worth was a transformative experience for
>American workers. A united, organized working class has the
>power to transform this country and after decades of
>traditionally anti-worker conservative and ascendent
>neoliberalism successfully marginalizing the influence of
>unions, they screwed up and poked the hornet's nest.
>
>https://news.yahoo.com/striketober-american-workers-battle-for-power-amid-labor-crunch-202634154.html
>
>'Striketober': American workers battle for power amid labor
>crunch
>Christopher Wilson
>
>Workers in Hollywood have a tentative agreement to stave off a
>strike that would effectively shut down the entertainment
>industry as workers across the United States flex their muscle
>in what activists are calling “Striketober.” The unrest
>comes as the nation is beset by labor shortages, potentially
>giving workers more power than they have had in decades when
>dealing with corporations.
>
>The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
>(IATSE) was set to strike Sunday night but came to an
>agreement with Hollywood production companies over the
>weekend, although the deal still needs to be approved by
>members. More than 60,000 workers, including costumers, makeup
>artists, camera operators and set builders, were threatening a
>walkout as they negotiated a living wage for the lowest
>earners, more rest periods and compensation from streaming
>productions.
>
>“We went toe-to-toe with some of the richest and most
>powerful entertainment and tech companies in the world,”
>IATSE International president Matthew Loeb said in a
>statement. “Our members stood firm.”
>
>However, many of those IATSE members have expressed
>dissatisfaction with the deal and said they might vote it
>down. Work will continue until the ratification vote in a few
>weeks. The vote earlier this month to authorize the strike was
>nearly unanimous, just one example of widespread labor
>militancy across the country.
>
>More than 10,000 John Deere workers in Iowa, Illinois and
>Kansas began striking last week, citing soaring profits for
>the company and a 160 percent raise for the CEO as they work
>to renegotiate their contract. Representatives from the farm
>equipment manufacturing company and the United Automobile,
>Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America
>returned to negotiations Monday, the fifth day of the strike.
>Union leadership had reached a tentative contract agreement
>earlier this month, but it was soundly rejected by workers.
>
>Meanwhile, more than 28,000 health care workers at Kaiser
>Permanente in California and Oregon voted overwhelmingly this
>month to go on strike if their contract demands are not met.
>They would join other, smaller health care strikes already
>ongoing around the country, including one conducted by more
>than 2,000 workers in Buffalo, N.Y., who walked out on Oct. 1
>seeking better pay, working conditions and staffing.
>
>Workers in a wide range of industries — from breakfast
>cereal manufacturing to whiskey distilling to home health care
>to coal mining — have walked out in recent months. Earlier
>this year, workers at Nabisco and Volvo reached new contracts
>after strikes. According to the Labor Action Tracker project
>at Cornell, dozens of strikes have been started in October
>alone.
>
>“The pandemic pushed a lot of buttons for people,” Todd
>Vachon, a labor expert at Rutgers University, told Yahoo News.
>“We saw a lot of unrest around workplace safety ... and even
>nonunion workers walking off the job and organizing in ways we
>haven’t seen in a long time.”
>
>Over the last several decades, worker compensation has lagged
>well behind productivity, and CEO pay has risen sharply in
>comparison to that of the average worker. But labor activists
>say pandemic-related shutdowns and relief programs such as the
>expanded unemployment insurance and stimulus payments gave
>Americans a chance to assess their situations.
>
>Millions have switched industries, and many who left the
>workforce and took on child care responsibilities have yet to
>return. In August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
>that a record 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs,
>especially within the service, hospitality and retail sectors.
>All of this comes during a time when public sympathies have
>shifted toward labor.
>
>According to a September Gallup poll, support for unions is at
>its highest point since 1965; 68 percent of Americans now say
>they approve of unions, up 20 points from a low in 2009. That
>includes 90 percent approval by Democrats and 66 percent
>approval by independents.
>
>At the federal level, President Biden has consistently touted
>himself as pro-union, even encouraging Amazon workers to
>organize earlier this year. Labor activists have called on
>Congress to pass the Pro Act, a piece of legislation that
>would make workplace organizing easier, but it’s unlikely to
>overcome Republican opposition and the Democratic refusal to
>remove the Senate filibuster.
>
>“People are choosing not to take the jobs that are being
>offered, so that builds some power and leverage for unions and
>bargaining that they haven’t had in decades, really, to be
>honest,” Vachon said.
>
>“ can bring in replacement workers, and that
>makes the strike less effective. But when there’s folks
>refusing to take the jobs being offered, the strike is a lot
>more powerful of a weapon because it actually shuts down the
>production and the facility and brings the employer back to
>the table more quickly.”
>
>In addition to the organized strikes, there have been waves of
>workers walking off the job in nonunion positions, such as
>fast food workers protesting allegedly unsafe working
>conditions and low wages despite being lauded as essential
>workers.
>
>Allynn Umel, director of the Fight for $15 campaign, told
>Yahoo News that “the hypocrisy between being called
>‘essential’ and the need for workers to sacrifice
>themselves and their families over the course of the pandemic
>has been fueling a lot of frustrations that workers have been
>facing.” Low-wage workers, Umel said, “know this is a
>moment where they want to make it clear that the pre-pandemic
>status quo of unlivable wages and terrible working conditions
>are no longer acceptable."
>
>All of these factors have combined to form what former
>Secretary of Labor Robert Reich called a “national general
>strike,” as workers potentially gain more power than they
>have had in decades amid labor shortages and widespread
>dissatisfaction with income inequality.
>
>Workers, Vachon said, “are withholding their labor because
>they don’t like what’s being offered, and that’s
>essentially what a strike is.”
>
>“It’s not organized by any organization, and they’re not
>all communicating about it across the whole economy. But
>what’s happening is there is a de facto general strike, and
>that just increases the economic power of the workers who go
>on real strikes.”
>
>
>

  

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Walleye
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15515 posts
Fri Oct-22-21 06:57 AM

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6. "I don't understand what you're asking"
In response to Reply # 4


          

I hope the strikes don't last, because they're immensely de-stabilizing for the workers putting themselves and their families out there in order to fight for their rights. But I hope they last however long they need for workers to take back power over the industries that are exploiting their labor.

I do hope the sentiment lasts, because we can't possibly sustain the present submission of labor to capital. Americans are working harder and harder for less and less share of what they produce.

But it seems like you're asking about some other dynamic that I can't quite place. Sort of nervous that you're concerned about preserving our existing idea of work and careers and if that's the case then, uh, don't be concerned about that because it sucks and it needs to go.

Anyhow, I like talking about this stuff so I'd be excited to keep the ball rolling but I'm not really picking you up at the moment.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

  

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Brew
Member since Nov 23rd 2002
24373 posts
Thu Oct-21-21 10:01 AM

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5. "Great post. Donating now."
In response to Reply # 0


          

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

  

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Walleye
Charter member
15515 posts
Mon Oct-25-21 11:16 AM

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7. "NBC: Biden on the sidelines during Striketober"
In response to Reply # 0


          

Even if it were true, being the most-labor-friendly American president still wouldn't be *that* labor-friendly since Presidents owe their jobs to capital. But these brave workers are putting themselves way out on a limb to bat for each other and they could use the help. So do the right thing, Joe Biden.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-sidelines-striketober-economy-balance-n1282094

Biden on the sidelines of 'Striketober,' with economy in the balance

Oct. 24, 2021, 11:16 AM EDT
By Shannon Pettypiece
WASHINGTON — As a wave of workers across the country take to picket lines, President Joe Biden is witnessing a resurgence in the labor movement he spent decades championing — at a time when it could hamper the economic recovery he is fighting to protect.

Biden has said that he supports the workers' right to strike but that he is "not going to get into the negotiation," and White House officials say he doesn't plan to get involved in any of the labor disputes involving more than 100,000 workers across the country. Instead, he has taken the position that the decision to strike is up to the workers, leaving it to them and their employers to resolve disputes, the officials said.

