Free Republic

While more than 55,000 unionized workers for Los Angeles County are set to strike Monday evening, county officials said there is simply no money to meet the employees’ demands. The members of Service Employees International Union Local 721, including public works employees, library workers and mental health professionals, were expected to walk off the job for 48 hours, starting at 7 p.m. Monday, accusing the county of failing to negotiate a new labor contract fairly. “We faced nothing less than disrespect at the bargaining table,” a union leader said during a rally, claiming the county's proposal was a 0% increase...

Smiling man in sauna holding Finnish beer, towel wrapped around his waist- Beer fear brewing in Finland: strikes at top breweries spark supply warnings. Credit: Shutterstock, r.classen A bitter row over pay and working hours has left Finland’s top breweries facing industrial action this week – and the nation’s beer lovers sweating over their favourite pints. Nearly 1,000 workers across three of the country’s biggest beer producers – Hartwall, Olvi, and Sinebrychoff – have downed tools in a strike that’s set to last until March 28. And while breweries insist the taps won’t run dry, retailers are sounding the alarm...

Corrections officials have ended all outside visits to New York state prisons in the wake of a growing jail guard strike and sporadic inmate unrest — as riots erupted at another upstate prison early Thursday. The newest uprising by out-of-control inmates struck the Riverview Correctional Facility, which sits near the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Ogdensburg. No staffers were hurt during the chaos, which WWNY 7 News said broke out overnight Wednesday into Thursday.

Teamsters union members working at Costco Wholesale locations across the country voted to authorize a strike on Sunday, with more than 85% of members in favor of hitting the picket lines. The union represents more than 18,000 Costco employees nationally. "Our members have spoken loud and clear -- Costco must deliver a fair contract, or they'll be held accountable," Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien said in a press release Sunday. "From day one, we've told Costco that our members won't work a day past January 31 without a historic, industry-leading agreement. Costco's greedy executives have less than two weeks...

The union representing Starbucks baristas said on Tuesday that a strike against the java giant has expanded to more than 300 locations — with about 10,000 coffeehouse workers walking off the job on Christmas Eve. Baristas in more than 50 cities including New York, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago have walked the picket line since Friday demanding better wages and work conditions. The extent to which the work stoppage has damaged Starbucks business is unclear. According to company filings cited by the New York Times, a typical company-owned Starbucks location in the United States generates anywhere...

Furious shoppers have blasted Amazon workers for throwing the holidays into chaos by launching the 'largest-ever' strike against the online retailer just six days before Christmas. Workers from seven Amazon facilities across the US walked off the job today in a bid to pressure the company to come to a labor agreement during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says it represents nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, though it is not clear how many people will participate in the walkout. Teamsters boss Sean O'Brien has told customers to 'blame Amazon's...

(Reuters) - Amazon.com workers at seven U.S. facilities walked off the job early on Thursday during the holiday shopping rush, aiming to pressure the retailer into contract talks with their union. Warehouse workers in cities including New York, Atlanta and San Francisco are taking part in the "largest" strike against Amazon, said the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 10,000 workers at 10 of the firm's facilities. "If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed," Teamsters' General President Sean O'Brien said late on Wednesday. [Snip] Amazon said it does not expect any impact...

Israel’s Army Radio reported Thursday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began preparing plans for Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear sites after destroying nearly 90% of Syria’s air defense capabilities, which had formerly protected Iran. Army Radio military correspondent Doron Kadosh reported on air that Israel had destroyed 86% of Syria’s surface-to-air missile capability, among 500 other sites that the IDF had targeted since the fall of the Assad regime Sunday. Kadosh elaborated, in a post on X, that Israel had used 1800 munitions in the attack on Syrian weapons — munitions that had been intended for other purposes, but...

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Sunday that its forces conducted dozens of precision air strikes targeting known Islamic State (ISIS) camps and terrorists in central Syria. “The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria,” CENTCOM said. It added that the operation struck over 75 targets using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s,...

The U.S. Postal Service has temporarily suspended accepting mail headed to Canada due to the strike by Canada Post workers. It is asking customers to refrain from mailing items addressed to Canada, until further notice. The move by the U.S. Postal Service comes after some 55,000 Canada Post workers walked off the job more than two weeks ago.

