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Philadelphia Library Workers Demand: Keep Libraries Funded, Open to Community

Library workers in Philadelphia, along with allies, have been organizing to keep libraries in the city open and fully funded. In 2018, an average of two branches out of 54 were closed on any given day, either due to lack of staff or building problems. Many libraries, for instance, need roof repairs. There were a total of 750 emergency closures in 2018.

On June 13, around 50 members and allies of the Friends of the Free Library demonstrated outside City Hall. The unionized library workers and supporters are demanding an annual funding increase of $15 million a year. Remarkably, they have pushed Mayor Jim Kenny and the City Council to agree to a $3.5 million increase in the 2020 budget. $1 million of the increase is marked for salary raises, $500,000 is for building repair, while $2 million is for six-day service during the school year (a major demand of the campaign).

This is not close to the total amount that they are demanding, but it is a gain.

The fact that the library workers have a union is no doubt key to their success so far. And they worked hard to make this happen through grassroots campaigning over nine months. They gathered over 5,000 petitions in favor of the funding increase, made hundred of phone calls, and filled city budget hearings, keeping the pressure on the administration.

The union demand for a $15 million increase is far from unrealistic. The city continually finds more money to give to the police department, which is not making residents any safer. The administration increased the police budget by $18 million in 2019 to $709 million. It is being raised by $54 million in fiscal year 2020. Just like in New Orleans and in cities across the country, the Philadelphia police get a bigger share of the budget than any other sector of city government. Each library branch currently gets only $400 for community programs.

Whereas increasingly-militarized police forces terrorize people of color as well as working class whites, public libraries play a vital role in our communities.

Libraries provide children and youth with educational and fun activities. Across the country, 59% of libraries help patrons find health insurance resources and 18% bring in healthcare providers for free screenings, according to the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Immigrant communities rely on libraries for language learning services. Working class people use library computers to look for work. Libraries provide people with gathering places. Libraries preserve local history. In short, they are one of the few truly communal resources that we have in a capitalist society where everything is increasingly-privatized and run in the interest of the rich. We have good reason to fight for public libraries and to support the workers who make them run!

South Philadelphia librarian Abbe Klebanoff, a member of AFSCME District Council 47 Local 2186 puts it best, “When libraries are closed, when libraries are short-staffed and underfunded, we can not do our job and be there for those in our community who need us most.”

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Uber, Lyft Drivers Organize for Recognition as Employees Not Contractors

Uber and Lyft drivers are using strikes to win gains.

The CEOs of Uber, Lyft, and Juno (another “ride share company”) have gone into panic mode as the California legislature considers amending state law to reclassify drivers as employees rather than independent contractors. The heads of the three companies wrote a joint statement that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, arguing that drivers do not want to be employees, but instead prefer the “flexibility” that precarious gig work affords! The fact that the CEOs of competing companies collaborated on an op-ed is remarkable, but it shows how vulnerable they feel. Their entire business model revolves around denying workers rights and benefits, precisely because drivers are misclassified as contractors.

The other legal sleight of hand involved in their model is the “ride share” concept itself. These companies run taxi services, which look somewhat different because of the advent of mobile phone technology, but they are taxi services nonetheless. Corporate backers threw money at these companies when they were starting up, enabling them to monopolize the industry without being subject to the same regulations as taxi companies.

The model of precarious gig work is a threat to the entire working class. We should make no mistake: every single capitalist living off workers’ labor would be pleased to misclassify their workers as independent contractors—that way they wouldn’t have to pay benefits or a minimum wage.

Workers are organizing to put an end to this race-to-the-bottom business model. Back in February, New York City passed a ride share driver minimum wage of $17.22 an hour. In reality, this is equivalent to $15 an hour, accounting for the fact that drivers have to cover payroll taxes and do not get paid time off. Still, it is a major gain. When the enemy attacks, you know you are doing something right. Lyft and Juno both filed suits against the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission in an attempt to block the minimum wage law.

This progressive legislation is happening against a backdrop of increasing struggles led by drivers. In March, hundreds of drivers in Los Angeles turned off their apps for 25 hours in protest of low wages after Uber decided to reduce per-mile pay in Los Angeles County and parts of Orange County by 25 percent. The strike was spearheaded by Riverside Drivers United.

