Wall Street Journal (August 26)
“Workers at the Detroit automakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of a measure that authorizes the United Auto Workers leadership to call for a strike as talks between the union and companies continue…. The negotiations are among a wave of protracted labor talks this year that have vexed companies and at times threatened to spill over into work stoppages. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters recently reached a five-year contract agreement with United Parcel Service, dodging a potential standoff that could have rippled across the U.S. supply chain.”
Tags: Automakers, Contract, Detroit, Labor, Negotiations, Protracted, Strike, Teamsters, UAW, Union, UPS, Voted, Work stoppages, Workers
Washington Examiner (August 2)
“Yellow Freight, one of the oldest trucking companies in America…hit the end of the road Friday” when both union and nonunion workers were laid off. A bankruptcy filing appears imminent. “While the Teamsters-UPS agreement to avert a strike has lessened what could have been a disastrous economic event, Yellow’s potential insolvency marks one of the biggest collapses in jobs in the U.S. trucking industry” and could still lead to “economic uncertainty.”
Tags: Agreement, Avert, Bankruptcy, Collapses, Disastrous, Insolvency, Jobs, Laid-off, Nonunion, Strike, Teamsters, Trucking, U.S., Union, UPS, Workers, Yellow Freight
BBC (January 2)
“France’s transport strike against pension reform has entered its 29th day, making it the longest rail workers’ strike since May 1968.” Even though a majority of the French population supports President Macron’s pension reforms, plans call for additional disruption. “Union leaders have called for a day of mass protests on 9 January. A new blockade of petrol facilities, including refineries, petrol terminals and depots, is also planned on 7 January for 96 hours until 10 January.”
Tags: Blockade, Disruption, France, Macron, Pension reform, Petrol, Protests, Rail workers, Refineries, Strike, Transport
New York Times (September 1)
“In the decade from 2002 to 2012, wages have stagnated or declined for the entire bottom 70 percent of the wage ladder.” Last Thursday “thousands of fast-food workers in 60 cities walked off their jobs, the latest in an escalating series of walkouts by low-wage workers demanding higher pay and the right to organize without retaliation.” The workers are seeking $15 an hour, up from their present $9. In demanding more reasonable wages, “the fast-food strikers have it right.”“In the decade from 2002 to 2012, wages have stagnated or declined for the entire bottom 70 percent of the wage ladder.” Last Thursday “thousands of fast-food workers in 60 cities walked off their jobs, the latest in an escalating series of walkouts by low-wage workers demanding higher pay and the right to organize without retaliation.” The workers are seeking $15 an hour, up from their present $9. In demanding more reasonable wages, “the fast-food strikers have it right.”
Financial Times (November 16)
“This week, the consequences of the eurozone’s misguided policies were brought home to the politicians overseeing them.” Millions of workers went on strike just as the area fell back into recession. “The eurozone theology of austerity by all is doing its predictable beggar-thy-neighbour work…. This economic and political damage was caused by a wrong-headed morality tale that attributed the debt crisis to fiscal indiscipline, when in reality profligacy was a sin most promiscuously practised by private lenders and borrowers.”
Tags: Debt crisis, Economy, eurozone, Recession, Strike