It's a shift for Biden. As a presidential candidate and a senator, Biden joined picket lines and tweeted out support for striking workers. He has called himself the most pro-labor president in history, having come out in support of Amazon workers trying to unionize and repeatedly inviting labor leaders to the White House.

But President Biden faces a different dynamic from candidate Biden, because strikes risk adding to labor shortages and supply chain disruptions that are already driving up prices as the global economy reels from pandemic strains. While the strikes could benefit workers by driving up wages in the long term, the near-term impact of persistent or growing work stoppages could include worst-case scenarios like food shortages or lack of access to hospitals.

"This will come at an economic cost to employers and therefore the economy, and I think that may be why Biden has gone a little silent," said Ariel Avgar, an associate professor of labor relations, law and history at Cornell University. "It is tricky for him. On the one hand, he is on the record supporting unions and their ability to use collective action. On the other hand, the point of strikes is to extract an economic price for employers unwilling to negotiate in a way the union feels is appropriate."

There have been 184 strikes by health care to factory workers this year after the coronavirus pandemic aggravated concerns over low wages and poor working conditions, and the tight labor market has given workers more leverage. Among the strikers are more than 10,000 John Deere workers who went on strike this month. More than 24,000 health care workers at Kaiser Permanente are preparing to strike, joining thousands of nurses and other health care workers elsewhere who have been striking for months.

Biden made his only comments about what has been dubbed Striketober in response to a reporter's questions last week.

"They have a right to strike, and they have a right to demand higher wages, and the companies they're striking on are doing very well," Biden said. "I'm not going to get into the negotiation, but my message is: If you think that's what you need, then you should do it."

A White House official said that Biden has spoken extensively about his support for unions and collective bargaining and that he believes "workers have a right to strike and government's job is to defend that right." Press secretary Jen Psaki framed the strikes as a positive sign for the economy when she was asked about them last week.

The message stops short, however, of specifically supporting the workers who are on strike, which Biden could do without getting directly involved in any negotiations.

"A statement that the president supports the right isn't much in and of itself, because the right is already there in law. It would be a bolder statement that he supports workers on strike," said Robert Reich, who was labor secretary during the Clinton administration. "He could come out with a statement saying many of these workers have been crucial during the pandemic, essential workers, the nurses, they are all entitled to better pay and better working conditions."

Some of those on the front lines have been eager for Biden and his administration to take a more active role. David Schildmeier, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said he is being asked almost every day by nurses striking outside Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, why Biden hasn't given his support or whether Vice President Kamala Harris would be willing to come to the picket line.

Marlena Pellegrino, who has worked at the hospital for 35 years, and 700 other Saint Vincent nurses have been picketing for more than eight months. Many of them have lost their health insurance benefits and are starting to look for other work. The nurses initially began striking to improve staffing levels, but the issue has turned to whether they will be allowed to return to their jobs once the strike is over, Pellegrino said.

"It is time for someone to step up," she said. "We would absolutely love and implore the president to get involved. There hasn't been any direct involvement at that level."

While Biden has yet to get directly involved in any of the strikes, some of his top officials have, both publicly and behind the scenes. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has been in contact with the striking nurses at Saint Vincent hospital, in his home state, and made calls on their behalf, Schildmeier said. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined striking John Deere employees on the picket line in his state, Iowa, on Wednesday.

"These folks were very supportive of me when I ran for governor, and it's something that you don't forget, especially when you're behind and not many people had that faith and confidence in you," Vilsack told the John Deere workers. "You remember the people that did. When they need somebody to give them a pat on the back, I want to be here for them."

Biden's nominee to be chief labor mediator, Javier Ramirez, whose task it is to help resolve and prevent disputes, has contacted officials with Kaiser Permanente and the union weighing a strike against it, said Maureen Anderson, the chief of staff for the Alliance of Healthcare Unions, which is representing the Kaiser workers.

While not specifically addressing the strikes, Harris and Walsh met Wednesday with federal workers and announced administration policies to help inform workers of their rights to organize as part of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment.

There are some actions a president can take to resolve a strike, such as forcing both sides back to the negotiating table under laws allowing presidents to intervene in airline or railway strikes or when a strike reaches the level of a national emergency that jeopardizes health and safety.

The moves are often seen as hindering workers' rights, and they usually require a strike to have larger economic consequences beyond a single industry or region. But presidents can show their support for a particular movement, which Avgar of Cornell said he is surprised he hasn't seen from Biden, given his strong support for unions in the past.

"It isn't surprising politically to try to walk a fine line" when it comes to supporting the labor movement, he said. "But not coming out with the full-throated support he did previously is surprising."

Pellegrino said she has seen the power national figures can have in resolving strikes. The last time the Saint Vincent nurses went on strike, Sen. Ted Kennedy stepped in and brokered a deal. Ultimately, an agreement was reached in Kennedy's Senate office with the two sides in separate rooms and Kennedy and his staff mediating.

"We are fighting corporate America, just the 700 of us, and that is not a lot of people. It feels like David and Goliath," she said. "We are feeling the onus on our shoulders, and we are carrying this weight. It is very overwhelming."

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

  

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PROMO
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Mon Oct-25-21 04:03 PM

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8. "CEOs on average, now make 350x the average employee."
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

in the 1950s it was 40x, in the 70s? 65x.

workers are fed up and how can you blame them.

  

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Walleye
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Thu Nov-18-21 08:57 AM

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9. "John Deere Workers approve contract"
In response to Reply # 0


          

Incredibly impressed at these brave workers for sticking together and fighting for their rights:

Immediate 10% raise. 8500 ratification bonus. Another 10% raise by 2025. Increased pension.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/11/17/deere-strike-contract-vote/

John Deere factory workers approve new contract, ending historic strike
More than 10,000 workers walked off the job in mid-October for the first time since 1986 in a sign of how the pandemic has sparked new labor militancy

By Jeanne Whalen
Yesterday at 9:17 p.m. EST|Updated yesterday at 9:59 p.m. EST

Workers at Deere & Co., the giant manufacturer of farm and construction equipment, on Wednesday ended a month-long strike that has come to symbolize a new era of labor militancy.

Their union, the United Auto Workers, said 10,000 members ratified a new six-year contract offer by a vote of 61 percent to 39 percent. They had rejected two previous offers.

The Deere strike — the first at the company since 1986 — is a prominent symbol of the impact the pandemic has had on the economy. Nearly two years of lockdowns and economic tumult have sparked a wave of labor activism, causing many workers to push for better conditions.

“UAW John Deere members did not just unite themselves, they seemed to unite the nation in a struggle for fairness in the workplace. We could not be more proud of these UAW members and their families,” the union said in a statement.

Worker rebellions and strikes are hitting a variety of industries, including low-wage fast-food jobs, skilled manufacturing, health care and food processing.

How the pandemic drove John Deere factory workers to demand more

Deere workers on strike last week near the company headquarters in Moline, Ill., said they wanted recognition for the sacrifices they made during the pandemic, when many worked long shifts in masks to keep churning out farm and construction equipment that had been declared essential to the economy.

The picketers won significant concessions since their strike began in mid-October.

The first contract agreement reached between Deere and UAW negotiators, on Oct. 1, offered immediate raises of 5 to 6 percent, depending on the job, and an additional 3 percent in 2023 and 2025. It also proposed eliminating pensions for new hires. Workers rejected the offer by a wide margin.

The second agreement offered an immediate 10 percent raise and an $8,500 ratification bonus, plus 5 percent raises in 2023 and 2025. Deere workers rejected that one, too, but the vote was closer — 55 percent to 45 percent.

The latest contract made “modest modifications” to the second offer, the UAW said. Workers said those included tweaks to how Deere calculates bonuses for workers who meet production targets.

Kristin Jordan, a 19-year veteran at a Deere combine factory in East Moline, Ill., said she was relieved to see the vote pass.

