It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, May 01, 2022
REST IN POWER
Weather Underground member and ‘81 heist participant Kathy Boudin dead at 78
Kathy Boudin died of cancer at the age of 78 in New York on Sunday.Columbia University
Kathy Boudin, who spent decades in prison for her part in the deadly 1981 Brink’s armored truck heist as a member of the radical militant group Weather Underground, died of cancer at the age of 78 in New York on Sunday.
In October, 1981, Boudin and members of the group teamed up with the Black Liberation Army for the robbery to help fund their anti-government campaigns. They targeted a Brink’s armored truck, which they held up in Rockland County, making out with $1.6 million.
During the robbery, gunmen killed Brink’s security guard Peter Paige before transferring the money to a U-Haul truck a mile away, where a 38-year-old Boudin sat in the cabin.
The truck was stopped by police at a roadblock, where Boudin — unarmed — immediately surrendered. Gunmen in the back of the truck popped outside and began firing on the officers, killing two Long Island policemen —Sgt. Edward O’Grady and Officer Waverly Brown.
She pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and second-degree murder in the death of Paige in 1984.
She spent 22 years in prison before she was paroled for good behavior in 2003.
Boudin spent 22 years in prison for her involvement in the deadly heist made by the radical militant group Weather Underground.New York State Department of Correctional Services/Getty Images
After jail, she was hired by Columbia School of Social Work Associate as an adjunct professor in 2008. She was hired as a full-time professor in 2013, lecturing about issues facing convicts and their families when a person is released from prison.
Boudin was the mother of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who last year successfully lobbied former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to commute the sentence of his father, David Gilbert — who was also a member of the Weather Underground who was imprisoned for his role in the stick-up.
Gilbert, who served as a getaway driver, was serving a sentence of 75 years to life in prison with no possibility of parole until 2056. Gilbert is among the last surviving people involved in the robbery.
Judith Clark, another former Weather Underground member, served 35 years of a 75-years-to-life sentence for her role in the robbery at a mall in suburban Rockland County before her sentence was commuted by Cuomo in 2016. She was paroled in 2019.
Amazon, union face off in a rematch election in New York
By HALELUYA HADERO Alexander Campbell, a 25-year-old warehouse worker, stands by Amazon's LDJ5 warehouse in the Staten Island borough of New York on Friday, April 29, 2022. The National Labor Relations Board will count votes Monday in the second union election among Amazon workers on Staten Island, New York, a rematch for the retailer and the nascent group of worker organizers right on the heels of their historic labor victory. Campbell voted against the union, saying he read some things online that convinced him his wages might go down if the warehouse unionized. (AP Photo/Haleluya Hadero)
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon and the nascent group that successfully organized the company’s first-ever U.S. union are headed for a rematch Monday, when a federal labor board will tally votes cast by warehouse workers in yet another election on Staten Island.
A second labor win could give workers in other Amazon facilities — and at other companies — the motivation they need to launch similar efforts. It could also cement the power and influence of the Amazon Labor Union, the grassroots group of former and current workers that secured last month’s historic victory.
But a union loss could mute some of the labor celebration and raise questions about whether the first victory was just a fluke.
The results of the election are expected to be announced early Monday evening by the National Labor Relations Board, which is overseeing the process. Meanwhile, the agency must still decide whether to certify the first win, which has been disputed by Amazon.
There are far fewer workers eligible to vote in this latest election versus last month’s — about 1,500 compared with 8,300 at the neighboring Staten Island facility. There are fewer organizers, too — roughly 10 compared with roughly 30.
“It’s a much more personal, aggressive fight over here,” said Connor Spence, an Amazon employee who works as the union’s vice president of membership.
Spence said there was more support for the organizing efforts earlier this year when the ALU filed for an election. But that was quickly overshadowed by the bigger facility across the street, where organizers were directing more of their energy.
Meanwhile, Amazon continued holding mandatory meetings to persuade its workers to reject the union effort, posting anti-union flyers and launching a website urging workers to “vote NO.”
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement that it is up to employees whether or not they want to join a union. But “as a company, we don’t think unions are the best answer for our employees,” Nantel said. “Our focus remains on working directly with our team to continue making Amazon a great place to work.”
Experts say the scrappy union is disadvantaged by the low number of organizers but that might not spell trouble since the ALU’s legitimacy has been bolstered by last month’s unexpected win. It has also gotten support from top union leaders and high-profile progressive lawmakers. At a rally held outside the warehouse a day before voting began last week, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke in support of organizers spearheading the union drive.
“This is certainly about ALU, but it’s also about the broader desire for organizing right now,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, who also attended the rally. “And we have to run as fast as we possibly can in this environment to organize millions of people if we’re going to change the power structure in this country and actually give working people a fair shot.”
After their first Staten Island win, ALU organizers reoriented their attention to the smaller warehouse and reiterated their vision to workers — longer breaks, better job protection and a higher hourly wage of $30, up from the minimum of just over $18 currently offered on Staten Island.
Spence said they also tailored their pitch to part-time workers, whom the facility depends on heavily and who have been waiting on their requests to transfer to full-time work at the company. By the time votes were cast, he believed the union had regained its momentum.
“We had to claw it back,” he said.
Even with one victory under its belt, progress has been slow for the ALU. Last month, Amazon filed objections over the successful union drive, arguing in a filing with the NLRB that the vote was tainted by organizers and by the board’s regional office in Brooklyn that oversaw the election. The company says it wants a redo election, but pro-union experts believe it’s an effort to delay contract negotiations and potentially blunt some of the organizing momentum.
Despite the setbacks, the ALU has realized progress in other ways, shining a spotlight on Amazon’s anti-union tactics as well as highlighting concerns about its workplace conditions. That in turn has rallied others into taking action.
