Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where I’m getting caught up on some news from this week.
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17,000 Boeing Workers Reject Contract & Prepare to Strike
In Seattle, 17,000 Boeing technicians and engineers, members of SPEAA, rejected the company’s latest offer with 64% of the professional unit voting no and nearly 72% of the tech unit rejecting the deal. Professional unit members voted to strike by 88% and tech unit members granted the union a 90% strike mandate.
The contract is a blow for the union’s leadership that endorsed the contract. Now, the union says it will return to the bargaining table.
“The current executive leadership is saying and doing the right things,” said SPEEA in a statement. “And the management team that met with us appeared sincere, solution-focused and genuine in their efforts to right the past errors of their predecessors. Still, the membership has made clear that the current offer falls short.”
For more, check out the Seattle Times.
14,000 Spanish Airbus Workers Move to Strike Following Wildcat Strikes in UK, Spain, and France.
After wildcat strikes in Spain, France, and the UK, workers have successfully defeated a plan by Airbus to reduce the number of days that workers can “work-from-home.” The strikes mobilized thousands of workers across the continent in a bold display of international solidarity.
In Spain, union officials say that nearly 40% of the country’s 14,000 Airbus employees walked off the job. Now, as the unions fight for a new union contract, they intend to escalate their strikes.
Earlier this year, Spanish workers in the CCOO, SIPA, and ATP unions voted to reject Airbus’ latest contract offer while the union leaders of UGT, CGT, and ÚTIL have pushed their union members to reject the contract.
On Monday, Spanish workers represented by UGT, CGT, and UTIL intend to go on a three-hour long work stoppage. They hope that the work stoppage will help them inspire workers in other unions to go on an indefinite strike beginning on August 25th.
For more, check out Democrata.
40,000 Korean Hyundai Workers Strike
In Korea, more than 40,000 Hyundai workers are on their first strike in a decade. Union leaders slammed Hyundai’s moves to push more workers into temporary contract positions rather than regular jobs with full benefits.
“The key figures who made Hyundai and Kia the world’s strongest company for 35 or 40 years are now being pushed into contract positions,” Hyundai union leader Lee Jong-cheol said from a stage at the rally in Seoul.
Mamdani Blocks $10,000 Bonuses for Paraprofessionals and Teaching Assistants
In New York, Mayor Mamdani has sued the City to block legislation giving $10,000 bonuses to all paraprofessionals and teaching assistants. On the campaign trail, Mamdani supported the legislation, but now he has angered many teachers’ union leaders and officials by refusing to back the legislation.
“If we have to go to all-out war with him over this, then we’re willing to do that,” UFT President Mike Mulgrew told The New York Times, adding that Mamdani “is not the person we thought he was.”
For more, check out Chalkbeat.
400 Cleveland Librarians to Strike
In Cleveland, more than 400 public librarians are set to go on strike on Monday. Their union says that the City has dragged their feet in reaching an agreement with the union.
“One of the most glaring issues with the contract management has presented workers is wages. In the third year of the contract, management is offering workers a 0% wage increase,” said SEIU 1199 in a press release. “Library staff are concerned that Director [Felton] Thomas and the board continue to prioritize Director Thomas’ enormous salary over the wellbeing of the individuals who ensure the library can serve as a welcoming place for all of the patrons who rely on their services.”
243 Arizona Doctors Unionize
In Arizona, 243 doctors employed by Banner Health are voting on whether or not they will be the first doctors’ union in the state of Arizona.
“We do not have a voice. We are not being heard. Our autonomy has been stripped away, and we’re here for better working conditions and better patient care,” Dr. Justin Watkins, a family medicine physician at Banner’s Gilbert clinic, told KPNX.
Immigrants Rights Group Tracks ICE Agents Charged as Predators
Finally, the Ohio Immigrant Alliance has compiled a list of 152 ICE agents who have previously gotten into legal trouble over allegations of violence against women or children. From the 19th News:
An analysis by The 19th indicates that 73 percent of the people on this list were categorized by the Ohio Immigrant Alliance as being criminally charged or convicted and sentenced related to sexual offenses. Fifty percent were categorized as being criminally charged or sentenced related to crimes against minors. The alleged crimes include abduction and sexual assault of a minor, unauthorized access and use of intimate digital photos, possessing child sexual abuse materials, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and strangulation.
One of the hopes in releasing this report is to get “law enforcement to start tracking data about family violence” among their officers, according to Lynn Tramonte, executive director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. During a call with reporters to discuss the findings, she also encouraged researchers and other organizations to get involved with collecting data and building on the work her organization has started.
“We’re giving you these 152 names,” Tramonte said. “We’re giving you the dates of their last activity — whether it was a charge, whether it was a conviction — and we’re giving you links to information about them. There’s so much you can do with this information that we didn’t get into in our report.”
Read the full report at the 19th News.
News & Headlines Elsewhere
- Global trade unions rally to demand release of Hong Kong activist Lee Cheuk-yan
- 4,000 Ontario Public Service Employees Union members enter their 4th month of striking over low pay
- Expert witness used ChatGPT to write report defending company in deadly explosion lawsuit
- Public-facing workers are being filmed, harassed, and creeped out by AI-powered smart glasses.
- Joliet man accused of striking picketer, fleeing officers before downtown crash
- Seattle teachers prepare to strike if new contract isn’t reached, 2 weeks from first day of classes
- Finally, a look at how NYC sanitation workers are fed up with being pricked by weight-loss drug needle
Alright folks, that’s all for today. Keep sending comments, complaints, and cooking recipes to melk@paydayreport.com.
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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon
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