GEORGIA BUS DRIVERS STRIKE
After months of meeting with school board officials and being ignored, bus drivers and monitors in DeKalb County, GA went on strike. The workers are currently not unionized. On April 17, driver representatives presented the district superintendent with 50 demands; these included pay raises, fair pay for sick leave days, and reclassification as full-time employees. On April 19, 400 drivers and monitors called in sick. The school board retaliated by firing 7 drivers. The fight for better conditions, and the reinstatement of the fired drivers, is not over. Drivers, parents and supportive organizations held a press conference condemning the school board’s actions. Drivers are also consulting with lawyers about further action in regard to the firings. Whatever happens, the April strike was historic, being the first work stoppage carried out by Atlanta bus drivers since 1980.
DISNEY WORLD WORKERS ORGANIZE
Disney World is not the happiest place on Earth for workers. Many employees of Disney’s parks and resorts can barely afford housing. Long-time Tomorrow Land worker, Mike Beaver, told Shadowproof.com that he has “lived in a motel for two years and nine months,” sharing the room with another staff member. Workers are fighting back, however. A collection of unions represents 38,000 Disney Workers in Florida. A major demand is that the company raise its minimum Florida pay rate from $10 an hour to $15 an hour. Management has offered a 50 cent annual pay bump, which 93% of union members rejected in a December 2017 vote. Disney withheld bonuses up to $1,000 from 41,000 union employees in Florida and California in an attempt to make them cave. In response, the unions filed a federal charge with the Department of Labor against Disney over these tactics. Workers themselves have taken their grievances to the streets. On March 23, hundreds (including hospitality workers, cast members, and custodians) marched to the entrance of Disney Springs in Florida. Demonstrators carried signs chanting, “We work, we sweat, put a raise on our check!”
25,000 to 50,000 Las Vegas Casino Workers Vote to Strike at 34 Resorts
“I’m here to show the younger generations that this is the way we fight to maintain our jobs, job secuirity, health benefits and to gain a pay raise.” – Louis W Thomas, Utility Porter at Tropicana Casino Hotel
South Carolina Short-haul Truck Drivers Vote to Join Teamster Union