On Tuesday, Sanders sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to sign an executive order that cuts off Amazon’s contracts with the government until the retailer stops what Sanders calls its “illegal anti-union activity.” Organizers believe such a move would fulfill the president’s campaign promise to “ensure federal contracts only go to employers who sign neutrality agreements committing not to run anti-union campaigns.”
In New York, two state lawmakers introduced a bill to regulate warehouse productivity quotas, aiming to curtail workplace injuries at facilities operated by Amazon and other companies. The bill’s sponsors said they were motivated by ALU’s impending contract negotiations with the company, which has been criticized for its high warehouse injury rates.
Separately, the ALU, along with American Federation of Teachers and New York State United Teachers, is calling on New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate Amazon’s eligibility for tax credits under a state program designed to draw business to New York. In a letter sent to James, Seth Goldstein, a union attorney who offers pro-bono legal help to the ALU, contends Amazon has committed “flagrant unfair labor practices” during the union drives that violated the worker protector provisions of the program. A spokesperson for Amazon declined to comment.
Back on Staten Island, some workers at the warehouse voted against unionizing, saying they already feel taken care of by the company and would rather wait and see how the contract negotiations go at the other facility before they join the union effort. There’s also doubts the ALU can accomplish what it sets out to do.
Alexander Campbell, a 25-year-old warehouse worker, voted against the union, saying he read some things online that convinced him his wages might go down if the warehouse unionized.
But others are lending their support. Michael Aguilar, a part-time warehouse employee turned ALU organizer, said he put in a request with Amazon about two months ago to switch to full-time work. He says that request hasn’t been granted but the company continues to bring in new hires. When one of the organizers invited him to a union-organizing call, he attended and eventually decided to join the union drive.
“Everything they were fighting for aligned with everything I experienced,” he said. “Once I found that out, I jumped on board.”
Dec. 9, 2021 marked a historic day for union organizers, labor activists and caffeine enjoyers everywhere in the United States, as workers at a Starbucks location in Buffalo, N.Y., were successful in their vote to unionize. With more than 8,000 locations of the well-established chain throughout the country, this vote created a domino effect, and dozens of different locations have voted or made strides to establish unions, from Arizona to our very own Ann Arbor.
Most of the recent unionization efforts by Starbucks employees come from similar workplace circumstances and share common goals as a newfound collective unit. In the past two years, there have been significant jumps in the turnover rate in the foodservice industry with no positive changes in hiring rates. Employees of chains such as Starbucks have been consistently mistreated by their employers and customers alike, from aggressive behavior over the requirement of masks in stores to a lack of response from Starbucks’s headquarters to workers’ requests for help. With this in mind, the recent push toward unionization is well within reason.
Starbucks employees are not the only ones fed up with the maltreatment they face under their company management. Similarly, in early April, an Amazon warehouse voted to establish a labor union at their location on Staten Island, N.Y. After multiple failed attempts to unionize the Bessemer, Ala., location, this New York-based warehouse is the first successful effort to form a union at an Amazon warehouse in the United States.
The fight for this Amazon union began in 2020, when former Staten Island employee and current union co-founder Chris Smalls staged a walkout against the unjust working conditions at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse. That day, Smalls was fired and told he was neither “smart” nor “articulate” by a powerful corporate lawyer employed by Amazon headquarters. Quickly afterward, Smalls began to organize, hosting barbecues and bonfires, rallying warehouse workers together and successfully making a dent in the “Goliath” that is Amazon with the historic Amazon Labor Union.
Former Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos’s net worth, as of 2022, is $171 billion. Howard Schultz, founder and interim CEO of Starbucks, is currently worth $3.7 billion. On the other hand, the federal minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25. This raises the question, why do the bosses continue to profit in such substantial numbers when workers are barely scraping by? The solution to this ethical dilemma is simple: unionization.
The National Labor Board was created by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. It was a federal agency dedicated to consulting with union-organizing efforts and solving labor disputes. Weak and ineffective, the board expired, and in 1935, the National Labor Relations Act established the National Labor Relations Board. Rather than mediating labor debates, it would focus on enforcing the rights of laborers. Along with the institution of the “new” NLRB, Section 7 of the Act gave workers the right to both form and join labor organizations, and the right to collectively bargain with their employers for their own well-being, as well as restricting company interference in these processes. With the Act, the right to unionization in the U.S. was born.
Unions have been the historical path toward solutions to labor disputes throughout the nation. From the American Revolution to today, collective action by laborers has been successful in making changes in various sectors of employment, including trade, artisanship and industry. The most famous of union federations is the AFL-CIO, which today represents 12.5 million workers in the United States of various labor unions. Labor organizations such as this share the same objectives: provide equal opportunity, safe conditions and sustainable benefits for all workers everywhere.
So, why is the establishment of unions by Starbucks and Amazon employees so revolutionary? Increasingly common successful unionizations in large corporations like these throughout the nation signify a change in the long-standing fight for labor rights. With hundreds of thousands of employees between them, these two corporations have intense influence over the labor market, the economy and our social lives. The success of these unions shows that change to the power of these gargantuan corporations is possible, and entirely necessary.
Another example of this phenomenon is the Alphabet Workers Union, a union of Google workers that launched in early 2021. Google is a super-power of a corporation, employing hundreds of thousands and worth over a trillion dollars, and this union has been successful in undercutting some of their positional prowess. Organizers have won back promised bonuses for employees, and protected the rights of marginalized staffers. Unionized efforts established under the eye of powerhouses of the market have been successful, and pushes by these new collectives will more than likely have the same, if not greater, social and political impact.
