Tag Archives: Solidarity

UPS Teamsters Overwhelmingly Approve ‘Historic’ New Contract, Averting Strike

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“This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention,” said Teamsters president Sean O’Brien.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 8-22-2023 by Common Dreams

In Canarsie, Brooklyn, UPS Teamsters from Local 804 rallied in front of a UPS Customer Center on April 21. Photo: Peoples Dispatch

United Parcel Service workers in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Tuesday overwhelmingly ratified what the union called “the most historic collective bargaining agreement in the history of UPS,” avoiding what experts said would have been a crippling strike.

Teamsters members voted by 86.3% to approve the new tentative contract, which raises wages for full- and part-time workers, creates more full-time jobs, and secures “important workplace protections, including air conditioning.”

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Arkansas Schools Will Teach AP African American Studies, Defying GOP Law

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Educators will teach the course despite the fact that the law also weakens rules protecting them against unjust dismissals.

By Julia Conley. Published 8-17-2023 by Common Dreams

Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaking with attendees at the 2019 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA. Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC

Despite a threat this week by the Arkansas Department of Education that it would not allow students to receive credit for Advanced Placement African American Studies, every public high school in Arkansas that previously offered the course announced that it will remain on their schedules for the coming school year.

The Arkansas Education Association, which represents unionized teachers across the state, applauded the Little Rock School District’s decision on Wednesday to continue offering the AP course in defiance of Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature law banning so-called “indoctrination” in public schools.

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‘This Is Huge’: Judge Sides With Montana Youths in Historic Climate Ruling

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“As fires rage in the West, fueled by fossil fuel pollution, today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet,” said one attorney representing 16 young plaintiffs.

By Julia Conley. Published 8-14-2023 by Common Dreams

The plaintiffs in Held v. State of Montana. Photo: Our Children’s Trust

Climate advocates on Monday expressed hope that an unprecedented ruling by a state judge in Montana, siding with 16 young residents who argued the state violated their constitutional rights by promoting fossil fuel extraction, will mark a sea change in the outcomes of climate lawsuits.

In Held v. State of Montana, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ruled that rights of the plaintiffs—who range in age from 5 to 22— have been violated by the Montana Environmental Policy Act because the law has prevented the state from assessing the climate impacts of mining projects.

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‘Get Back to the Negotiating Table,’ Says Teamsters as UPS Trains Scabs for Strike

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“UPS is making clear it doesn’t view its workforce as a priority,” the union said. “UPS should stop wasting time and money on training strikebreakers.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 7-14-2023 by Common Dreams

Sean O’Brien, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters general president, joined United Parcel Service workers for a practice picketing in Brooklyn, New York on July 14, 2023. (Photo: Teamsters/Twitter)

After negotiations between the United Parcel Service and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters broke down last week, UPS on Friday announced “business continuity training” to prepare for a potential strike by 340,000 union members next month.

“We remain focused on reaching an agreement with the Teamsters that is a win for UPS employees, our customers, our union, and our company,” the shipping giant said. “While we have made great progress and are close to reaching an agreement, we have a responsibility as an essential service provider to take steps to help ensure we can deliver our customers’ packages if the Teamsters choose to strike.”

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On Eve of July 4th, Bishop William Barber Unveils ‘Moral Declaration for America’

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“It is time for people with a moral conscience to wield every ounce of influence and power they have towards justice and to force this nation to be true to what it said on paper.”

By Jake Johnson. Published 7-3-2023 by Common Dreams

Bishop William J. Barber II at the Democracy Awakening rally at U.S. Capitol on April 17, 2016. Photo: Becker1999/flickr/CC

Bishop William Barber, founding director of Yale’s Center for Public Theology and Public Policy, penned an open letter on Monday decrying recent decisions by far-right Supreme Court justices and the complicity of political leaders who have “watched our democracy being slowly chipped away.”

