Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Labor

By staff

SEIU workers wearing purple shirts walking a picket line and holding signs.

Stillwater, MN – More than 80 healthcare workers at HealthPartners Stillwater clinics have been on strike since Tuesday, July 8. The workers are represented by the Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Heather Eggers is a medical assistant in family medicine with HealthPartners Stillwater. Eggers said, “We’re out here because there have been seven bargaining sessions, and the employer has come back with less than adequate compensation. We’re fighting for our wages over the next three years to be 5.75%, 5% and 4% and for better teaming benefits, floating benefits and other things that would help us do our jobs better.”

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By Sorcha Lona & Siobhan Moore

Minneapolis, MN – On July 3, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters published an alert laying out a plan by the United Parcel Service (UPS) to offer buyouts for UPS drivers to retire early in exchange for cash payouts. When the Teamsters sent out the alert, UPS had not yet announced the plan publicly. Then on July 4, the company announced the plan which they are calling the Driver Voluntary Severance Program (DVSP). For many drivers, taking the buyout would forfeit benefits they have accrued as part of their contract.

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By staff

Chicago, IL – On a stormy Fourth of July, 1000 Chicagoans marched to oppose Trump’s racist and reactionary agenda. The people marched to oppose Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that he signed into law Friday.

The new law slashes safety net programs that feed and educate children and provided healthcare for the poor and disabled. It also adds an estimated $3.3 trillion in debt and gives billionaires tax cuts. More tax dollars will now go for deportations, police repression, Israel’s genocide in Gaza and war against Iran.

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By Sorcha Lona

Four UPS Teamsters wearing shorts and holding signs.

Minneapolis – Local 638 Teamsters tabled at the northeast Minneapolis UPS hub on Thursday, July 3. They distributed flyers on heat safety and union contract enforcement.

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By Keegan Estrella

A group of people standing in front of a monument.

Denver, CO – On June 22, eight Teamsters from Local 455 in Denver drove 200 miles south to attend the Ludlow Massacre Memorial near Trinidad, Colorado. For some, it was their first exposure to this type of history. Working class history is seldom taught in schools, and when it is, it is often taught from the perspective of the bosses.

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By Eliza Schultz

A group of striking workers holding picket signs.

Chicago, IL – On Wednesday July 2, around 100 striking workers joined the picket line outside Mauser Packaging Solutions Steel Drum Reconditioning plant in Chicago. The facility has sat closed, with the operation halted and the gates locked, for almost a month as a result of the strike called by Teamsters Local 705 due to unfair labor practices committed by Mauser during the negotiations for a new contract.

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By staff

People standing in a line outside a Safeway store holding signs.

Denver, CO – On Sunday morning, June 14, Safeway and Albertsons workers started their first unfair labor practices strike in Colorado since 1996. The strike comes after nine months of failed negotiations and 18 months without a pay raise.

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By Thomas Chaney

People standing behind a table with literature on it.

Commerce City, CO – In the early morning hours of June 21, police were called to the United Parcel Service (UPS) Hub in Commerce City to remove a group of rank-and-file Teamsters who were passing out educational materials to their fellow workers.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN On Monday June 26, more than 15,000 registered nurses at hospitals across the Twin Cities metropolitan area and Duluth, who are represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) voted to authorize a strike.

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By Gage Lacharite

Tampa, FL – The picket line outside the Breakthru Beverages warehouse near Tampa, Florida stood strong Monday, June 23, despite intense summer heat and torrential daily thunderstorms.

Truck drivers for Breakthru Beverages in Florida entered their third week on strike last Friday as they continue their fight for union recognition and the return of their coworkers fired for union activity. 160 employees across the state walked out on May 30.

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By staff

People gather holding signs, one person in scrubs speaks into a microphone.

New Orleans, LA – On Monday, June 16, about 200 nurses, labor organizers and community members held a rally outside of the LCMC Health System Corporate Offices. They demanded that the University Medical Center, a hospital under the LCMC system, revoke the unjust termination notice of nurse Mike Robertshaw.

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By staff

Dallas, TX – This May, nearly 90 union drivers at Albertsons, represented by Teamsters Local 745, voted unanimously to authorize a strike, sending a thunderous message to corporate management – and it worked.

Within hours of the vote, Albertsons executives returned to the bargaining table and immediately backed down, dropping proposed contract language that would have allowed the company to deploy autonomous trucks without human drivers. The company also agreed to move on several key economic demands after months of stonewalling.

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By Haden Kersting

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates speaking at CORE’s election watch party in Chicago’s Near West Side on May 16, 2025.

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) announced on Saturday, May 17, that its members had re-elected the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) to lead the union for another term, with CORE leader Stacy Davis Gates continuing as president. This comes one month after members approved a new contract containing over 100 wins for union members and the students, with 97% of members voting to approve.

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By Mathieu Chabaud

Seattle, WA – On June 9, labor organizers and community members from across Seattle rallied in front of the offices of SEIU Local 775 before quickly marching to City Hall. The rally, called by SEIU, demanded the immediate release of David Huerta, the president of SEIU in California. Huerta had been arrested while observing ICE raids in Los Angeles.

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By staff

Rally at Minnesota State Capitol demands release of SEIU leader David Huerta.

Minneapolis, MN – On Monday, June 9, hundreds of members, officers and supporters from unions across Minnesota came together for a rally at the Minnesota State Capitol demanding the immediate release of SEIU United Service Workers West (SEIU USSW) President David Huerta.

SEIU USSW represents around 45,000 members, including people who work as janitors, security, airport workers and in other property services jobs, which are jobs performed primarily by immigrants. SEIU represents around 2.1 million workers across the U.S., in property services, healthcare, public sector and Starbucks coffeeshops.

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By Talison Crosby

Tacoma, Washington educators rally against layoffs.

Tacoma, WA – Several hundred community members gathered for a Save Our Students rally and march on May 22. The demonstration was in protest of the recent layoffs at Tacoma Public Schools (TPS). The march led demonstrators directly into the business meeting held by the TBS board of directors. The crowd gathered at 5 p.m. in the parking lot of the First United Methodist Church for a program of speeches before the march. The themes were outrage and the importance of unity.

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By staff

Graduate Assistants United bargain for new contract at University of South Florida.   

Tampa, FL – On Friday May 16, the University of South Florida (USF) and the Graduate Assistants United (GAU) had their second round of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement. Media and supporters from Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society were in the audience as the GAU team bargained and argued against USF’s counterproposals and as they introduced their own.

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By staff

Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday May 4, hundreds of Milwaukee area trade unionists and community members took to the streets to commemorate the 139th anniversary of the Bay View Massacre—one of the bloodiest moments in Wisconsin labor history. Over 14,000 Milwaukee workers, about 5000 of them immigrants from Poland, participated in the 1886 general strike wave demanding the enforcement of an eight-hour workday.

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By Maddy Schwartz

Minneapolis, MN – On May 10, Minnesota public sector workers, union members and activists attended the Labor Demands Divestment teach-in and panel at the Minneapolis Federation of Educators Local 59 office. The event was organized by Minnesota Labor for Palestine and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and was the first event organized by Minnesota Labor for Palestine, a grassroots coalition of union and non-union members based in working class solidarity with Palestine.

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By staff

May Day march in Tacoma, Washington.

Tacoma WA – Around 1000 people took to the streets of Tacoma on May 1, to rally for immigrants and workers’ rights. The crowd gathered around 4 p.m. and began chanting with messages such as “Stand up and shut it down, Tacoma is a union town!” and “Power to the people! No one is illegal!” Energy was high, and the mood of the event was angry but also celebratory.

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