Joining together as workers to protect our rights is essential in our modern society. Unions allow laborers to voice their complaints and concerns, and to protect themselves in an age where profit is oftentimes held to a greater value than personhood. The successes at Starbucks locations across the country and the recent win on Staten Island for Amazon employees are indicative of a change in the tide for labor rights, showing workers everywhere that collective action is possible at any level, from a local restaurant to a multi-billion dollar tech company.
Change in labor rights is attainable, and it’s happening right now whether companies like it or not. Recent triumphs in union organizing efforts in the United States should be important to you both as a consumer and as an individual — the success of workers in having their voices heard is a success for each and every one of us. Lindsey Spencer is an Opinion Columnist and can be reached at lindssp@umich.edu
Three shot in Chile May Day clashes Riot police disperse demonstrators with a water cannon during clashes following a May Day march in Santiago
(AFP/Martin BERNETTI)
Sun, May 1, 2022
Three people were wounded by gunfire and two arrested in clashes at May Day demonstrations in Chile, police said.
The shooting occurred during a Sunday march called by a union in the capital Santiago as some protesters erected barricades and entered commercial premises, clashing with merchants.
"There were clashes between street vendors who unfortunately used firearms and injured three people, two of them women and a third man was also injured by a ballistic impact," said Enrique Monras, chief of police for the metropolitan area.
Police confirmed two foreigners were arrested on suspicion of firing the shots.
The force used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
President Gabriel Boric decried the violence, telling a news channel: "We are normalizing violence, we cannot allow criminal gangs to take over the streets of our country."
Separately, the main traditional May Day march, organized by the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) union, passed without incident as thousands of people with flags and banners gathered in the Plaza Italia.
"We are happy, it is a special and particular day after two years of confinement (due to Covid) ... to recognize the work of many colleagues such as health, commerce and transport workers, who were fundamental in this pandemic," said CUT president David Acuna.
They were joined by Labor Minister Jeannette Jara, the first member of the Communist Party to hold the position since the return of democracy in Chile in 1990.
She was the architect of an agreement reached by the CUT and business organizations that will raise the minimum wage by 12.5 percent.
The minimum wage is set to reach 400,000 pesos ($470) per month from August. Boric has said his goal is to raise it to 500,000 pesos by 2026.
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May Day holiday marred by clashes in Turkey, France
Police and protesters clashed in Turkey and France during May Day rallies on Sunday, as tens of thousands marched across the world in support of workers' rights.
Turkish riot police detained scores of demonstrators in Istanbul, pinning some of them to the ground and dragging them away from the rally, which the governor's office said was unauthorised.
And rallies in Paris quickly turned violent as youths clashed with police on the sidelines and buildings were vandalised, though unions said more than 200,000 people joined demonstrations across France and most were peaceful.
May 1 is a public holiday in many countries and Sunday saw events on every continent.
European rallies sparked the most controversy with Turkish protesters gathering at Istanbul's Taksim Square, an area synonymous with anti-government protests, chanting "long live labour and freedom, long live May Day".
City officials said the group refused to disperse and 164 were detained, with government-approved rallies elsewhere in Turkey passing off peacefully.
French ministers denounced the violence in Paris and prosecutors said 50 people had been arrested.
Martine Haccoun, a 65-year-old retired doctor, told AFP she came to protest in the southern city of Marseille to show re-elected President Emmanuel Macron "that we didn't give him a blank cheque for five years".
She said many voted for Macron simply to stop far-right challenger Marine Le Pen.
- 'Not slogans' -
While scuffles were reported in Italian cities including Turin, thousands gathered in London and cities across Germany with no sign of trouble.
In Spain, around 10,000 people joined a demonstration in Madrid and dozens of other cities also held well-attended rallies.
Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz of the communist party said she wanted to show solidarity "with the workers of Ukraine, who today aren't able to protest".
In the Greek capital Athens, more than 10,000 joined rallies against a background of spiralling inflation.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took to social media to promise a raise in the minimum wage by 50 euros a month.
"We honour the working people not with slogans, but with acts," he wrote on Twitter.
Kenyan Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta similarly used his May Day speech to promise a 12 percent hike in the minimum wage, though activists said it was not enough to keep pace with inflation.
The mood was uglier in Sri Lanka, where the opposition showed rare unity in calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign over the country's worst-ever economic crisis.
"It is time for us to pull him by his ear and kick him out," former legislator Hirunika Premachandra said at a rally in Colombo.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was also feeling the heat, being forced to leave an event when miners stormed the stage he was due to speak at and chanted "Cyril must go".
However, other leaders were able to harness the energy of the crowds.
Xiomara Castro, the new president of Honduras, was greeted by thousands chanting her name, and she responded by telling them she would govern for them and put an end to a "dark era" of corruption and drug trafficking.
There were also two separate marches in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, with hospital workers and other basic service employees calling for a "dignified salary" at one demonstration.
"People, listen, join the fight!" they chanted.
President Nicolas Maduro addressed the crowds at a separate pro-government march elsewhere in the city, blaming United States sanctions for his country's "economic storm" and announcing "Venezuela is headed for prosperity".
Thousands of May 1 demonstrators in Chile took to the streets only days after the government announced a 12.5 percent rise in the minimum wage, which is set to reach 400,000 pesos ($470) per month from August. President Gabriel Boric has said his goal is to raise it to 500,000 pesos by 2026.
May Day came too soon for many in China to enjoy what is usually one of the year's busiest holidays.
A series of lockdowns sparked by rising Covid cases meant restaurants and tourist sites were deserted during what is usually a frenetic period.
