Sand and gravel truck haulers strike, win 20% rate increase

Vol. 86/No. 15 - April 18, 2022
Members of Ontario Aggregate Trucking Association picket entrance to quarry in Milton, Ontario, March 21, part of two-week strike which won workers a 20% wage raise.

MILTON, Ontario — Truck drivers in the Greater Toronto Area, who haul the sand and gravel needed to produce ready-mix concrete, won a 20% rate increase from trucking bosses after a two-week strike that closed quarries and shut down much…


Minneapolis teachers end strike, make gains in new contract

Vol. 86/No. 14 - April 11, 2022
Minneapolis teachers and support staff march March 8 on first day of strike. Unionists approved contract March 27 with gains in wages, reduced class sizes, more school counselors.

MINNEAPOLIS — Members of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59 voted to end their nearly three-week strike March 27, having made progress. The union said that both of its contracts — the one covering 4,500 teachers and the other for…


UK pallet workers win support in strike for higher pay

Vol. 86/No. 14 - April 11, 2022

MANCHESTER, England —  “We’ve already won a lot,” Garry Walker, Unite union representative at CHEP, told the Militant during a solidarity party for pallet workers who are into their 16th week on strike. They were joined by trade unionists from…


Steelworkers strike Chevron refinery in California

Vol. 86/No. 13 - April 4, 2022
Striking members of United Steelworkers Local 5 picket the Chevron refinery in Richmond, California, March 21. They are in a fight over forced overtime, wages and safety conditions.

RICHMOND, Calif. — More than 500 workers, members of United Steelworkers Local 5, went on strike March 21 at the Chevron refinery here in a fight over work schedules, safety and wages. Workers on the picket line that day told…


Minneapolis teachers and support staff continue strike

Vol. 86/No. 13 - April 4, 2022

MINNEAPOLIS — Striking teachers and educational support staff have been picketing schools every morning and holding rallies several times a week since walking out March 8. Some 4,500 members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59 are fighting for…


New Zealand CHEP pallet workers strike wins gains

Vol. 86/No. 11 - March 21, 2022

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Workers at the CHEP pallet company’s service center here celebrated March 4 after voting unanimously to accept a new contract following a two-week strike. The FIRST Union members had kept up a round-the-clock picket line, successfully…


‘We are fighting for those to come,’ Quebec co-op strikers say

Vol. 86/No. 11 - March 21, 2022

JOLIETTE, Quebec — Some 30 workers at the Novago Cooperative here are approaching their sixth month on strike, fighting against the bosses’ demands for pay cuts of 14% to 29%; cuts in sick days, vacation days and paid holidays; unstable…


New Zealand CHEP pallet workers fight for higher pay

Vol. 86/No. 10 - March 14, 2022
Members of FIRST Union on strike against CHEP pallet company in Auckland, New Zealand, picket in front of plant Feb. 18. The workers, facing rising prices, are demanding wage raise.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Workers at the CHEP pallet company’s Service Center here have their picket line up 24 hours daily, with trucks and cars honking in support on this busy industrial road. The workers, members of FIRST Union, walked…


Protests hit UPS bosses’ cuts on part-time workers’ wages

Vol. 86/No. 10 - March 14, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of UPS workers converged on the company’s headquarters here Feb. 23 to protest pay cuts bosses imposed on part-time workers’ wages. They came from San Jose, Richmond, Sunnyvale,  and beyond. Similar protests took place in Philadelphia…


Jon Donaire strikers rally in hard-fought California battle

Vol. 86/No. 9 - March 7, 2022
Members of bakery workers’ union, on strike at Rich’s Jon Donaire Desserts since Nov. 3, rally in front of factory Feb. 12 in fight for wage raise, affordable health care and respect.

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. — Some 200 people rallied here Feb. 12 in support of striking bakery workers, members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 37, at Rich’s Jon Donaire Desserts factory. “I’ve been working for Jon…