Tausi Insider

When Rachel Kambury, 31, started working at publishing house Hachette six years ago, her manager sat her down and said, "I'm so happy you're here." Courtesy of Rachel Kambury Supporters sent bagels and assorted snacks to strikers on the picket line. She was flattered. "I was certainly happy to be there," Kambury recalls. "But then he said, 'You actually beat out 400 other people for this job.'" At the time Kambury was honored and felt validated that she was chosen instead of hundreds of others for one coveted spot. Though the role was her dream job, the salary was less-than-desirable. It was 2016, and Kambury was earning around $33,000 — before taxes. "I quickly came to this realization of, Oh, that's how they justify these salaries , because there were 400 people who were ready and willing to take my spot," she says. "The...

The two largest U.S. rail unions representing conductors and engineers split in ratification votes on a tentative contract deal reached in September raising the possibility of a strike or lockout that could cause significant damage to the U.S. economy. Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) voted to ratify the agreement while train and engine service members the transportation division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) voted to reject the deal. SMART-TD yardmasters voted to ratify their national agreement, the unions said Monday. The vote could put pressure on Congress to intervene to prevent a strike or lockout ahead of the holiday season. “The ball is now in the railroads’ court. Let’s see what they do. They can settle this at the bargaining table,” said SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson said in a statement. “This can all be settled through negotiations and without a strike.” If there i...

Workers at the largest U.S. rail union voted against a tentative contract deal reached in September, raising the possibility of a year-end strike that could cause significant damage to the U.S. economy and strand vital shipments of food and fuel. Reuters https://www.tausiinsider.com/video-biggest-u-s-rail-union-raises-threat-of-strike/?feed_id=333095&_unique_id=6473f346ef917

People hold flags from Spain's CGT labour union as they protest outside a Zara clothing store, in Madrid, Spain, on Nov. 24. VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA/Reuters Dozens of Zara shop assistants protested in Madrid on Thursday outside the global fashion giant’s largest store to demand higher pay, and some workers in its home town in northwest Spain went on strike on the eve of its Black Friday sales campaign. Zara owner Inditex agreed last week to pay a one-off bonus of €1,000 ($1,041) to all full-time shop workers in Spain in February, according to unions that are seeking better wages for their members in the face of galloping inflation. Inditex has also offered to gradually raise monthly wages by around €200 by 2024, a proposal accepted by two of Spain’s largest union groups, UGT and Comisiones Obreras, but rejected by the protesters who are demanding at least double that. “Inditex is increasing its prices and improving its profits, while employees’ wages are lagging behind,” said Anibal...

Freight cars wait to be hauled out of the Norfolk Southern Conway Terminal, in Conway, Pa., on Sept. 15. Gene J. Puskar/The Associated Press More than 400 groups on Monday called on Congress to intervene in an ongoing railroad labor standoff that threatens to idle shipments of food and fuel and strand rail travelers while inflicting billions of dollars of economic damage. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Retail Federation, American Petroleum Institute, National Restaurant Association, American Trucking Associations, American Farm Bureau Federation and other groups warned impacts of a potential strike could be felt as soon as Dec. 5. Workers in four unions have rejected a tentative contract deal announced in September, while eight approved it. “The risks to our nation’s economy and communities simply make a national rail strike unacceptable,” says the letter to congressional leaders seen by Reuters. “Therefore, absent a voluntary agreement,...

Shipping containers and freight railway trains at the BNSF Los Angeles Intermodal Facility rail yard, on Sept. 15. BING GUAN/Reuters The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote Wednesday to block a potential rail strike after President Joe Biden warned of the dire economic consequences of a rail disruption that could happen as early as Dec. 9. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers will vote Wednesday to impose a tentative contract deal struck in September on a dozen unions representing 115,000 workers. “I don’t like going against the ability of unions to strike but weighing the equities, we must avoid a strike,” she said Tuesday after a meeting with Biden. Biden had warned Monday of a catastrophic economic impact if railroad service ground to a halt, saying up to 765,000 Americans could lose their jobs in the first two weeks of a strike. “Congress, I think, has to act to prevent it. It’s not an easy call, but I think we have to do it. The economy is at risk,” Biden said. Desp...

The New York Times building, in New York. Mark Lennihan/The Associated Press Hundreds of journalists and other employees at The New York Times began a 24-hour walkout Thursday, the first strike of its kind at the newspaper in more than 40 years. Newsroom employees and other members of The NewsGuild of New York say they are fed up with bargaining that has dragged on since their last contract expired in March 2021. The union announced last week that more than 1,100 employees would stage a 24-hour work stoppage starting at 12:01 a.m. Thursday unless the two sides reach a contract deal. The NewsGuild tweeted Thursday morning that workers, “are now officially on work stoppage, the first of this scale at the company in 4 decades. It’s never an easy decision to refuse to do work you love, but our members are willing to do what it takes to win a better newsroom for all.” Negotiations took place Tuesday and some of Wednesday, but the sides remained far apart on issues including wage increases...