"Obviously it's bad in terms of our own self-interest, but it's necessary overall for the good of the country," said a young waiter at a deserted restaurant near the Forbidden City in Beijing.
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Protesters march during a May Day demonstration in Marseille, southern France, Sunday, May 1, 2022. May 1 is celebrated as the International Labour Day or May Day across the world.
A protester holds a sign reading "Stop Macron" during a May Day demonstration in Marseille, southern France, Sunday, May 1, 2022.
A woman dressed up as Marianne, a woman symbol of the French republic since the 1789 revolution, holds a French flag during a May Day demonstration in Marseille, southern France,
(AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
May Day rallies in Europe honor workers, protest govts
ELAINE GANLEY
Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus, fourth from right, and Governing Mayor of Berlin Franziska Giffey, center, hold a banner with writing in German reading "shape the future together" as they take part in the May Day main rally of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), in Berlin, Sunday, May 1, 2022. (Joerg Carstensen/dpa via AP)
PARIS (AP) — Citizens and trade unions in cities around Europe were taking to the streets on Sunday for May Day marches, and to put out protest messages to their governments, notably in France where the holiday to honor workers was being used as a rallying cry against newly reelected President Emmanuel Macron.
May Day is a time of high emotion for participants and their causes, with police on the ready. Turkish police moved in quickly in Istanbul and encircled protesters near the barred-off Taksim Square — where 34 people were killed In 1977 during a May Day event when shots were fired into the crowd from a nearby building.
On Sunday, police detained 164 people for demonstrating without permits and resisting police at the square, the Istanbul governor’s office said. At a site on the Asian side of Istanbul, a May Day gathering drew thousands, singing, chanting and waving banners, a demonstration organized by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey.
In Italy, after a two-year pandemic lull, an outdoor mega-concert was set for Rome with rallies and protests in cities across the country. Besides work, peace was an underlying theme with calls for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Italy’s three main labor unions were focusing their main rally in the hilltop town of Assisi, a frequent destination for peace protests. This year’s slogan is “Working for peace.”
“It’s a May Day of social and civil commitment for peace and labor,” said the head of Italy’s CISL union, Daniela Fumarola.
People attend a May Day rally on International Workers Day in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, May 1, 2022.
A man holds a flag depicting from left, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, during a May Day rally on International Workers Day in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, May 1, 2022. Workers and activists marked May Day with defiant rallies and marches for better pay and working conditions.
(AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Other protests were planned far and wide in Europe, including in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, where students and others planned to rally in support of Ukraine as Communists, anarchists and anti-European Union groups held their own gatherings.
In France, the May Day rallies — a week after the presidential election — are aimed at showing Macron the opposition he could face in his second five-year term and to power up against his centrists before June legislative elections. Opposition parties, notably the far left and far right, are looking to break his government’s majority.
Protests were planned across France with a focus on Paris where the Communist-backed CGT union was leading the main march through eastern Paris, joined by a handful of other unions. All are pressing Macron for policies that put the people first and condemning his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65.
In a first, far-right leader Marine Le Pen was absent from her party’s traditional wreath-laying at the foot of a statue of Joan of Arc, replaced by the interim president of her National Rally party. Le Pen was defeated by Macron in last Sunday’s runoff of the presidential election, and plans to campaign to keep her seat as a lawmaker.
“I’ve come to tell the French that the voting isn’t over. There is a third round, the legislative elections,” said Jordan Bardella, “and it would be unbelievable to leave full power to Emmanuel Macron.”
___
Nicole Winfield in Rome, and Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul, contributed to this report.
Striking signalmen at Toronto’s Union Station must broaden their struggle to avoid a union-imposed sellout
Ninety-six signal operators and equipment technicians have been on strike since April 20 at Toronto’s Union Station. The strike was launched some seven months after the workers decisively rejected a sell-out tentative agreement endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Employees of Toronto Terminals Railway (TTR), the striking workers are responsible for train control, signals and communications maintenance at the city’s main rail hub.
Striking Toronto Terminals Railway workers picketing Union Station in downtown Toronto. (IBEW Canada)
The Union Station Rail Corridor is 6.4km long and consists of a complex network of approach tracks, passenger platforms and four control towers. It has 14 station tracks with platform access, and more than 180 signals, 250 switch machines, and 40km of circuited track. More than 300 commuter trains a day traverse the corridor.
Workers have been without a contract since December 2019. In September 2021, they voted down a proposed five-year contract recommended by the IBEW leadership and Toronto Terminals Railway management. Wages are the key issue in the dispute, under conditions where annual inflation is approaching 7 percent. In addition, strikers say that their benefits package has been frozen since 2015, even though the cost-of-living has spiralled upward over the past seven years.
The claim that there is no money to fund above-inflation pay and benefit increases for the workers is a flat-out lie. Toronto Terminals Railway is jointly owned by Canadian National Rail (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), giant corporations which for years have been engaged in a relentless drive to maximize profits at practically any cost to workers and their safety. Both railroads have experienced bumper profits during the pandemic, with CP Rail Chief Executive Officer Keith Creel, notorious for his indifference to the horrendous working conditions employees confront, pocketing the outrageous sum of $26 million in compensation during 2021.
As one striker explained to the World Socialist Web Site, “The issue with our company is it’s jointly owned by Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways. So, 50 percent of the profits go to CP and 50 percent goes to CN.
“We don’t keep any of the profits for ourselves. We cover operating costs, and the rest goes to the parent company. In terms of negotiations, we have to negotiate with all three entities. In addition to our company, representing CP and CN, we also have to negotiate with Metrolinx because they have to pay our wages. Metrolinx owns all the rail and infrastructure around here.”