A Russian strike on energy infrastructure in western Ukraine on Thursday left more than 1 million people without power, according to local officials. Electricity was knocked out for more than 500,000 households in the Lviv region due to the attack, according to regional Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi. Rivne Gov. Oleksandr Koval said the strike also cut off power for more than 280,000 households in the region, The Associated Press reported. “The Commander of the Air Force, along with the Ministers of Internal Affairs and Energy, provided reports regarding the aftermath of the latest Russian strike targeting our energy infrastructure,” Ukrainian President...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Workers who clean airplanes, remove trash and help with wheelchairs at Charlotte’s airport, one of the nation’s busiest, went on strike Monday during a busy week of Thanksgiving travel to demand higher wages. The Service Employees International Union announced the strike in a statement early Monday, saying the workers would demand “an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season.” The strike was expected to last 24 hours, said union spokesperson Sean Keady. Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots Friday to authorize the work stoppage at Charlotte...

East and Gulf Coast dockworkers could resume their strike on Jan. 15 if a deal isn't reached.. The union representing dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports walked away from the negotiating table with port employers this week over concerns about automation as the two sides face a mid-January deadline to finalize a deal and prevent the resumption of a strike.. The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents port employers, were on their second day of talks this week when the ILA union left negotiations ... the ILA union is refusing to agree to...

Hundreds of tech staffers at the beleaguered New York Times could vote to walk off the job on Tuesday if the company doesn’t deliver on their job demands. The threatened Election Day walkout, which could critically hamper the newspaper’s coverage of the presidential vote, comes amid stalled negotiations between the two sides, the Wall Street Journal said. “We have made it clear that we need to reach an agreement before the election in order to avert a strike,” the union’s bargaining team wrote to the Times’ board of directors urging its members to intervene. The stance by the Guild, which...

The New York Times website could be shut down on election day as the newspaper’s Tech Guild has threatened to go on strike. The union sent a letter to the Board of Directors on Friday, warning that an agreement must be made by election day to avoid interruptions. TIME IS RUNNING OUT, @nytimes!! We’re at Grand Army Plaza today, Scabby in tow, to warn NYC that their hometown paper is at risk of shutting down — unless we get the contract we deserve! ✊ pic.twitter.com/h6d8Xnsio8 — New York Times Tech Guild (@NYTGuildTech) November 2, 2024 Negotiations between the union and...

The IDF carried out precise and targeted strikes against military targets in Iran over the weekend. In today's episode, we’ll explain what exactly was targeted and why the IDF chose these targets. We’ll also try to understand factors affecting Israel’s strategy and what to look for in the coming days and weeks, especially as America heads to elections. Chapters 00:00 Israel's Strategic Airstrikes on Iran 02:56 Analyzing the Impact of the Strikes 06:12 The Role of the U.S. in Israel's Military Actions 09:01 Understanding Iran's Military Capabilities 12:09 The Significance of Parchin and Undeclared Nuclear Sites 14:58 U.S. Policy and...

Boeing factory workers voted Wednesday to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a six-week strike that has halted production of the aerospace giant’s bestselling jetliners. Local union leaders in Seattle said 64% of members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers who cast ballots voted against accepting the proposal. ... The labor standoff comes during an already challenging year for Boeing, which became the focus of multiple federal investigations after a door panel blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. The strike has deprived the company of much-needed cash...

During an interview with the Fox News Channel that took place on Tuesday and was released on Wednesday on the “Fox News Rundown” podcast “Evening Edition,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin responded to a question on whether he and President Joe Biden urged Israel to avoid striking Iran’s nuclear sites or oil facilities and why those sites and/or facilities shouldn’t be hit by stating that Israel will ultimately decide what they do and do not strike, but, in his view, he believes that “if you’re conducting a military strike, it ought to be against military targets.” Fox News Chief National...

“No automation means no automation,” says the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), the union representing 85,000 dock and maritime workers.ILA officials reached a tentative wage agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) on Oct. 3. This move effectively suspended the three-day job action and extended the existing Master Contract until Jan. 15. The new deal allows both sides about 100 days to negotiate a new agreement, with automation being the primary sticking point.While ILA confirmed that USMX agreed to raise pay for thousands of port workers, they are now focusing their discussions on using technology to complete tasks with less...

This strike isn’t over. It’s just delayed until after the election, so it doesn’t hurt the Democratic party at the polls. We have been told many things about the longshoremen’s strike over the past week. Most of the reporting has been in half-truths, at best – possibly because the press doesn’t know any better (the operations of our seaports are an admittedly obscure area of specialization), or possibly because the press doesn’t want to share information so damning to the side they instinctively favor. Here are just a few of the misleading statements thrown at us in the past week:...