United States
Workers Fighting for Their Rights in the U.S.
Workers at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan join
strike, October 23, 2023
Auto workers in the U.S. are militantly carrying on their strike for better wages, working conditions and job security. A United Auto Workers (UAW) statement reads: "When these corporations make these decisions, they affect our members' families, and not only that, the community. That's why it's so important during these negotiations every four years that we negotiate job security. The problem is the rich want to get richer, and they want to keep the poor poorer and they want to wipe out the working class."
The
UAW strike which began September 15 continues to expand. On
October 23,
6,800 UAW members at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in
Michigan,
Stellantis' largest plant, joined the strike. On October 24,
5,000
members at Arlington Assembly joined the strike, shutting down
production at General
Motors' largest plant and bringing the number of auto workers on
strike
to over 45,000 out of a total membership of 150,000.
The auto workers also supported the 75,000 medical workers from Kaiser Permanente facilities who went on a planned three-day strike from October 4 to 6, putting pressure on one of the leading not-for-profit U.S. health care networks to reach an agreement on a new contract.
"Today, we stand in solidarity with the 75,000 members of our union family who are on strike at Kaiser," UAW President Shawn Fain said. "Whether you work in a hospital, or behind a desk, or on an assembly line, your fight is our fight. We all deserve dignity on and off the job. We all deserve a future for our families and our communities. We all deserve our fair share of the economy that we, as working people, create and run. To our union family on strike at Kaiser, the UAW has your back."
It was the largest walkout ever in the U.S. health care sector, surpassing a 53,000-person strike in 2018. It stems from staffing shortages in the sector, largely a consequence of occupational "burnout" from the COVID-19 pandemic. As the health care unions were about to serve notice of another three day walkout, they succeeded, on October 13, in reaching a tentative agreement which includes a 21 per cent wage increase over the next four years. Voting on the tentative agreement started on October 18 and will continue till the beginning of November.
Kaiser Permanente health care workers picket October 6, 2023
The U.S. labour movement saw a resurgence in 2022, with high-profile organizing campaigns at companies including Starbucks, Amazon, and Trader Joe's amongst others. Union organizing is also on the rise. More than 16 million workers were represented by a union in 2022 -- an increase of 200,000 from 2021. Unions also saw their highest public approval rating in more than 50 years. Throughout 2022, strikes provided workers critical leverage to bargain over better pay, safe working conditions, and a larger share of the value they produce in the economy
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the number of workers involved in major work stoppages (strikes and similar activities) increased by nearly 50 per cent compared with 2021. As the U.S. saw a re-energized labour movement and a labour market where there are more job openings than available workers, 120,600 workers were involved in major work stoppages in 2022.
There is also an alarming increase of the number of poor people. The poverty rate in the U.S. exploded last year, the first increase in 13 years, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. In 2022, the rate was 12.4 per cent, up 4.6 percentage points from 2021, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The SPM is a method for tallying government welfare programs and tax credits designed to assist low-income families.
This article was published in
Number 58 - October 26, 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2023/Articles/WO10584.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca