Chicago, IL – A flood of red shirts washed into the downtown headquarters of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on Thursday afternoon, March 20, during the March Board of Education meeting. Members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) gathered to demand the settlement of their contract after nearly a year of negotiations.

CTU has already published three pages of contract demands on which they have won tentative agreements. The new contract will require greater investment in public education, which depends on a budget amendment that would allow the school district to cover the additional costs incurred by the new contract as well as pension payments for teachers and paraprofessionals.

Bargaining is currently stalled on a handful of points. These include smaller class sizes, higher pay for veteran teachers and paraprofessionals, more elementary school prep time, and reducing inequality in the teacher evaluation system.

“I want to thank the negotiations team for working very hard. We are extremely, extremely close to a settlement,” Chicago School Board President Sean Harden said while explaining that the budget amendment, originally up for a vote at Thursday's meeting, was withdrawn from the agenda to give CTU and CPS more time to reach an agreement.

The major stumbling block in negotiations has been Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, who stormed out of a meeting with CTU leadership and Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday afternoon. Martinez has not attended a single bargaining session since they began last April, but he has stalled negotiations by filing a temporary restraining order to prevent CTU from negotiating directly with the school board and by proposing a budget which made no provisions for increased pay or any other item in the contract.

“For Pedro to decide that he doesn’t want to invest in our future after we’ve worked hard for years and paid our dues, after we’ve done our work making schools open on time, to say we don’t deserve a pension is a slap in the face,” Christel Williams, the recording secretary of CTU and a school clerk, said at a press conference before the meeting. Williams was speaking specifically about paraprofessionals and school related personnel, who are often treated as a second tier by CPS.

“As Trump and Musk bring chaos into our school system, we need a contract and we need it today,” Williams added.

“This board can work together with us to secure the most transformative contract in the history of Chicago Public Schools,” Vicki Kurzydlo, a 31-year veteran educator, emphasized the issues of veteran teacher pay and elementary school prep time.

“Teachers in my building are routinely robbed of their prep time,” elementary school music teacher Kathryn Zamarron said during public comments section of the boad meeting. CTU is demanding 20 additional minutes of prep time for teachers. This is a step towards bringing back 30 minutes of prep time lost under Rahm Emanuel’s administration.

“This system only works because of our free labor,” Zamarron continued. After giving her comment, Zamarron returned to grading her student’s work. She was joined at the podium by dozens of CTU members who also came to the meeting after working in a school system damaged by decades of local and federal defunding of public education.

“In these times of a massive assault on public education by Donald Trump and the oligarchs, we need the highest quality, strongest and most engaging community schools,” said Marc Kaplan, an organizer with Northside Action for Justice, who stressed the importance of a transformative local contract in light of intensifying federal attacks on public education.

Minutes before Kaplan spoke, Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. If the order is successfully carried out, schools around the country will be without funding for special education and other crucial programs.

Since Trump's election in November, CTU has uplifted their contract demands as a “forcefield” around Chicago designed to protect the city's students. One win in their 2019 contract, keeping schools as sanctuary spaces, has already successfully defended children from federal agents who attempted to enter Hamline elementary in January.

The next day’s negotiations saw a counteroffer from CPS which did not offer continuous prep time, pushing a settlement back by at least another day.

On Friday afternoon, March 21, CTU held a joint press conference with the firefighter’s union, which has been stalled for three years in negotiations, to demand the settlement of both contracts. The joint conference is an example of the solidarity CTU is building not only to settle its contract, but also to galvanize labor and the people’s movements in united action against Trump’s agenda.

“Since 2012, Chicago has been a place of resistance,” CTU president Stacy Davis Gates said at the Friday press conference, citing Rahm Emanuel’s massive school closing campaign which shut down 50 schools in 2013. “If anyone in this country wants to know how to resist the tyranny of people who want to privatize and close off opportunities, you can come to Chicago.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #CTU #Teachers #Contract

The major agreement also sets a new standard for the industry with a boarding pay worth more than other mainline carriers, as well as an increase in pay for trip reassignment, extended reserve shifts, and for flights delayed into a day off.

The new contract includes immediate pay increases with 18.6 to 28.3% day-of-signing increase to the pay scale, 25 months of retro pay, and two additional raises locked in over the life of the contract.

“This contract will immediately and significantly improve the lives of Alaska flight attendants,” said Jeffrey Peterson, AFA president at Alaska Airlines. “Alaska flight attendants’ solidarity pushed management to recognize our critical role to the safety and success of this airline. This contract also raises the foundation for the new joint Alaska-Hawaiian negotiations following the merger.”