Another striker added, “CN just released their earnings for their quarter, and they made $3.71 billion. They keep increasing dividends to shareholders, so they’re able to pay. They’re making close to record profits and they’re giving big bonuses to the top executives.”
A third agreed, commenting, “They’re saying ‘COVID hurt us,’ but look at their profits! It doesn’t look like it hurt them at all.”
The strike is being intentionally isolated by the IBEW. The union has no intention of mounting a serious struggle, which would require mobilizing support from other railway and Toronto area workers. Instead, it is aiming to ground down workers’ resolve by making them subsist on meager strike benefits until it can impose virtually the same pro-company contract with a few cosmetic changes.
Unifor, which represents track workers at Union Station and thousands of railway workers across the country, is openly sabotaging the strike. It is effectively overseeing a scabbing operation, allowing TTR management to redeploy Unifor members to cover the strikers’ jobs.
The isolation of the strikers has made their picket lines all but meaningless. The workers are not legally permitted to stop contractors working on the Union Station “revitalization project” from crossing their picket lines for more than a few minutes, or at most an hour or two. Strikers reported to the WSWS that while Metrolinx’s operations suffered some disruption during the first days of the job action, this is no longer the case.
Strikers explained that track worker workforce is more transient, due to the back-breaking nature of the labour they perform. Unifor exploited this fact to ram through a sellout contract covering the track workers last September. It included a 12.5 percent wage “increase” over 5 years, which averages out to a mere 2.5 percent per year. With the complicity of the IBEW, TTR than tried to make the agreement with Unifor the “pattern” for all its employees.
In addition to workers represented by Unifor, TTR management and others from outside the company have been filling in for the strikers. In a scene emblematic of the cozy relationship between the trade unions and corporations, one of the TTR management scabs was identified as a former union local president. He drove away from the site to shouts of “Shame on you!”
The use of unqualified scabs and replacements presents an especially dangerous situation in the busiest transportation hub in the country’s largest city. As a striking worker pointed out, “All our jobs are very safety critical. We respond to trouble, so any issue where they’re trying to line up a train and it’s not working as intended, they call us, so we help prevent any delays. If there are any switch issues, we try to get these delays mitigated. We also have scheduled maintenance that maintains the safety and integrity of the equipment.
“In the two weeks before we went on strike, TTR had us do all the yearly preventive maintenance. They wanted us coming in for overtime to prepare for the strike. They said they were ‘introducing’ a pilot project to improve maintenance.”
Accidents, derailments and even fatalities are common at both TTR’s parent companies, CP Rail and CN.
In May 2003, two men were killed on another CN freight train when a trestle collapsed on a bridge near McBride, British Columbia. The crew had been disciplined for refusing to cross the bridge on a previous run due to safety concerns. It was later revealed that several components of the bridge had been reported as rotten as far back as 1999, but no repairs were ever ordered.
As for CP, the World Socialist Web Site has extensively covered the fatal Field, British Columbia derailment of February 2019, which killed three crew members. Their train derailed and crashed into a ravine after its air brakes failed in cold weather on a notoriously steep grade. Pointing to the underlying causes of the tragedy, the WSWS wrote:
“The events leading up to the Field derailment provide a devastating indictment of what is known in the industry as precision-scheduled railroading (PSR). Summing up this corporate policy, which has been adopted at railroads across North America, a CP Rail worker said of PSR in a recent interview with the WSWS, ‘The basic idea is that they expect the most amount of work with the least human resources possible’.”
To win their struggle, striking TTR signal operators and equipment technicians should follow the example of their colleagues at CP Rail, who recently established the CP Rail workers Rank-and-File Committee to seize control of their struggle for improved wages, benefits, and safety protections from the Teamsters union. Like the unions at TTR, the Teamsters have worked hand-in-glove with the rail corporations to boost profits and attack workers’ conditions. Although CP Rail workers had voted overwhelmingly in early March for a strike, the Teamsters allowed the company to take the initiative and lock them out. Then two days later it agreed to binding arbitration, which allows a government-appointed official to dictate the workers’ employment terms and robs them of their rights to strike and bargain collectively for years to come.
The first task of a rank-and-file committee of TTR strikers would be to break out of the isolation imposed by the unions. Appeals should be made to track workers represented by Unifor to join the struggle, alongside rail workers across the freight and passenger train networks in Canada, who all confront the same grueling working conditions. The committee should advance demands based on what workers actually need, not what corporate management claims is “affordable.” This should include an immediate 30 percent pay increase to make up for the years of concessions, and above-inflation raises for pay and benefits going forward.
Above all, strikers must make their struggle the spearhead of a mass mobilization of the working class to counter the ruling elite’s class-war agenda of austerity and attacks on workers’ living standards. This requires the waging of a political struggle to break the grip of the financial oligarchy over all aspects of social and political life, and secure decent-paying, secure jobs for all. Sign up for the
May Day Rallies In Europe Urge More Help As Inflation Bites
By Associated Press and Newsy Staff May 1, 2022
Tens of thousands of people marched Sunday in cities around Europe for May Day protests to honor workers and shame governments into doing more for their citizens. In France, protesters shouted slogans against newly elected President Emmanuel Macron, a development that may set the tone for his second term.
Tensions erupted in Paris, as some demonstrators smashed windows at some banks, a fast-food restaurant and a real estate agency, apparently partially the work of masked men dressed in black. French police moved in, firing rounds of tear gas. That failed to stop a woman from attacking a firefighter trying to douse a street fire.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 45 people had been detained so far, including the young woman. Eight police officers were injured, he said, calling the perpetrators of the violence "thugs" who were trying "to stop the right to demonstrate."
May Day is often a time of high emotions for workers in Europe, and protests in the last two years have been limited by pandemic restrictions.