On May 8, drivers went on strike in at least 10 U.S. cities, and in locations worldwide—for example, in Melbourne, Australia, and in cities across the U.K.

These protests make it more likely that legislation benefiting drivers will be passed, and that the companies themselves will make concessions. Without struggle, there is no forward movement.

And before we start feeling too bad for the company heads who are playing the victim, we should note that Uber paid its top five executives $143 million in 2018; its CEO got $45 million. Their revenue in 2018 was $11.27 billion, with total assets of $23.99 billion. (And it’s not like they have to use that money to maintain fleets of cars…) They may act like they can’t afford to pay workers or give them the benefits they deserve, but this is just another sleight of hand.

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Hundreds of Wayfair Workers Walk Out, Protest Company’s Support of Concentration Camps

Hundreds of workers at Wayfair Inc. organized a walk-out to protest the decision of their bosses to fulfill contracts with BCFS, a company that operates migrant detention camps near the U.S. border.

The workers made public that the company had recently approved a $200,000 order to supply furniture to a camp that would hold captive up to 3,000 migrant children.

In a letter to the bosses, they demanded the company “cease all current and future business with BCFS and other contractors participating in the operation of migrant detention camps at our Southern border (or anywhere else).”

Less than a day after the CEO Niraj Shah rejected the workers request in writing, they announced a walk-out for the following day.

The 547 worker signatories to the letter wrote, “the United States government and its contractors are responsible for the detention and mistreatment of hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in our country— we want that to end. We also want to be sure Wayfair has no part in enabling, supporting, or profiting from this practice.”

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Italian Port Workers Block Weapons Shipment in Solidarity with the People of Yemen

Workers struck to prevent a Saudi ship from loading a weapons cargo at the Italian port of Genoa in protest of their intended use in the war on Yemen. Signs read, “Ports are closed to arms” and “Disobey Salvini (the Italian prime minister).”

Dockworkers at the Italian port of Genoa went on strike on May 20 to protest the Italian government’s decision to harbor a cargo ship carrying weapons to the Saudi government. The workers refused to load shipment onto the ship ‘Bahri Yanbu’ which was set to further arm the Saudi monarchy in their genocidal war on the people of Yemen. In solidarity with refugees fleeing the wreckage of imperialist wars, they demanded that the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini “open the ports to people and close them to arms.”

Earlier, on May 9, peace activists had prevented the loading of an arms shipment at the Le Havre port in France.

“We will not become complicit in the deaths of Yemeni civilians.”
In a joint statement with Potero al Popolo, a coalition of anti-fascist political organizations, the dock workers and transport workers from the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL) in Genoa stated, “we believe this resistance is our small contribution to resolve a big problem for a population that is killed daily in wars…We will not become complicit in the deaths of Yemeni civilians.”

The U.S./Saudi war on Yemen, which started in March 2016, has caused at least 50,000 deaths and has pushed 13 million Yemenis to the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations. The relentless airstrikes by Saudi Arabia—with arms and support supplied by the U.S., Britain and France—have targeted and destroyed vital civilian infrastructure like hospitals and sewage treatment systems.

Worldwide, dockworkers have played a historic role in defending the international working class. Here in the U.S., the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has shown what it means for union workers to take seriously the slogan that “an injury to one is an injury to all.” As part of the international struggle against apartheid South Africa, for 10 days in 1984 they carried out a strike, refusing to unload cargo from a South African ship—an act of solidarity recognized by Nelson Mandela. In 2014, in support of the Palestinian fight against apartheid Israel, members of the ILWU Local 10 prevented the docking of an Israeli ship at the Port of Oakland.

The leadership of organized, class-conscious dock and transport workers shows the awesome potential of workers’ power: without us, the world stops. We can stop their wars.

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McDonalds Workers Fight Back in Houston, Dallas, and Other Cities

On May 21, a group of 25 women McDonald’s workers in 20 different cities filed sexual harassment complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In filing these claims, they are helping to expose the rotten culture of sexual exploitation that exists in the food service industry, as well as other industries. McDonald’s top leadership is trying to shirk responsibility by arguing that they are not liable for what goes on in supposedly “independent” McDonald’s franchises, even though franchise holders are little more than glorified sub-contractors. No matter who is the owner of a McDonald’s location, it is still McDonald’s.