The contract was ratified with 95% voting for the agreement of the 91% participating.

“Flight attendants are on the front lines every single day interacting with passengers and ensuring the safety of everyone onboard,” said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, representing over 55,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines. “As all eyes have turned to the essential work of flight attendants, this industry-leading contract not only provides Alaska flight attendants with what they’ve earned, but it reinforces the contract standards for all flight attendants across the industry.”

#SeattleWA #WA #Labor #AFACWA #FlightAttendants #Contract

“Flight attendants at Horizon Air and in the regional airlines deserve fair compensation,” said Horizon AFA President Lisa Davis-Warren. “The company needs to recognize the contributions we have made to its continued growth. We are hopeful that with the help of a federal mediator we will work with urgency to get the pay, benefits, and scheduling provisions we have earned.”

Horizon Air is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alaska Airlines. And while Horizon Flight Attendants work for the regional airline, management at Alaska ultimately controls their pay and working conditions at Horizon – where flight attendants provide the same service as their mainline counterparts while being paid significantly less.

Management has so far failed to offer meaningful pay increases for all flight attendants in the workgroup. Instead of raising the standards for regional flight attendants, management is content to maintain a two-tiered exploitative “regional airline” business model that leaves regional flight attendants behind.

Filing for federal mediation with the National Mediation Board is the next step in negotiations under the Railway Labor Act, and the NMB will oversee negotiations, assign a federal mediator, and schedule mediation sessions.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #FlightAttendants #AFA #Contract

The Association of Flight Attendants represents around 6900 Alaska employees, and they have been in contract negotiations over their next union contract with the carrier. After 18 months of negotiations, the employer and the union reached a tentative agreement in June, which the union then took to the flight attendants to vote over whether to accept the offer or not. After reaching the tentative agreement, flight attendants and union leaders went on the road to talk with flight attendants about the details of that tentative agreement and what it included and what it did not. From there they scheduled the vote for the flight attendants to decide what to do next.

The contract offer included an average of 32% in pay increases over three years as well as something called boarding pay, in which flight attendants would be paid for their time on flights when passengers are boarding, and flight attendants are working. Right now, that work is unpaid until around the time of takeoff.

Turnout to the vote was over 94% according to the union, with 68% voting to reject the contract offer. In a press release, AFA said that this is democracy in action and that there is more work to do. AFA-CWA says that they plan to begin surveying their members to inform next steps for the union. The rejection of the contract does not automatically trigger a strike, but ultimately, if no deal is reached, a strike is a very real possibility. Throughout the negotiating process Alaska Airlines flight attendants have held pickets at airports around the country.

The flight attendants have also signaled that they could employ a strategy known as CHAOS, which stands for “Create Havoc Around Our System” in which flight attendants on individual flights declare a strike and walk out. Alaska Airlines flight attendants employed the CHAOS strategy 30 years ago in negotiations and as a result won significant gains at the bargaining table.

While the offer that was rejected included some forward progress, the flight attendants say it did not go far enough to meet their needs. Being a flight attendant is a job which includes constant travel, unpredictable schedules and mistreatment from passengers. Some flight attendants have said that their current pay rates have left them in a situation where they are qualified for welfare benefits in order to make ends meet.

What happens next for the flight attendants of Alaska is unknown and it is happening against a backdrop of contract fights across many carriers with AFA-CWA representation. For now, the union members have sent a clear message that management’s offer was not enough.

#AK #Labor #FlightAttendants #AFACWA #contract

Fort Worth, TX – On March 17, 600 union members from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, American Postal Workers Union, National Rural Letter Carriers Association and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, along with others rallied in support of the Molson Coors Teamsters of Local 997, who are fighting for a decent.

General President of the Teamsters Sean O’Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman attended the rally.

O’Brien stated, “Today we have a great opportunity to take on corporate America, and thankfully we have the support of rank-and-file members nationwide to make certain that we hold this white collar crime syndicate – Molson Coors – accountable and make certain that they picked fight with the wrong union”

The Molson Coors Teamsters are demanding better cost of living adjustments to counteract inflation, an end to the two tier system that allows varying wages for workers, and to remove forced 12-hour shifts. The company met with the workers but did not negotiate in good faith and even tried to remove health care benefits. The company has not yet come back to the table to negotiate a new contract, which has forced the union members to go to the picket line.