Unifor National President Lana Payne addresses a crowd of Ontario Unifor members at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto on Dec. 2. She implored union locals to push harder and more creatively at the bargaining table. Galit Rodan At a gathering of thousands of Unifor members in early December in Toronto, Lana Payne, president of Canada’s largest private-sector union, was noticeably riled up. Working people, she declared, have been “thrown to the wolves” by a coterie of company executives, corporate barons and central bankers. The latter, she said, are deliberately waging a class war, wielding interest rates as a “sledgehammer” to send the country into recession, because they insist on fighting inflation with stringent monetary policy. As Ms. Payne implored union locals to push harder and more creatively at the bargaining table, her language had a whiff of militancy to it. “The Bank of Canada needs to understand that it is not acceptable to throw people out of work to meet some arbitr...

Railway workers picket outside Lime Street Station, in Liverpool, Britain, on Dec. 13. PHIL NOBLE/Reuters The United Kingdom recorded the highest number of working days lost to labour disputes in October for more than 10 years, official data showed on Tuesday, as employees went on strike to demand higher pay in the face of soaring inflation. The data comes as more than 40,000 railway workers begin their latest round of walkouts on Tuesday in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, causing widespread disruption to the country’s transport network. The Office for National Statistics said 417,000 working days were lost to strikes in October, the highest since November 2011 when just under a million days were lost due to public sector workers walking out in a row over pension reforms. Between June and October this year, more than 1.1 million working days were lost, the ONS figures showed, the highest in a five-month period since early 1990. Workers across a range of sectors have g...

Starbucks SBUX-Q workers around the U.S. are planning a three-day strike starting Friday as part of their effort to unionize the coffee chain’s stores. More than 1,000 baristas at 100 stores are planning to walk out, according to Starbucks Workers United, the labor group organizing the effort. The strike will be the longest in the year-old unionization campaign. The union says it expects the strike will shutter some stores entirely; at others, managers or other workers may keep the stores open. A message seeking comment was left with Starbucks Friday morning. This is the second major strike in a month by Starbucks’ U.S. workers. On Nov. 17, workers at 110 Starbucks stores held a one-day walkout. That effort coincided with Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives reusable cups to customers who order a holiday drink. More than 264 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-run U.S. stores have voted to unionize since late last year. Starbucks opposes the unionization effort, saying the c...

German union Verdi on Sunday urged workers at Amazon AMZN-Q warehouses across the country to support rolling strikes in coming days in a protest over pay, aimed at maximizing disruption to the online retailer’s pre-Christmas business. The union said that, in response to pay hikes that had lagged inflation, it had called on workers at seven German distribution centres to down tools unannounced in strikes that would alternate between different locations. Amazon said the strike calls affected only a few of its 20 logistics centres in Germany. Germany is Amazon’s biggest market after the United States, and Verdi has been organizing strikes at the company’s German sites since 2013 in a long-running protest over low pay and poor conditions. “Colleagues are furious and don’t want to be taken for fools by a company that makes billions in profits,” the union said. It said alternating strikes would hinder Amazon management’s attempts to prepare for stoppages. Amazon, which does not recognise c...

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has filed an unfair labour practices complaint against the union representing taxation employees, claiming it is not bargaining in good faith. The Public Service Alliance of Canada – Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC-UTE) left the bargaining table on Sept. 1, declaring an impasse in negotiations, then withdrew from mediation on Dec. 20. On Friday the CRA filed the complaint with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, asking it to make the union return to the bargaining table before being allowed to declare or authorize a strike. Three days earlier, the union announced it would be launching strike votes for about 35,000 workers to be conducted from Jan. 31 to April 7, during which time the union and the CRA will also be engaging in Public Interest Commission hearings recommended by the labour board on Jan. 27 and Feb. 20. The union says it withdrew from mediation because the Treasury Board announced a return-to-work order for a...

Railway workers picket outside Lime Street Station, in Liverpool, Britain, on Dec. 13. PHIL NOBLE/Reuters The United Kingdom recorded the highest number of working days lost to labour disputes in October for more than 10 years, official data showed on Tuesday, as employees went on strike to demand higher pay in the face of soaring inflation. The data comes as more than 40,000 railway workers begin their latest round of walkouts on Tuesday in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, causing widespread disruption to the country’s transport network. The Office for National Statistics said 417,000 working days were lost to strikes in October, the highest since November 2011 when just under a million days were lost due to public sector workers walking out in a row over pension reforms. Between June and October this year, more than 1.1 million working days were lost, the ONS figures showed, the highest in a five-month period since early 1990. Workers across a range of sectors have g...

Starbucks SBUX-Q workers around the U.S. are planning a three-day strike starting Friday as part of their effort to unionize the coffee chain’s stores. More than 1,000 baristas at 100 stores are planning to walk out, according to Starbucks Workers United, the labor group organizing the effort. The strike will be the longest in the year-old unionization campaign. The union says it expects the strike will shutter some stores entirely; at others, managers or other workers may keep the stores open. A message seeking comment was left with Starbucks Friday morning. This is the second major strike in a month by Starbucks’ U.S. workers. On Nov. 17, workers at 110 Starbucks stores held a one-day walkout. That effort coincided with Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives reusable cups to customers who order a holiday drink. More than 264 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-run U.S. stores have voted to unionize since late last year. Starbucks opposes the unionization effort, saying the c...