On May 23rd, several hundred McDonald’s workers went on strike in 13 cities, including Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Orlando, St. Louis, and Tampa. The workers, who were demanding the right to form a union, a $15 minimum wage, and protections from sexual harassment, timed the walkout for maximum impact: they stopped working during breakfast and lunch rushes (hitting the bosses where it hurts—in the pockets), on the day that the company was having its annual shareholder meeting in Dallas. The actions were coordinated by the Fight for $15 campaign, unions, and other labor advocacy groups.

Rita Blalock, a nine-year McDonald’s employee in Raleigh, North Carolina, makes only $8.50 an hour and decided to join the strike. She told a reporter with the Wall Street Journal that, “the best way for us to make our jobs better is by joining together.”

Both the lawsuit and the coordinated strike are promising signs for workers ready to organize in the food service industry.

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In North Carolina, Over 20,000 Education Workers Strike

May 1 is International Workers’ Day. This past May Day, over 20,000 education workers in South Carolina took a “personal day” and converged on the state legislature in Raleigh. Strikers included not only teachers, but bus drivers, custodians, counselors, and nurses. Student supporters from across the state also turned out. In total, they shut down 35 school districts for the day, showing that when workers get organized, they can shut down whole systems and even industries. Workers really do hold the cards, if only we lean how to play them!

The work stoppage was organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators. Like teachers striking in other states since 2018, the union and its supporters are demanding better pay and conditions for school workers, as well as a better education for students. For example, they want the schools to be adequately staffed with psychologists, librarians, nurses and counselors. They are also demanding $15-an-hour minimum for all school personnel.

In South Carolina, over 10,000 educator workers and supporters amassed outside the Department of Education in Columbia, the state capital. The action was organized by a Facebook group called SC for Ed. Like their counterparts in North Carolina, demonstrators called for improvements for both workers and students. This was one of the biggest gatherings ever to take place at the state capital, matched only by the crowds that gathered in 2015 to see the Confederate flag finally removed from the statehouse.

Kathy Maness, with the Palmetto State Teachers Association, said, “For many years, I have said that teachers in South Carolina have been sleeping giants. They would go in their classroom, they would do their job and would not speak up for their profession. I think that sleeping giant is waking up.”

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1,800 Farmworkers Strike in California

Jan 11: Fruit pickers in Bakersfield, CA took to the streets when the bosses at “The Wonderful Company” cut their pay. “Wonderful Company.”
Back in January, nearly 1,800 citrus pickers went on strike outside Bakersfield, California. Now some of the workers involved in the protests are pushing to form a union.

The workers are primarily undocumented immigrants working under harsh conditions. Although some are employed directly by the Wonderful Company (which markets “Halos” mandarins), most are subcontracted. They are hired by third party staffing corporations, then do piece work for the so-called Wonderful Co. Piece work is any type of employment in which a worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed. This type of employment was common in the early industrial revolution, but it’s making a comeback. (Uber and Lyft are good ex-amples.) In the fruit pickers case, the workers hired out to pick mandarins and clementines get paid per bin of fruit picked.

On January 11, the Wonderful Co. announced that it was reducing its rates up to 10 percent, going from paying $53 per bin to $48. According to United Farm Workers Secretary-Treasurer, Armando Elenes, “Workers showed up and they were told the price was $5 less than the day before.” He add-ed that during an eight-hour shift, most workers are only able to harvest 1 1/2 to 2 bins of fruit. This is back-breaking work for low pay, while the company bosses raked in $4.2 billion in profits in 2018.

About 1,800 workers walked out of the fields the very day that the pay cuts were announced. They carried out protests around the edges of the farms for four days, with the United Farm Workers coming in to provide support. The company gave in, restoring the original bin rate.

In the months afterward, some workers are carrying on agitation to form a union with United Farm Workers, which would bring the possibility of health care benefits, pensions, sick time, and more. The UFW and the newly-emerging grassroots organizers among the pickers are considering staging a vote to unionize. In the meantime, the UFW has connected the workers with a law firm. The firm is currently helping them to fight for more concessions, like forcing the Wonderful Co. to provide workers with tools so they do not have to buy and clean their own.

