Hundreds joined the Labor Day parade in Detroit Sept. 2, above, including contingents from several locals of the United Auto Workers. “We gained ground with the Big Three strike last year, but we’re still fighting,” autoworker Dave Sandoval told the Militant. Sandoval works at the Stellantis assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
He described ongoing safety and supply problems. On Aug. 21, 53-year-old Antonio Gaston was crushed to death at the Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio. And the company announced in August they would not reopen the assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, in 2024. The bosses had promised to do so to help settle the recent contract fight. “My 21 years of experience with this company tells me we’re going to have to go on strike again,” Sandoval said.
Fairfax, Virginia, school staff — teachers, custodians, bus drivers and food workers — were honorees at the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic in Alexandria Sept. 1. Some 27,000 workers voted overwhelmingly to join the Fairfax Education Association after getting state officials to concede public workers had the right to organize for the first time in over four decades. “We need to get more money and better benefits. We need the union, because it takes all of the workers together,” teacher Emily Van Derhoff told the Militant.
Communications Workers of America members on strike against AT&T in the Southeast joined the Labor Day Celebration in Atlanta. The Association of Flight Attendants had a table, garnering support for the Delta flight attendants’ union-organizing campaign and for flight attendants’ fight for a decent contract at United Airlines.