Local 997 member Jeff Pruitt said, “We are out here for every plant out here, and we're out here for the American worker as everyone is struggling to pay their bills.”

The rally ended with chants such as “What do we want? Contract! If we don't get it? Shut it down!”

#FortWorthTX #TX #Labor #Teamsters #Coors #Contract #Teamsters997 #APWU #NRLCA #IATSE

Tampa, FL – Early in the morning March 4, nurses and their supporters rallied out front HCA Florida Largo Hospital in Largo to generate support for a good contract in the upcoming negotiations between HCA and National Nurses United.

Passing commuters honked their car horns as the crowd chanted in support of major nurse demands.

Contract negotiations begin March 5 for HCA nurses at ten hospitals across central Florida from Brooksville, south to Port Charlotte, and east to Orlando. Among the main demands are safe staffing levels and patient ratios, as well as fighting attempts to replace RNs with team nursing programs and technology.

The previous contract was negotiated in 2021 with the COVID-19 pandemic being a focal point. The contract expires May 31. HCA is the largest hospital system in the United States, making $5.2 billion in 2023. Florida senator and former governor Rick Scott made his name in the 90s after being forced to resign as CEO from HCA in a scandal over improper bookkeeping.

“HCA staffs their hospitals at 30% below the national average, we want them to staff it at 100%,” said National Nurses United bargaining committee member Karena Jimenez, in reference to one of the major demands they are fighting for in contract negotiations.

National Nurses United pledged to continue their struggle against HCA’s greedy practices.

#TampaFL #Labor #Contract #NNU #Healthcare #Nurses

Tampa, FL – On February 13, over 40 flight attendants and their supporters picketed at the Tampa International Airport. This was part of a worldwide day of action held by the Association of Flight Attendants and Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which saw pickets at more than 30 airports across the country.

Over two-thirds of union flight attendants in the U.S. are currently in contract negotiations. In these negotiations the flight attendants are demanding improvements to their contracts with the airlines. Their demands include higher wages and safer working conditions for all workers.

Robert Payne, a board member at large in the Transit Workers Union of America Local 577, said, “You have flight attendants here today with United, with Southwest, with Delta, with Allegiant, with Frontier. Various other flight attendant unions all across the country are coming together and we are all saying the same thing: that we deserve to be treated like the safety professionals that we are, that we deserve a living wage that respects the importance of the work that we do.”

Around 25 flight attendants picketed on airport property at the Blue Express arrivals terminal, before moving to join a larger crowd picketing outside the property of the Tampa International Airport. Passing cars honked to show their support for the flight attendants as they chanted, “What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now!”

With an estimated 100,000 flight attendants represented in these negotiations, the worldwide day of action was a first step to show the world that flight attendants are serious about this contract fight.

“Over the last few years especially, I think the public is starting to see the importance of what it is we do and the impact it can have on workers in the airline industry,” said Payne.

#TampaFL #Labor #FlightAttendants #AFA #Contract

Brooklyn, NY – More than 100 legal aid attorneys, paralegals, social workers and support staff came out to the picket lines, July 26, as workers at Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) demanded their bosses come to the table and negotiate a decent contract.

BDS is the main public defender office for all of Brooklyn and provides pro bono legal services to working-class Brooklynites facing eviction, deportation, family separation, or criminal charges. Almost two years ago, in September of 2021, more than 72% of the rank-and-file staff at BDS voted in favor of unionizing as part of the United Auto Workers (UAW). Since that time, BDS workers have been represented by the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) Local 2325.

In the two years that have passed since staff voted overwhelmingly in favor of a union, BDS management has refused to make good faith negotiating offers on vital issues including healthcare coverage, salaries, sustainable caseloads, transit benefits, parental and sick leave, and telecommuting. Instead of listening when frontline workers try to explain what they need in order to do their jobs most effectively, the BDS management insists on forcing its employees to accept a watered-down contract with almost no real protections for worker quality of life issues.

In April of this year, more than 60 BDS employees hand delivered a petition, urging management to come to the bargaining table. Since then, management has not only refused to negotiate a decent contract but has taken a step back and started to only offer “interim agreements” designed to maintain the status quo while pushing a full comprehensive bargaining agreement even further off to the horizon.

Picketing workers chanted classic pro union slogans including “What’s disgusting? Union busting!” along with some new and BDS-specific chants: “Maybe we wouldn’t quit – if our healthcare wasn’t shit!” “BDSers must unite! A contract is our labor right!” and “Burnout is the status quo! Sky-high caseloads have to go!”