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Chattanooga Auto Workers Organize for a Union

As early as April 29 or 30th, Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, could vote to unionize. The United Auto Workers (UAW) has filed to have an election representing all 1,709 of the Chattanooga plant’s hourly employees. If they succeed, this would be a big advance for the UAW, giving them a foothold in the south—a region undergoing a boom in manufacturing and other sec-tors, but where union member-ship rates (and wages) lag behind other areas of the country.

The UAW attempted to organize Chattanooga auto workers in both 2013 and 2015. In both cases, right-wing politicians in the state carried out lying anti-union campaigns, and when the election finally went before Trump appointees in the National Labor Review Board, it got struck down. This shows how the politicians representing the ultra rich conspire with companies, rig political institutions, and do whatever it takes to undermine the struggles of working people.

This time around the Volkswagen bosses have instituted a disinformation campaign which re-quires workers to attend meetings while supervisors read off anti-union talking points from the company’s newsletter. They are trying to sow division by advocating for merit-based bonuses that depend on competition among the workers. Some workers reported receiving bonuses between $500 and $1000 last year but they were quick to point out that VW reported an operating profit of $15.8 billion in the same time. By that account, there’s plenty of wealth to be shared among the workers!

Despite the billions of dollars that the capitalist class spends spreading misinformation to keep us down, the popularity of unions is at a 15-year high. A recent Gallup poll found that 62% of U.S. respondents support unions, including 60 percent in the South. Unions are even more popular among people aged 18-35, with 65 percent seeing unions as a good thing. All this suggests that the prospects of worker organizing are getting better.

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Uber and Lyft Drivers Strike in Los Angeles

Drivers for Uber and Lyft picketing at Uber’s Los Angeles headquarters.

On March 27, hundreds of Uber and Lyft drivers staged a one-day strike to protest cuts that Uber made to drivers’ pay rates. As the company goes on a spending spree buying up its competitors around the world  (Uber just shelled out $3.1 billion to buy out a competitor company based in Dubai), struggling drivers in Los Angeles and part of nearby Orange County are having their per-mile compensation cut by 25 percent. There are an estimated 30,000 full-time app-based drivers in Los Angeles alone.

The strike was organized by LA Rideshare Drivers United, an organization with a membership of nearly 3,000 drivers in Los Angeles. They are demanding a $27.86 minimum (pre-expenses) hourly rate and a 10 percent cap on the commission that the companies take for each fare. This follows the recent success of organized workers in New York City who won a $17.22/hr wage (after expenses)— the first minimum pay rate for app-based drivers in the country. The Independent Drivers Guild, which represents about 70,000 app-based drivers in New York City, expects its full time drivers to get an extra $9,600 a year from the pay raise.

Because Uber and Lyft have gotten away with classifying workers as independent contractors, the companies haven’t had to pay minimum wages to their employees or provide them with overtime, workers’ comp, family leave or sick pay. In fact, the majority of app-based drivers make less than the minimum wage in their state. But the drivers won’t stand for it much longer; they have shown that when they get organized for a fight, they can win.

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Mexican Walmart Workers Threaten to Strike, Get 5% Pay Raise

Walmart México has agreed to give workers a 5.5% annual pay increase and a productivity bonus linked to sales after 8,500 workers threatened to go on strike.

Earlier in March, the Revolutionary Confederation of Laborers and Farmworkers (CROC) had announced the strike, which was set to begin on March 21st and was to cover ten states.

Significantly, this announcement came on the heels of another strike wave that began in northern Mexico in January. That strike wave began in the auto plants, then spread to a Coca-Cola bottling plant and Walmart stores in Matamoros and several other northern cities. The result of those actions is that thousands of factory workers won 20% pay increases and annual bonuses of 32,000 pesos (US $1,650); that is, after the work stoppages cost the bosses an estimated $50 million a day!

As for the Walmart workers, the pay increase and bonus arrangement are big wins, as this section of workers is highly exploited. The primarily women cashiers and other low-ranking employees currently earn, on average 140 and 150 pesos (US $7 to $7.50) per day. They are also not enrolled in medical insurance or retirement schemes. According to the National Association of Shop and Private Office Workers, Walmart discriminates against pregnant women, doesn’t abide by the right to an eight-hour working day, breaks the law by not paying overtime, and dismisses workers unfairly.

The workers have achieved gains simply by threatening to strike, demonstrating their collective power, which is potentially massive. René Sasores Barea, the union’s secretary general, said, “The winds of change are blowing and . . . employers must understand that.”