Turkish police moved in quickly in Istanbul to encircle protesters near the barred-off Taksim Square — where 34 people were killed In 1977 during a May Day event.
On Sunday, Turkish police detained 164 people for demonstrating without permits and resisting police at the square, the Istanbul governor's office said. On the Asian side of sprawling Istanbul, a May Day union-organized gathering drew thousands who sang, chanted and waved banners.
Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey briefly interrupted her May Day speech at a trade union rally where someone threw an egg at her but missed. Giffey, of the center-left Social Democrats, was met by loud protests during her speech. Giffey called the egg tossing "neither helpful nor politically valuable."
In Italy, after a two-year pandemic lull, an outdoor mega-concert was being held in Rome after rallies and protests in cities across the country. Besides improving conditions for workers, peace was an underlying theme, with many calls for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Italy's three main labor unions held their main rally in the hilltop town of Assisi, a frequent destination for peace protests.
"It's a May Day of social and civil commitment for peace and labor," said the head of Italy's CISL union, Daniela Fumarola.
In Russia, a motorcade organized by the country's trade unions supportive of the invasion of Ukraine finished its cross-country trip in Moscow Sunday to mark May Day. Participating were 70 cars representing all Russian regions from Vladivostok to Astrakhan, as well as the Russia-backed separatist administrations controlling parts of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
May Day celebrations in Russia also saw the arrests of antiwar protesters and bystanders across the country, including some who demonstrated in support of the authorities. According to reports by the Russian legal aid group OVD-Info, which tracks political arrests, a man was detained in Moscow after holding up a sign in support of the FSB and President Vladimir Putin.
Rising inflation and fears of upcoming food shortages from the war in Ukraine were feeding discontent around the world.
Thousands of workers, unemployed people and retirees marched peacefully in North Macedonia's capital of Skopje, demanding wage increases and respect for workers' rights. Inflation, running at an annual clip of 8.8% in March, is at a 14-year-high.
Darko Dimovski, head of the country's Federation of Trade Unions, told the crowd that workers are demanding an across-the-board wage increase.
"The economic crisis has eaten up workers salaries," he said.
In France, the May Day rallies — which came a week after the country's presidential election — aimed to show the centrist Macron the opposition that he could face in his second five-year term. Opposition parties, notably from the far-left and the far-right, are looking to break his government's majority in France's parliamentary election in June.
The Paris march was dominated by far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who placed third in the first round of the presidential vote and is deep in talks with other leftist parties in France, including the once-dominant Socialists who are struggling to exist. Melenchon appealed to potential partners to ally to keep Macron's centrists from dominating parliament as they do now. "Our goal is victory," he said.
Some 250 marches and protests were being held around France. All were pressing Macron for policies that put people first and condemning his plan to raise France's retirement age from 62 to 65. Macron says that's the only way the government can continue to provide good retirement benefits.
"May Day is the time to rally for a reduction in working time. That reduction signifies one key thing — that workers should be getting a larger share of the wealth," Melenchon said, condemning the violence at the Paris march, which he said overshadows the concerns of workers.
In a first, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was absent from her party's traditional wreath-laying at the foot of a statue of Joan of Arc, replaced by the interim president of her National Rally party. Le Pen was defeated by Macron in the April 24 presidential runoff, and plans to campaign to keep her seat as a lawmaker.
"I've come to tell the French that the voting isn't over. There is a third round, the legislative elections," said National Rally's Jordan Bardella. "It would be unbelievable to leave full power to Emmanuel Macron."
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
Workers around the world mark May Day with rallies for better working conditions
NPR Published May 1, 2022 Stephanie Keith Workers participate in a May Day rally in New York City. Amazon workers recently unionized a facility in Staten Island, emboldening other workers to push for their companies to unionize.
Demonstrators across the globe seized May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, as a moment to celebrate working-class contributions as they rallied for better labor rights, immigration overhauls, and other causes around social and economic equality.
New York City
Crowds of activists marched through lower Manhattan to demand worker protections and immigration overhauls on Sunday.
Local chapters of labor organizations affiliated with the AFL-CIO held a "United Against Union Busting" march and rally that kicked off at Union Square. Stopping points on the march's route included a Starbucks Roastery, a Whole Foods and a penthouse owned by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.
The event comes as workers at Starbucks and Amazon (which owns Whole Foods) drive a nationwide push to unionize. Those efforts that have been met with pushback from corporations working to break up the formation of unions.
Elsewhere, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., spoke at a rally in Foley Square championing immigrant labor. She demanded a full path to citizenship for immigrants.
"We are fighting for workers because workers fight for us," she told a crowd.
France
AFP Via Getty Images
Protesters march during the annual May Day rally, marking International Workers' Day, in Paris on Sunday.
In France, demonstrators staged more than 200 marches and protests across the country, with a focus on Paris.
Violence broke out in the city, as some people smashed windows at banks and ripped up street signs. Police moved in, firing rounds of tear gas, according to The Associated Press.
Far-left protesters used the day to exercise their opposition to newly reelected President Emmanuel Macron and his plan to raise France's retirement age from 62 to 65.
Turkey
Yasin Akgul / AFP Via Getty Images Demonstrators hold flags, banners and shout slogans during the annual May Day demonstration in the Maltepe district of Istanbul on Sunday.
In Istanbul on Sunday, Turkish police detained at least 164 people for demonstrating without permits and resisting police at Taksim Square, the AP reported, citing the city governor's office.
In what's known as the Asian side of Istanbul, thousands of May Day observers gathered in song, chants and banner-waving as part of a demonstration organized by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey.