Speakers included attorneys from BDS’ criminal defense and family defense teams, as well as union staff. One BDS senior staff attorney emphasized the dangers of burnout and high turnover stating, “Higher turnover definitely makes it harder to sustain our work – if BDS management would come to the table and agree to a good faith contract, maybe less of us would be forced to find work elsewhere. Everyone I know at BDS does this work because they believe in it, but instead of supporting us however possible, our management seems intent on ignoring us.”

The BDS picket line is only the latest in a wave of labor actions targeting legal aid organizations. Up until recently, there was a very popular, incorrect idea among legal workers – the belief that attorneys, paralegal, social workers, and other support staff were somehow different from the people they represent and did not need a union of their own. But on July 26, more than 100 legal workers in one of the largest cities in the country raised their voices to demand their rights as workers, and as union members.

#BrooklynNY #contract #legalWorkers

According to a July 27 statement from the local, the proposed 22.4 Combination Driver classification, along with the new wage system, are major concerns in the tentative UPS National Master Agreement.

According to the Local 89 statement, “The new 22.4 classification will effectively create a two-tier wage structure that has never before been in place. We have no doubts that the Company will use this second tier in future negotiations to weaken and downsize our traditional package car jobs in favor of these lower-paid 22.4 positions. It is also clear that the Company’s intent with these jobs is not to simply lessen the overtime burden on our package car drivers but remove it altogether in order to shift it onto 22.4 drivers who will make significantly less money, therefore providing UPS with tremendous savings.”

The statement also noted, “On wages, we took the position early on that the starting pay rate should be increased to $15, with an additional bump in pay for all existing part-time workers to separate them from this new starting pay and reward them for their years of service to the Company. While the proposed changes will phase the starting pay up to $15.50 by the final year of the agreement, there is no reason that UPS cannot do so immediately. Further, the proposed changes fail to give any sort of bump whatsoever to existing part-time workers aside from bringing those who are below $13 up to that rate, which is what new hires will be making retroactively to August 1 of 2018.”

On the issue of the Central Region Supplement, it is stated “our members and those across the Region have long sought changes to Article 17, in particular 17i, which gives UPS broad authority to terminate our members for ofaten unclear violations. This language needs to be either tightly defined or removed altogether. The changes made to 17i in this proposed agreement does little and perhaps nothing to clear up the vagueness that plagues this particular language.”

The leadership of Local 89 says that these are only some of the reasons to vote against the UPS National Master Agreement (NMA) and the UPS Central Region Supplement (CRS).

#LouisvilleKY #PeoplesStruggles #Teamsters #UPS #Strikes #TeamstersLocal89 #contract

Cambridge, MA – Hundreds of Harvard University workers and students rallied in the middle of Harvard Yard on April 14, as dining service workers prepare to enter negotiations for a new union contract. The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents nearly 800 workers on Harvard’s campus. The rally focused on two key issues which are expected to loom large in negotiations with the university administration – health care and year-round work.

Last year, Harvard management inspired headlines and protests by gutting the health insurance of its faculty and other non-union staff. The largest union at the university, the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW), recently settled on a less onerous plan but still agreed to some cost-shifting to workers. Dining service workers who spoke at the rally made it clear that they were prepared to resist any attacks on their healthcare. Dining hall worker Anabella Pappas referenced Harvard’s record setting fundraising campaign, which has now raised over $6.5 billion in two and a half years. “These people have all this money and they still want to take from us,” said Pappas. “It disgusts me.”

The workers also referenced the struggle to survive without year-round employment. The dining hall workers are laid off during summer and winter breaks. Some workers in the crowd said that many of them can only rely on eight or nine months of work per year. In addition, the Harvard workers are legally barred from collecting unemployment during the months of layoff. Despite having won high hourly wages through past contract fights, many of the workers spoke of annual incomes that are out of step with these wages. In response to stories about the hardships created by this partial employment, the crowd chanted, “Hey Harvard, you’ve got cash, why do you treat your workers like trash?”

The members of Local 26 were joined by a large group of SEIU 32BJ members, who work in custodial and security jobs on campus. The SEIU members’ contract with the university expires in the fall. Student activists from multiple organizations were present in large numbers and very vocal in their support for the workers. Statements of support were made by organizations including the Student Labor Action Movement, Divest Harvard, the Harvard Islamic Society, and the Harvard Black Students Association.

#CambridgeMA #PeoplesStruggles #Protest #Harvard #fight #contract #Massachusetts