Addressed to President Joe Biden, Congress, and the U.S. public, Barber’s “Moral Declaration for America” was released on the eve of July 4, which marks 247 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

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Nationwide UPS Strike ‘Imminent,’ Teamsters Warn After Rejecting ‘Appalling’ Contract Offer

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“UPS executives couldn’t make it one more day without insulting and ignoring union leaders and rank-and-filers as negotiations resumed on Wednesday.”

By Brett Wilkins. Published 6-28-2023 by Common Dreams

Members of Teamsters Local 174 at the UPS hubs in Seattle, Shoreline, and Redmond, Washington marched with “Just Practicing” signs on June 27, 2023. (Photo: Teamsters/Twitter)

“The largest single-employer strike in American history now appears inevitable.”

So said Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien late Wednesday after leaders of the union representing shipping giant UPS quit negotiating with company representatives after giving them a Friday deadline to “act responsibly and exchange a stronger economic proposal for more than 340,000 full- and part-time workers.”

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‘Our Voices Are Actually Being Heard’: Historic Youth Climate Trial Begins in Montana

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“I think a victory for the Montana youth would really set the stage, provide a strong foundation for many of these other youth climate cases,” said one law professor in the state.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 6-12-2023 by Common Dreams

The plaintiffs in Held v. State of Montana Photo: Western Environmental Law Center/Twitter

The first-ever constitutional climate trial in the United States—the result of 16 youth suing the Montana government for promoting and supporting fossil fuels that dangerously warm up the planet—kicked off in Helena on Monday.

“Going to trial means a chance for me and my fellow plaintiffs to have our climate injuries recognized and a solution realized. It means our voices are actually being heard by the courts, the government, the people who serve to protect us as citizens, and Montana’s youth,” Grace, one of the 16 young people behind Held v. State of Montana, said in a statement earlier this year.

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Hundreds of Thousands Rally Against Poland’s Authoritarian Right-Wing Government

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“We are now at a crossroads between being an authoritarian and a democratic country,” said one activist.

By Jake Johnson. Published 6-5-2023 by Common Dreams

People take part in a march against Poland’s right-wing government in Warsaw on June 4, 2023. Photo: Germany Today/Twitter

An estimated 500,000 people took to the streets of the capital Warsaw and other Polish cities on Sunday to protest the nation’s far-right government, which has assailed reproductive freedoms, attacked the rights of LGBTQ+ people, and cracked down on critical civil society groups and media outlets.

Sunday’s march against the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party—which has held power since 2015—was called by former Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, who is leading the Civic Platform opposition party into an expected October general election.

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What’s at stake for women in Turkey’s election

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Feminist groups tell of increasingly hostile environment under Erdoğan – but say opposition doesn’t go far enough

By Jessie Williams Published 5-12-2023 by openDemocracy

We Will Stop Femicides group at the Labour Day protests in Istanbul | We Will Stop Femicides


“It will be like the Taliban regime,” says Melek Önder, asked what will happen to women’s rights if Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is re-elected as president of Turkey in the election on Sunday.

Önder is a spokesperson for We Will Stop Femicides (Kadin Cinayetlerini Durduracagiz), one of the most active groups in Turkey’s women’s movement. The platform was founded in 2010 after Cem Garipoğlu, 17, murdered his girlfriend Münevver Karabulut, also 17. It collects data on femicides and campaigns against violence against women.

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Hundreds of Students Launch May of Occupations to End Fossil Fuels

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Activists hope the rest of society will join in resisting business-as-usual and the fossil economy’s death drive, the way the people of France joined the students who organized in May 1968.

By Olivia Rosane. Published 5-2-2023 by Common Dreams

Youth climate activists in Uganda call for an end to fossil fuels on April 29, 2023. (Photo: End Fossil: Occupy!)

Hundreds of students occupied their schools and universities on Tuesday as part of a global movement to disrupt educational institutions this May and push for an end to the fossil fuel economy.

The activists—mobilizing under the banner of End Fossil: Occupy!— say they take inspiration from the Parisian students of May 1968, whose protests led to one of the largest general strikes in French history.

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