Chinese passed a normally busy national holiday weekend quietly this May Day. Many cities in China are currently under lockdown and travel is restricted due to the government's "zero-COVID" policy, which has prohibited millions of residents from leaving their homes. On Sunday, some restrictions eased in Shanghai, the country's largest city, but businesses remained closed and events canceled.
Cuba
Ismael Francisco / AP Thousands file through an avenue during a May Day march to Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba, on Sunday.
In Cuba, people took to the streets with banners and pictures of Cuban revolutionary leaders. President Miguel DÃaz-Canel and retired leader Raul Castro led a massive march in the capital of Havana.
Government-led May Day marches in Cuba celebrate the 63-year-old Cuban revolution and are meant to serve as a rebuke to the U.S. embargo, as Reuters notes.
India
Bikas Das / AP Sex workers and activists walk in a rally demanding right of work in government labor rules on the eve of May Day in Kolkata, India.
Sex workers in Kolkata's biggest red-light district, Sonagachi, marched on the eve of May Day as part of a rally held by a group working to decriminalize sex work and eliminate the profession's stigma.
"Our work is constitutional & our children need their mothers to have the status of a regular worker," Bishakha Laskar, president of the group known as the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, was quoted as saying according to the news agency ANI.
On Sunday, trade unions held rallies in multiple cities in India demanding better working conditions and more labor rights.
Greeks hold demonstration on Labor Day amid energy crisis, high inflation
Xinhua, May 2, 2022
People take part in a demonstration on the International Labor Day in Athens, Greece, on May 1, 2022. Thousands of Greeks took to the streets in central Athens and other big cities across the country on Sunday to mark the traditional Labor Day, asking for more relief measures amid the current energy crisis and high inflation due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. [Photo/Xinhua]
Thousands of Greeks took to the streets in central Athens and other big cities across the country on Sunday to mark the traditional Labor Day, asking for more relief measures amid the current energy crisis and high inflation due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
"Democracy, justice, peace and equality," demonstrators chanted marching in front of the Greek parliament in the capital city while raising banners with similar slogans.
In a press release, ADEDY, the umbrella labor union of civil servants, said that workers protested against the wave of increases in energy, fuel, bread and food that has hit the country. "We demand increases in the salaries to live with dignity," they stated.
"Unemployment rates are high, the salary is not enough even for half month," Christos Katsikas, a demonstrator and also a professor in Athens, told Xinhua.
For Maria Patrikiou, a nurse in a public hospital, May Day still holds true today as every year. "Especially this year, with the crisis and the war, our rights have been challenged. That's why we came here to fight for our salaries, for our lives...," she added.
At the same time, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis released a statement on social media to coincide with the Labor Day.
"We welcome Worker's May 1 with the implementation of a meaningful measure for workers, namely the increase of Greece's minimum wage by 50 euros a month which equals an additional 15th wage every year," he stated.
Sunday's mobilization affected the public transport services. Metro lines in Athens operated with stoppages, flights were disrupted and ships remained docked at ports.
Portuguese PM announces better wages on Labor Day
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Sunday pledged to promote a "reinforcement of the share of wages in the country's gross domestic product (GDP)" to reach the European average.
The prime minister published a chart on his Twitter account comparing the share of wages in Portuguese GDP with the European average during the years 2016 and 2021, in which he led the country's government.
According to Costa, between 2022 and 2026, the weight of remuneration in GDP in Portugal will be increased to 20 percent, reaching the European average.
Labor Day is celebrated on Sunday throughout the Portuguese territory with various demonstrations promoted by the country's trade unions.
In Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK), the World Labor Day was observed on Sunday to pay rich tributes to those workers and laborers who laid down their lives for the achievement of their rights this day 136 years ago this day in ancient Chicago city of the United States of America. The laborers across the world observe May 1st to commemorate the supreme sacrifices of the laborers who laid down their lives this day in 1886 while struggling for the achievement of the rights of their colleagues in Chicago – besides to pay tributes to them.
Special May Day simple but impressive ceremonies coupled with processions, were staged in all the ten districts of AJK including in Mirpur, capital city of Muzaffarabad, Neelam valley, Kotli, Bagh, Rawalakot, Sudhanoti, Hattiyan, Havaili and Bhimbher districts to observe the day. Various organizations of workers and laborers of different private and public sector institutions held special ceremonies to observe the day in a befitting manner to commemorate the supreme sacrifices of lives of the laborers in Chicago this day 136 years ago.
In Mirpur, a May day procession of labourers, working class converged into rally at Kashmir Press auditorium under the auspices of the J & K Workers Party, Labour wing of the Jammu & Kashmir Peoples National Alliance, PWD Workers Union, Jammu & Kashmir Workers Party, Jammu Kashmir Plebiscite Front and other Kashmiri political human rights and labor organizations.
Led by the Jammu Kashmir Peoples National Aalliance Chairman Raja Zulfiqar Ahmed Advocate, and other Labour leaders, the procession passed through Mian Muhammad Road, Shaheed Chowk and Allama Iqbal Road and turned into congregation at the Mumtaz Banquet Hall at Sajid Plaza at the city center. The participants of the rally raised slogans against the increased price hike and inflation in the country including AJK.
Addressing the rally speakers including the J & K PNP Chaiman Zulfiqar Ahmed Raja Advocate, Azeem Dutt Advocate of Jammu Kashmir Plebiscite Front, Aslam Watnoof, Ch. Yousaf Advocate, Ehteshaam ul Haq Advocate and others vowed to continue the mission of the martyrs of Chicago to secure and safeguard due rights, dignity and honour of laborers. Speakers highlighted the importance of this historic universal day – besides paying rich tributes to the martyrs of Chicago.
