Free Republic

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters proudly recognizes our LGBTQ+ members as we celebrate June as Pride Month. We are the most powerful labor union in North America because of the diversity and strength of our membership. Every Teamster must be treated with respect and dignity at work, regardless of race, religion, creed, political affiliation, gender identification, or sexual orientation. As we fight for equality and justice on the job, the Teamsters Human Rights and Diversity Commission and the Teamsters LGBTQ+ Caucus will continue to uplift all members and remain committed to ensuring an inclusive workplace and union for all.

The union which represents more than 2,000 workers at SoFi Stadium has broken off negotiations with the stadium operators and plans to hold a strike vote next week ahead of the FIFA World Cup. UNITE HERE Local 11 represents workers at the venue who largely work in food and beverage concessions, including cooks, servers and bartenders. The group’s preparedness to call a strike vote was first reported by The Athletic in early April. The potential strike action threatens to impact eight World Cup matches at the venue, which is the home of the NFL’s two Los Angeles teams, the Chargers...

In a compelling development stemming from an FBI raid conducted last year, a portion of the gold bars found in the residence of embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) have been identified as those stolen in a high-profile 2013 robbery. In September, Sen. Bob Menendez, the senior U.S. Senator from New Jersey and the former Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were indicted on bribery and corruption charges. In October, Bob Menendez was charged with acting as a foreign agent in a superseding indictment. Bob Menendez and his wife are under investigation for their involvement...

MONTREAL — As Canadian Grand Prix qualifying took place at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Saturday, a different kind of rally took place in Montreal’s downtown core. Sex workers announced they’d be going on strike during one of Montreal’s busiest weekends of the year. Over one hundred sex workers and allies walked the streets and protested in the name of improved wages and working conditions. “Grand Prix was a good opportunity because our employers make a lot of money,” said Adore Goldman, co-founder of the Sex Work Autonomous Committee (SWAC), established in 2019. “But…often we don’t make that much money because they...

American Federation of Teachers boss Randi Weingarten tapped hundreds of thousands in union resources to help write her controversial book — working with a team that raked in more than $1.4 million from the labor group, a new analysis found. Weingarten used the abundance of union-fueled resources for the liberal agenda-pushing “Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy” then pocketed a portion of the proceeds, the Freedom Foundation claimed in a new report. Her team included an attorney who supposedly worked on the book pro bono but whose firm raked in $977,000 for various work for...

A small group of striking graduate student workers rallied outside Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76’s private residence early Friday morning, marking a new escalation in the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers’ ongoing strike as contract negotiations with the University remain stalled. Roughly 10 demonstrators gathered outside Garber’s home from about 6 to 6:30 a.m., chanting and writing “CONTRACT NOW” in pink chalk on the sidewalk. The group represented a small fraction of HGSU-UAW, which represents roughly 5,000 graduate student workers. “Garber, Garber, stop stonewalling; this is HGSU calling!” demonstrators chanted. They also shouted, “Hey, Garber, how do you...

NOW: Leftists are being brutally mocked for DROPPING THIS “attack ad” on LA Mayor candidate Spencer Pratt — which says he opposes rampant homelessness and supports the police LMAO — and they’re spending hundreds of thousands to blast this everywhere! 🔥 “Pratt says it's time for the homeless to get help or get out.” “Pratt thinks LA needs thousands more police officers rather than more social workers.” You can’t make this up! KEEP PUSHING, @spencerpratt Video: Communists’ ATTACKS have turned into praise!

Four days ago, Ron DeSantis signed legislation that could decertify the Florida Education Association entirely. Tuesday, the FEA filed a lawsuit to strip 1.4 million children of their opportunity scholarships. You do the math. What the FEA Actually Filed The Florida Education Association filed a 39-page lawsuit in Leon County targeting Florida's Family Empowerment Scholarship program. The union wants a court to declare the entire school choice system unconstitutional. The legal argument is that private and charter schools don't meet Florida's constitutional mandate for a "uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools." FEA President Andrew...

The union representing thousands of baristas at Starbucks has bailed on its attempt to bring employees at the Pike Place Market coffeehouse into its fold. ... The coffeehouse’s baristas filed for union election on April 3, according to Workers United. At the time, barista Nailah Diaz pointed to “unfair treatment and operational issues without the support needed to succeed.” Not every employee at the Pike Place store agreed. Barista Derika Muna, 27, told The Seattle Times on Tuesday that she unknowingly went to a union organizing meeting at the behest of a co-worker, believing it to be a casual meetup...

Examples in the complaint, filed with the EEOC, include union members laughing and clapping at the mention of an 82-year-old Jewish woman killed in a terror attack The National Education Association (NEA) was hit with a federal complaint Monday alleging that it subjected Jewish members to an antisemitic environment, according to a copy of the complaint shared with the Washington Free Beacon. The complaint, filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , alleges that the nation’s largest teachers’ union allowed activists within the organization to harass Jewish...

