MUST READ
On the Ohio-to-Michigan highway, US auto workers drive for solidarity
Reuters
By Ben Klayman
Sept. 19, 2023
A Toledo grocery store parking lot was full of Jeeps and Fords on Tuesday morning in a show of strength by auto workers on strike from Stellantis's nearby Jeep plant. Dozens set out in an Ohio-to-Michigan convoy to rally support for their walkout, many Jeeps adorned with signs reading "No Justice, No Jeeps." The UAW members from two striking plants gathered in Toledo were rolling out for the one-hour, 45-mile (72 km) drive to Wayne, Michigan, where Ford workers also walked off the job last week. Picketers at the Toledo plant were joined by other union leaders on Tuesday, including Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and AFL-CIO head Liz Shuler. "Nobody has a magic wand. No one can just say, 'Companies act responsibly or fairly with workers.’ That’s why you have this struggle," Weingarten said.
JOINING TOGETHER
Seattle workers rally for new contract, express outrage over city proposal
The Seattle Times
By Daisy Zavala Magaña
Sept. 19, 2023
Cherika Carter, secretary-treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, told the crowd Seattle holds itself up as a progressive city that cares about public services and the workers who provide them, but that city leaders are trying to balance the budget on the backs of their employees. Other speakers expressed similar sentiments and praised workers for building vital infrastructure and providing essential public services.
UAW warns strike will expand Friday if Big 3 don’t get “serious”
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
Sept. 19, 2023
With “no serious progress” by Detroit’s Big 3 automakers, GM, Ford and Stellantis, in talks on new contracts with the United Auto Workers, UAW’s bargaining team will send more locals out on picket lines by Friday, union President Shawn Fain warned. That will expand the strike to include more than the three plants already involved – a GM facility in Wentzville, Missouri, a Stellantis complex in Toledo, Ohio and a Ford assembly plant in Wayne County, Michigan. “We’re not going to keep waiting around forever while they drag this out,” Fain told his members in a late-night video while setting the new deadline. “We’re not messing around.”
U.A.W. Threatens Strikes at More Plants
The New York Times
By Neal E. Boudette
Sept. 19, 2023
The United Auto Workers said on Tuesday that the union would expand its strike against three U.S. automakers on Friday if it was unable to make substantial progress in contract talks with them. Nearly 13,000 U.A.W. members walked off the assembly lines at three plants last Friday, one each at the three companies — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler. The union has demanded a 40 percent wage increase over four years, better benefits and other changes. The automakers, which are based in or have a big presence in Michigan, have offered raises of about half as much. In a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday, the union’s new president, Shawn Fain, said workers could walk out of more plants at the end of this week.
Culinary Union says contracts with MGM, Caesars and Wynn have expired
News3 Las Vegas
By News 3 Staff
Sept. 19, 2023
Labor contracts covering about 40,000 workers at some of the biggest resorts on the Las Vegas Strip have expired, according to union leaders. The announcement means those employees will continue to work under their expired contract, but the no-strike provisions are no longer in effect. The Culinary Union says as of Friday, the contracts with MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts ended as of Friday, Sept. 15, and union representatives sent letters to each of the affected properties to initiate a seven-day notice.
IN THE STATES
Vice President Kamala Harris visits RACC for ‘Fight for Our Freedoms’ college tour
Berks Weekly
By Berks Weekly
Sept. 19, 2023
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Berks County Tuesday to celebrate National Voter Registration Day alongside students at Reading Area Community College. Following her visit to RACC, the Vice President traveled to a job training facility in Spring Township at IBEW Local 743, where she spoke with members of an apprenticeship program to highlight the Administration’s commitment to union job training programs.