Speakers reiterated their firm resolve to continue the struggle for freedom of Jammu & Kashmir with full vigor till it reach to its logical end. Speaking on this occasion, JK PNA Chairman Zulfiqar Ahmed Raja Advocate said that best way to pay glorious tributes to the martyrs of Chicago was to follow their foot steps for procuring and safeguarding the due rights of the working class – most particularly the laborers.
BRAZIL
Bolsonaro, Lula hold rival rallies on May
Day
Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stage competing rallies that are expected to become previews of their campaigns for presidential elections
Brazilian right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his main rival, former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have staged competing rallies that were expected to become previews of their campaigns for presidential elections in October.
Supporters of Bolsonaro had called during the week protests against the Supreme Court, after he pardoned a congressman sentenced to eight years in prison for threatening judges.
The pardoned congressman, Daniel Silveira, said in a rally on Sunday in Niteroi, in Rio de Janeiro state, that his arrest last year was "unconstitutional."
Silveira thanked fellow congressmen that helped him during his months in prison last year. He was freed in November, but the Supreme Court last month sentenced him to more than eight years of jail. Bolsonaro decided to pardon him.
Bolsonaro went to a rally protesting against the Supreme Court in Brasilia on Sunday. In a video stream from one of his social media accounts, Bolsonaro said the demonstrations were "pacific, to defend the constitution, democracy and freedom."
In Sao Paulo, there were simultaneous demonstrations to support the president and Lula.
In a 15-minute speech, Lula promised to supporters, including many union leaders, that he would "resume negotiations to get workers rights respected again" if elected.
Lula said he was speaking before becoming an official candidate, with the announcement expected for May 7.
The former president cited the recent UN human rights committee finding that Brazil graft investigators violated due process in bringing a case against Lula that led to his imprisonment and barred him from running for office in 2018.
The competing rallies reflect the deep political divisions in the country, and indicate the upcoming elections later this year will be hard fought, and could cause a political crisis if either side rejects the final results.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholf, from the center-left Social Democrats, told a May Day rally in Düsseldorf that his government was committed to supporting Ukraine with weapons.
He said a pacifist approach was outdated and warned of the effect that the war would have on food prices.
"I respect all pacifism, I respect all attitudes," said Scholz. "But it must seem cynical to a citizen of Ukraine to be told to defend himself against Putin's aggression without weapons.''
The German chancellor also warned of the danger posed by rising food prices, with Ukraine — one of the biggest exports of wheat in the world — unable to export grain because of the war.
However, Verdi Union leader Frank Werneke warned against an arms race in the wake of the German government's announcement that it was also set to increase defense spending.
"We don't want a new arms race that comes at the expense of urgent investments in social welfare, education and climate protection," he told a rally in the western city of Mainz.
In Frankfurt, supports of the Left Party marched behind a banner saying "Stop the war!"
Clashes in Dortmund
Police in Dortmund used pepper spray and batons against left-wing demonstrators.
Officials said the protesters had attacked police and tried to break through a barrier.
A spokeswoman for the group "Autonomen Antifa 170" complained of police violence, and said a number of participants had been injured.
The demonstrators had gathered to protest against an expected march of some 220 right-wing extremists. That march had not begun at the time of the clashes with police, a police spokesperson said.
There were also marches calling for improvements to workers' rights — a more traditional theme of the May 1 Labour Day rallies.
In Berlin, among the many protesting groups was Germany's DJV journalists' union, calling for expanded rights for freelancers.
Also in Berlin, Left Party politician Katja Kipping called for a new law to stipulate that when federal holidays fall on a weekend, workers should be given the closest Friday or Monday off.
As Labor Day falls on a Sunday this year, it means no extra time off for workers.
es, rc/jcg (dpa, Reuters, AFP)
Sri Lankan leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa faces May Day calls to step down
Sajith Premadasa (C), leader of main Sri Lankan opposition party the SJB, takes part in a May Day rally in Colombo on Sunday calling for the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (AFP)
AFP, Colombo Published: 01 May ,2022: 05:57 PM GSTUpdated: 01 May ,2022: 06:24 PM GST
Sri Lanka’s fractious opposition showed rare unity Sunday, joining together to demand embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign over the country’s worst-ever economic crisis.
Main opposition party the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) staged a mass rally at Independence Square in the capital Colombo, where speaker after speaker called for the ouster of Rajapaksa and his powerful ruling family.
“For over a month, the president has been barricaded in his official residence,” former legislator Hirunika Premachandra said. “It is time for us to pull him by his ear and kick him out.”
Months of lengthy blackouts, skyrocketing inflation and acute shortages of food, fuel and pharmaceuticals have sparked numerous anti-Rajapaksa protests across the country.
Premachandra, who kicked off the wave of demonstrations by staging a sit-in outside the president’s private home in mid-March, urged all parties to unite and topple the government.
The JVP, the country’s main leftist party, held its own rally outside a Colombo railway station, insisting the government should step down and allow an early election.
“Gota go home, go home Gota,” chanted tens of thousands of JVP activists waving red flags.
Several minor opposition parties also demonstrated in Colombo and provincial capitals.
But while Gota’s ruling SLPP coalition skipped its customary May Day rally, the president issued a statement asking all political parties to “overcome the challenges we face.”
“Instead of following up on who is responsible for the current problematic situation, what we need to do now is to focus on what action can be taken to provide immediate relief,” Rajapaksa said.
Elsewhere in the capital, thousands of activists laid siege to Rajapaksa’s sea-front office for the 23rd straight day, calling for his resignation.
The president reportedly told dissidents within his coalition government on Friday he was willing to consider forming a unity government, but that neither he nor his brother Mahinda, the country’s prime minister, would step down.
