Teachers in two Massachusetts cities strike, this week in the war on workers

Teachers in Haverhill, Massachusetts, went on strike this week, defying a state law banning teachers and other public sector workers from striking, and incurring significant fines. Union leaders said the school committee had agreed earlier in the week to pay increases, but student safety provisions were a sticking point. The union also pointed to a union-busting lawyer representing the school committee as responsible for delays, while the fines for striking put pressure on teachers to settle for less. After four days, Haverhill teachers and the district reached a tentative deal and school reopened on Friday.

This is part of a recent wave of activism from Massachusetts teachers refusing to take lousy deals. Earlier in the week, teachers in Malden, Massachusetts, held what turned out to be a one-day strike, getting a tentative deal after just one day of school was canceled. Last spring, teachers in Brookline, Massachusetts, also went on strike briefly. Back in 2019, when teachers in Dedham went on strike, it was the first teachers' strike in Massachusetts in 12 years. 

● Extremely important thread from Starbucks Workers United. Long story short, the company is doing everything it can to delay bargaining with its workers:

BARGAINING THREAD 🚨 🧵: Over 250 Starbucks stores have won their union election, and only 3 have had their first bargaining sessions. Why? Starbucks delay tactics. This thread will explain where we’re at and how we got here.

— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) October 20, 2022

● Amy's Kitchen workers protested their working conditions. Then they all lost their jobs, Emily Janakiram reports.

● Chipotle workers in Kansas are unionizing, Jonah Furman reports.

● Nebraska voters will have a chance to raise the state's minimum wage from its current level of $9 to $15 by 2026.

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Picking tomatoes is back breaking work as shared by Vianey in Firebaugh CA. Depending on the plant size workers will spend 6 hours bent over filling buckets for just under 80 cents a bucket. The season typically lasts from late summer to early fall only. #WeFeedYou pic.twitter.com/UvA7vLjOAP

— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) October 18, 2022