the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Oct 16, 2023
Here are some strikes that are currently going on in the U.S. These strikes may remain isolated and separated today. But others could join them. New strikes arise almost every week.
Mack Truck workers voted down a tentative contract, 73% NO. Five UAW locals representing 4,000 workers went on strike October 9 at plants in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
Mack Truck is a subsidiary of Volvo Group, which had a profit margin of over 10% in 2022 and made 5 BILLION dollars. The workers, who created that value, need pay to keep up with inflation, health care co-pays that don’t break them, reasonable pensions, and relief from mandatory overtime. Most of all, they need the two tier system GONE! And they aren’t interested in tying themselves up in a FIVE YEAR contract, either.
Teamsters Local 572 went on strike October 9 against MV Transportation, a subcontractor hired by the city of Santa Clarita to run their bus service. Santa Clarita is just north of Los Angeles. The 200 workers have been trying to negotiate a new contract for over a year without progress. The workers say their pay was cut in half during the subcontracting, compared to regular city employees, and they need that problem straightened out! The company did not even pay them the Covid “hero pay” that the city authorized for the workers. No wonder they’re mad.
Service Employees International Union, SEIU, and United Nurses Association of California, united as United Healthcare Workers West, pulled a five-day strike of 1800 healthcare workers against four Prime Healthcare hospitals in Centinela, Encino, and Garden Grove, in south Los Angeles County. The strike, from October 9 through 13, stressed the low pay and insane workloads on staff. “They pay lower than any surrounding places and they’re OK with that,” said one striker.
Another striker, a radiologist, said, "We have people working 20-hour shifts, 18-hour shifts. You don’t get your lunch breaks, you don’t get your 10-minute breaks.”
Prime’s registered nurses have filed more than 6,000 staffing objection forms with the California’s Department of Public Health since June.
“I’m striking for the housekeeping, laundry, and dietary workers being left behind with livable wages. We all do the same work, and we all deserve the same level of pay increases,” said a housekeeper who has worked at Four Seasons Nursing Home in Westland, Michigan, for 25 years. Her union, SEIU, began a strike against three nursing homes in Metro Detroit which are owned by Optalis Management.
The workers struck Optalis 3 years ago, to win small pay raises while working under the danger of the Covid epidemic. Optalis didn’t learn anything then, so the workers have to give them a remedial lesson now.