KENSINGTON, Md.—Linda Bridges, president of Office and Professional Employees Local 2, has some of her Kaiser Permanente clinic union members “sleeping in their cars.”
That’s because even with their jobs at Kaiser clinics in the D.C. suburb of Kensington, Md., plus second jobs after that, they can’t afford rent.
“They drive to work. Then they drive to their second jobs. Then they sleep in their cars” and report to their Kaiser posts again, Bridges explains.
In January of this year the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported the reserves of the nine leading countries in the world which mine lithium, the new fuel to power electric batteries. Chile led, followed by Australia, Argentina, China, and the US which claims to have one million tonnes. Russia was left out of the USGS chart.
It’s these types of incremental reforms that build the basis from which workers can continue the fight for more.
Back in August 2022, I wrote about a newly passed law in California that would create a sector-wide labour-management council giving fast food workers the right to bargain over wages and standards in their industry. At the time, myself and many others considered the law a significant victory.
Today the UAW is making headlines for an energetic strike, helmed by new leadership that doesn’t shy away from the language of class war. It’s happening, in large part, because a small group of workers got together four years ago to reform their union
What can we learn from the new militancy in the United Auto Workers (UAW)?
It reminds me a lot of Keystone XL saga, but with perhaps even more at stake.
The great privilege of being a journalist is that you get to ask questions, and people generally answer them, so you find stuff out. And sometimes that stuff is shocking.