SEATTLE, WA - Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Seattle on Friday to mark May Day, continuing a 140-year tradition of advocating for American workers' rights.While the day is rooted in labor history, this year’s participants also focused on immigration reform and opposition to current federal policies including the US's involvement in multiple wars.Participants at the rally spoke on how modern workers' rights are inseparable from immigration issues and international concerns.Many demonstrators voiced specific opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the current presidential administration’s handling of immigrant labor.

The easiest way to misunderstand the Navy’s shipbuilding mess is to treat it as a shipyard story. That is how the issue is usually framed. Too few workers, too much complexity, too much bureaucracy, too many delays. None of that is wrong, but it is only the visible part of the problem. The deeper problem sits upstream. The Navy’s procurement troubles reflect not just industrial strain, but a long stretch of strategic drift. If Washington cannot decide what kind of fleet it wants, shipbuilders will never deliver it on time... For most of the Cold War, the Navy knew what...

Beneath rolling storm clouds and a spattering of spring rain, about two dozen people holding blue and white signs march in front of Harvard University’s Science Center. Circling around a young woman holding a megaphone, their chants ricochet off stately brick buildings dotting the campus. The woman in the middle shouts: “What’s outrageous?” “Harvard’s wages!” the crowd replies. ... The strike comes at a tenuous time for Harvard, which has endured the glare of the national spotlight as President Donald Trump assails the university with the full force of the U.S. government. Harvard has faced government lawsuits, billions of dollars...

Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law a measure prohibiting public schools from using taxpayer-funded resources to support teachers’ unions, a move supporters say restores government neutrality while critics argue it limits educators’ ability to organize. The legislation, House Bill 516, bars school districts from facilitating payroll deductions for union dues and restricts the use of public resources to assist union activities. The law is set to take effect July 1. Supporters of the measure, including the Freedom Foundation, which prompted the report, argue that allowing payroll deductions amounts to indirect taxpayer support because public employees and systems are...

Approximately 1,350 union workers at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri, are escalating their strike against Olin Winchester as they demand better wages and stronger contracts. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 778 have been on strike since April 4 after overwhelmingly rejecting a contract offer from company management. ... The IAM Local 778 negotiating committee met with company representatives earlier in the week. The company indicated it would provide future dates to continue discussions. The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is a critical facility in the U.S. defense industrial base. Workers...

ALBANY– Gov. Kathy Hochul is quietly negotiating a possible deal with one of New York’s top labor leaders to allow public workers from teachers to nurses hired after 2014 to retire at 55, sources said. The age is currently 62 for those hired in the past 14 years. The potential fat pork deal pact would involve more than a billion dollars in sweetening pensions for the unionized public employees. Legislative leaders are being kept in the wings of the talks – which could be wed into the state budget package and lead to taxpayers footing billions – with Hochul dealing...

Nurses from the country's largest nurses union, National Nurses United (NNU), will join rallies across the United States as part of the March 28 No Kings protests. Nurses continue to condemn the Trump administration's authoritarian politics and call for the abolition of ICE, an end to Trump's war in Iran, and demand what's collectively needed for a healthy future for our society. "Nurses will continue to take to the streets to protect our neighbors and protest the fascist politics Washington is trying to force on everyday people at home and abroad," said Mary Turner, RN and NNU president. "We will...

US authorities are to examine Roman Abramovich’s ties to the Kremlin as part of a national security review of a $2.3bn (£1.18bn) bid for Oregon Steel by a company controlled by the Russian billionaire. Experts in Washington say the US government panel that reviews foreign deals will scrutinise the proposed takeover, announced last month, more closely if Mr Abramovich is found to be acting with the backing of the Russian government. Mr Abramovich is believed to be close to Vladimir Putin, Russian president. The Russian steel company, Evraz, is controlled by Mr Abramovich and Alexander Abramov, group director. Evraz and...

Taxpayers are yet again helping fund disruptive activism in Los Angeles — this time the radicals planning to chaos across the city and county for Saturday’s “No Kings” protests, which organizers claim will be the biggest yet. One the leading groups participating in the event is the Liberty Hill Foundation, a social justice nonprofit that receives $14 million in Los Angeles city funding for tenant outreach and housing programs. Public filings show the group has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the ACLU of Southern California, raising further questions about taxpayer-supported organizations being used for radical political advocacy. ACLU...

Newly released emails reveal how the Biden administration’s Department of Education (ED) in 2022 attempted to form a secret parent advisory council to give teachers unions and left-aligned activist and parent groups power over federal education policy. Under former President Joe Biden, the department created the National Parents and Families Engagement Council ostensibly as a “partnership between parents and families, educators, district leaders, and entire school communities to support student success.” But behind the scenes, the short-lived council was composed of hand-picked activist organizations that focused on radical racial, gender and immigrant-focused ideologies. As Defending Education notes, “not a single...