Illinois aerospace workers strike rally draws solidarity

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023

BEDFORD PARK, Ill. — Four days after voting down Northstar Aerospace bosses’ “best, last and final offer,” 123 International Union of Electrical Workers/CWA Local 14430 members went on strike at midnight June 5. They organized a picket line rally here…


Pittsburgh rally backs striking Wabtec workers

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023
Pittsburgh rally backs striking Wabtec workers

PITTSBURGH — Two hundred and fifty people rallied at the Wabtec corporate headquarters here July 6 to back 1,400 members of United Electrical Workers Locals 506 and 618. The locals have been on strike at the company’s locomotive manufacturing plant…


‘The company has been taking,’ IFF strikers say. ‘No more!’

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “I’m glad I went on strike,” Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 390G member Macon Thornton told the Militant at their picket line here across from the International Flavors and Fragrances plant July 3. “I’ve…


After 10 years, ‘Lac-Mégantic could happen anywhere’

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023

MONTREAL — “Another Lac-Mégantic can happen at any moment anywhere in the country,” Christopher Monette, Teamsters Canada director of public affairs, told the Montreal daily Le Devoir for its July 6 edition. July 6 was the 10th anniversary of the…


Teamsters ‘practice picketing’ as UPS contract expiration nears

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023
Teamsters at UPS warehouse in Riverside, California, join in July 6 “just practicing” picket and rally in preparation for potential strike when old contract for 340,000 workers expires July 31

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — With a July 31 contract expiration date looming, and after a breakdown in negotiations with the company, Teamster union members are stepping up “practice picketing” actions in preparation for a possible strike by over 340,000 UPS workers…


Granville Island Brewery workers strike for higher pay

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — “We need a living wage to be able to afford to live in Vancouver and work here,” Aaron Nakonechny, Service Employees International Union Local 300 member and shop steward, told the Militant on the picket line…


Unionists from Cuba, US, Latin America discuss way forward

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023
Unionists from abroad met April 29 with union leaders and workers in Cotorro municipality in Havana at a warehouse for food distribution at subsidized prices. They discussed gains made by Cuban workers through their socialist revolution, impact of U.S. embargo.

HAVANA — Some 100 trade union representatives and members of labor and political groups from 11 countries in Latin America and the United States exchanged experiences here during an April 24-28 workshop hosted by the Central Organization of Cuban Workers…


How workers mobilized to resist the McCarthyite witch hunt

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023
Protest against House Un-American Activities Committee hearing at San Francisco City Hall in 1960, after being hit by cop firehoses. In 1953 HUAC met in the same place targeting unionists as “subversives.” Thousands protested, forcing “government witch hunters to cut and run.”

One of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for July is Labor’s Giant Step — The First Twenty Years of the CIO: 1936-55 by Art Preis. Out of his experiences in the labor battles of the 1930s, Preis became a staff…


Solidarity helps win union struggles!

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023

Something is different today. More workers are using their unions to fight the bosses’ relentless push to drive wages down, weaken health care and pensions, intensify already brutal work conditions and make workers’ schedules longer. This profit-driven offensive is eating…


25, 50 and 75 years ago

Vol. 87/No. 27 - July 24, 2023

July 28, 1998 FLINT, Michigan — As the strikes by 9,200 workers at two General Motors plants here enter their second month, the world’s largest auto maker is taking new steps to pressure the workers and their union, the United…