“I’m exhausted and nervous, but I’m proud of what was accomplished,” she said Wednesday night.

Picketers at other companies have also recently won concessions: striking Nabisco and Frito-Lay employees returned to work after negotiating better terms for pay and working hours.

Deere spokeswoman Jen Hartmann said workers would return to their jobs immediately, starting with the late shift Wednesday night.

“I’m pleased our highly skilled employees are back to work, building and supporting the industry-leading products which make our customers more profitable and sustainable,” John C. May, chairman and chief executive, said in an emailed statement.

“John Deere’s success depends on the success of our people. Through our new collective bargaining agreements, we’re giving employees the opportunity to earn wages and benefits that are the best in our industries and are groundbreaking in many ways,” he added.


______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

  

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shygurl
Member since Oct 08th 2002
13345 posts
Thu Dec-09-21 04:32 PM

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10. "Starbucks just got it's first unionized store"
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https://buffalonews.com/news/local/starbucks-workers-in-buffalo-vote-to-join-union/article_e7c2029e-5855-11ec-a69f-8fbe8e269cc9.html

Three stores voted to join the union, one voted against, one outright voted for the union, and one seemingly voted for the union but the results are being contested.

Not a bad result imo, but you'd think in rust belt Buffalo they'd be a bit more union inclined.

Overall there a lot things going on across the country in the labor (might be another Amazon vote!), so it'd be interesting to see what happens in the coming months.

__________________________________________

I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

  

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Marbles
Member since Oct 19th 2004
22276 posts
Thu Dec-09-21 04:43 PM

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11. "Workers reject Kellogg's proposal (swipe)"
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My little brother works for Kellogg's and we talked about this a bit at Thanksgiving. After this rejection, I don't know if there's much chance of them coming to an agreement.

***

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/07/1062240467/kellogg-to-hire-replacements-for-striking-workers-who-rejected-a-proposed-contra

The Kellogg Company announced Tuesday that a majority of its U.S. workers have voted against a proposed five-year contract and that the company would hire permanent replacements for the employees who went on strike more than two months ago.

Temporary employees have been working at the company's cereal plants in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

"After 19 negotiation sessions in 2021, and still no deal reached, we will continue to focus on moving forward to operate our business," Kellogg North America President Chris Hood said in a statement.

Hood said the company had no choice but to continue executing the next phase of its "contingency plan" — hiring replacement employees.

"While certainly not the result we had hoped for, we must take the necessary steps to ensure business continuity," Hood said. "We have an obligation to our customers and consumers to continue to provide the cereals that they know and love."

"Interest in the (permanent replacement) roles has been strong at all four plants, as expected. We expect some of the new hires to start with the company very soon," Kellogg spokesperson Kris Bahner told Reuters.

The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, the union representing the 1,400 striking employees, said in a statement Tuesday that it will continue to provide "full support to our striking Kellogg's members."

"The BCTGM is grateful for the outpouring of fraternal support we received from across the labor movement for our striking members at Kellogg's. Solidarity is critical to this fight," the union said Tuesday.

Kellogg workers walked off the job on Oct. 5 at four plants — in Battle Creek, Mich.; Lancaster, Pa.; Memphis, Tenn. and Omaha, Neb. — after the company and the union were unable to reach an agreement on the terms of a new contract after the previous one expired.

According to the union, Kellogg threatened to send jobs to Mexico, but in an Oct. 12 presentation update, company officials denied that claim.

Kellogg also has a two-tiered wage system, which some companies argue helps them save money. Union members say the proposed two-tiered wage system will take away power from the union by removing the limit on the number of lower-tiered employees, Reuters reported.

In the tentative five-year agreement announced last week, the changes would have included both a 3% wage hike for longtime legacy employees as well as increases for both newer, "transitional" workers and new hires based on years of service.

The ongoing strike at Kellogg is one of many labor actions that have taken place in the U.S. this year. Employees at John Deere, Frito-Lay and McDonald's have all walked off the job so far this year.

  

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