MUST READ
NW Labor Press
By Graham Trainor
November 17, 2021
Coming off of “Striketober” and heading straight into “Strikesgiving” has gripped the nation with constant headlines, growing momentum, and a sense of long overdue wind at the backs of working people. Here in Oregon, Nabisco workers had just come off of a months-long strike against their multinational, publicly traded employer as the Striketober hashtag was beginning to make the rounds. And a strike database from Cornell University shows that more than 250 strikes have taken place since the start of this year. As AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler put it recently, this rise in strike activity and worker action is “a healthy response to imbalances of power created by employers who believe they should be able to squeeze more and more out of the workers who make their companies profitable.”
JOINING TOGETHER
Deere & Co. workers approve the latest contract offer and will end their strike
NPR
By The Associated Press
November 17, 2021
Deere & Co. workers approved a new contract Wednesday that will deliver 10% raises immediately and end a monthlong strike for more than 10,000 employees.The United Auto Workers union says 61% of the members approved the deal with the tractor maker on their third vote, even though this offer was strikingly similar to one that 55% of workers rejected two weeks ago. "UAW John Deere members did not just unite themselves, they seemed to unite the nation in a struggle for fairness in the workplace," UAW President Ray Curry said in a statement Wednesday night.
UC lecturer strike averted as union hails tentative agreement as its ‘best contract’ ever
Los Angeles Times
By Teresa Watanabe and Colleen Shalby
November 17, 2021
A massive two-day strike by University of California lecturers that threatened widespread class cancellations was averted early Wednesday after the union and university reached a tentative agreement on a contract that would strengthen job security and boost the pay by an average 30% over five years.
Harvard Student Workers Announce Tentative Contract Deal
Inside Higher Ed
By Colleen Flaherty
November 17, 2021
Harvard University’s student worker union, which is affiliated with the United Auto Workers, called off another planned strike Tuesday, saying it had reached a tentative contract agreement with the administration. A ratification vote involving the union’s full membership begins this week. Students workers went on strike last month for three days over prolonged negotiations for a second union contract, seeking better pay, a union security clause requiring that student workers be union members and more contractual protections against harassment and discrimination, including full arbitration options for identity-based discrimination beyond sexual and gender-based harassment and the ability to take sexual and gender-based harassment cases to arbitration.
John Deere factory workers approve new contract, ending historic strike
The Washington Post
By Jeanne Whalen
November 17, 2021
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.
UC Lecturers Call Off 2-Day Strike After Last-Minute Agreement
SF Gate
By Bay City News
November 17, 2021
The union representing University of California lecturers announced early Wednesday that a planned two-day systemwide strike over labor negotiations has been called off after the union and university reached a new five-year collective bargaining agreement. After what the University Council-American Federation of Teachers described as "a marathon negotiating session" that lasted into the early morning hours, the union and UC officials reached an agreement on what UC-AFT says gives them "groundbreaking improvements in crucial areas, including job stability, workload and compensation."
Walkouts and sick-outs: Workers are showing their power in North Carolina
Spectrum News
By Charles Duncan
November 17, 2021
“It’s a competitive labor market. There’s a lot of job openings. Workers don’t necessarily need to just settle for their first job offer. They have opportunities to leave employment when they feel like they’re not being adequately compensated,” said MaryBe McMillan, president of the North Carolina State AFL-CIO.
Union Workers Strike at MFA Boston, Protesting Stagnant Wages and Delayed Negotiations
Hyperallergic
By Sarah Derris
November 17, 2021
Today, November 17, union members at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston staged a strike in protest of stagnant wages and a lack of meaningful job security measures. About 200 museum workers equipped with signs picketed at 8:30am in front of the museum at 465 Huntington Ave, as passing cars honked in support. Last November, staff at MFA Boston voted by an overwhelming majority to unionize with the UAW Local 2110, known for working with art institutions like the Museum of Modern Art. Members voted in support of fair pay across museum departments and to bargain for benefits and workplace rights.
Strike at John Deere to end as UAW members ratify contract offer
CNN
By Chris Isidore
November 17, 2021
More than 10,000 workers at John Deere will end a five-week strike and return to work after voting nearly two-to-one in favor of an offer very similar to one they rejected at the start of this month. The United Auto Workers union announced Wednesday that 61% of members at Deere voted in favor of what the company had described as its last and best offer. "Our members courageous willingness to strike in order to attain a better standard of living and a more secure retirement resulted in a groundbreaking contract and sets a new standard for workers not only within the UAW but throughout the country," said UAW Vice President Chuck Browning, head of the unit of the union that deals with Deere.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Firefighters hand out more than 250 coats to kids in NE Portland
KPTV
By Fox 12 Staff
November 17, 2021
Some firefighters handed out warm coats to kids at a northeast Portland school Wednesday morning. Portland Firefighters Association IAFF Local 43 teamed up with private donors and local businesses to provide more than 250 coats to kids at Sacajawea Head Start. FOX 12 spoke with one firefighter who serves that part of town, and he says it was satisfying to help the kids that he sees all the time.