February 3rd: 1971 Thiokol-Woodbine explosion occurred

On this day in labor history, the 1971 Thiokol-Woodbine explosion occurred in Woodbine, Georgia. A fire in building M-132 ignited large quantities of flares and their components, resulting in a massive explosion that killed 29 workers and seriously injured 50 others. The plant, originally built for NASA rocket production, had transitioned to manufacturing military tripflares. Due to a miscommunication, Thiokol was unaware that flares had been reclassified as a higher explosive risk, contributing to the disaster. The explosion, heard 50 miles away, leveled the building, caused widespread destruction, and ignited a 200-acre forest fire. Emergency response was limited, with local fire and rescue teams overwhelmed. Lawsuits against the U.S. government resulted in compensation for victims, though payments took years. The site was later sold, and Thiokol ceased tripflare production. A granite memorial honors the victims, and in 2017, the Thiokol Memorial Museum was established to preserve the history of the tragedy, ensuring that the victims are remembered. Sources in comments.

Is there anything that would be useful for the average person in my union to know about Trump moves? Is there anything actionable to do? Is anything in regards to our day to day (in regards to grievances etc.?) affected currently? Thank you.

Regarding the illegal firing of the NLRB board member, I know a lot of you are mad and want to do something big, but have you done the easiest thing yet? Contact your Senator/Rep. Yes union higher ups other than AFL-CIO have been mostly silent, its time for rank and file to make noise. Flood their emails, voicemails. Get drunk with friends and get outrageous. Make your voice heads. And before someone says it, doing this is a heck of a lot better than doing nothing.

https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

I work a white collar job in software as a service.

I think the biggest protest that we could make would be to start a union.

How do we organize?

I am retired and currently collect 2 pensions, one from the NY Archdiocese, and one from 1199 SEIU (I was a medical laboratory tech for 41 yrs). I know union busting is one of those things Nazis like to do, so I guess if so I will have no more pensions and probably social security or Medicare? Yikes.

My wife works at a CVS in Ohio which operates under a UFCW union. She recently took time off for the birth of our child and when the checks came in it was SIGNIFCANTLY less than expected, and less than half of what the CVS benefits without a union would have been. Is this the normal experience others in a union store are seeing? Is there something weird going on with the union she is in?

The union describes she will receive up to $150 PER WEEK (which sounds incredibly low) for up to 26 weeks. I can't find anywhere describing how long her pay should be but she was paid for 69 days (9.86 weeks). In total she was paid $1,478.58 pre-tax. At her $20.50 /hr rate this is significantly worse than what base CVS benefits pay, which is 100% base pay for 4 weeks, $3,280.

Any Costco Teamsters on here who can share some insight into your contract?

Without giving too much away, I’m in a union that negotiates with a nationwide Fortune 500 company. There are many different locals of the union, within the same company.

Recently, we have been losing all of our raises to the health and welfare fund. My local stresses the price of health insurance is insane and while I fully understand that, I fail to understand why we didn’t negotiate our last contract for the company to front it. During the vote, many members felt like we were fighting our own union. First contract shot down, second one narrowly passed. The union acts as if they didn’t know they needed more until after the contract.

This is all fine and dandy to a degree, I thoroughly enjoy my health insurance through the union and not paying out of pocket and feel fortunate in this economy and feel very proud to be union but this made morale very bad within the guys. It lead to me to do some poking around. I reached out to other union members in the same union different local for the same company in the biggest cities nearby to me. NY & Chicago. Cost of living very similar if not cheaper to where I am located.

Managed to get a copy of both locals wage pages in NY & Chicago. Almost wish I didn’t, hurt my own feelings so damn bad. Our entire benefits package are basically these guys in the pocket wage. The benefits they get dollar amounts I wont get into it’s night and day and actually insane how far we have fallen behind. Same union, same company.

My question is, how do I present this information to my brothers without getting blackballed from the union and company. I fear retaliation, but all I genuinely want is an informed vote I do not want to force a strike or a “no” vote. I think it’s of importance to know what is going on around us. It is solidified proof of what the company will do, can do, and ARE doing elsewhere.

With many of our fellow members using their democratic rights to vote for those who use their acquired parliamentary authority and power to then pass legislation that undermines worker rights (which again, is why we elect people), it got me thinking about why our unions were/are susceptible to faux populists. My crack pot theory is we already have a tendency to vote for populists amongst our rank-and-file who appear to be standing up to the man while simultaneously accomplish little.

Listen, this is a crack pot theory, but we all know of that one steward or executive officer who thrives on agitating the members against the boss (sometimes for their own interests) but actually accomplish close to nothing during their time. They just echo what their members want, blame someone, and lack the nuance to actually solve their problems.

I have a couple executives who present themselves as “man of the people” (self-declared title) who can barely understand their own contract but who are astute enough to go “members are angry about x thing” therefore that’s my platform. They are miserable to work with because I’ll explain (I’m a staffer) that x-thing isn’t a legitimate problem as it would undermine and harm workers for y,z, and a issue. However, they would never explain that to their members as they don’t want to appear to be delegitimizing their members grievances regardless of how far-out of the bounds they are. They just want to appear to be a strong-man, so the members love them, and they keep getting elected.

Take out your thread and connect the dots, this inclines our members to adore a “strong man” type who legitimizes their grievances regardless of the damage it would cause to the fabric of our communities, society, democratic norms, and our union solidarity.

https://journals.openedition.org/ideas/6089

In 2017, the women's march was the initial galvanizing force. I'm hoping against hope that it can be federal workers in 2025. Any actions we can take now and is there any legal snags to starting to organize marches?

(I live in Pittsburgh, if that helps)

It was the color chosen by the miners and early labor movement at the turn of the 20th century. I’ve collected enough red shirt to wear one almost every day of the week when I was in a union.

Symbolism and solidarity can be the warning shots of what can come later.

Like the title says. I’m usually a silent bystander at our meetings but i feel the need to speak up this time. Its sad how many of my union brothers and sisters voted maga.

The three of us are the best and have been there the longest. One is the general manager. The specific location we work at supposedly does not make much money, but is a tax haven (we collect a lot for charity) They hire a lot of people but few stay longer than a couple weeks. However, Florida is an at will state and we are scared of getting fired “for no reason” if we organize. Is it still worth it to try? How would I go about it?

If you’re a JL that only chases storms reply with your take on it I want to hear about your worst year, average years, and best year anddddddd GOOOO! TIA!!!

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/02/musk-usaid-time-00201987

Brothers and sisters, a question regarding strikes.

I am in a federal union, so I am not legally allowed to strike so forgive my ignorance.

Local grocery store chain is about to go on strike. In solidarity, I will not cross the picket line. However, this same chain is also my pharmacy. Am I allowed to cross to get my medications or should I go elsewhere in the meantime?

Just a PSA , I assume members get little insight into Pension management but just wanted to point out that those with the largest pension funds have some sway over large amounts of private investment $. In some cases the kind of money that sways politicians and private equity. It gets funneled to hedge funds and private equity to make returns which of course is the primary goal for all, but also can and should be used to fight back against stripping of labor protections (right now largely due to state GOP reps). Your pension fund managers decide the best placement for returns - but it feels like time to a hold people accountable who are allowing and enabling this new legislative assault at the state and federal levels get out of hand. At a minimum they should be passing along the message that this is not acceptable governing in states attacking workers rights and investment money is on the line for their respective states. At a minimum I hope there is some visibility to accountability

February 1st: 2015 United Steel Workers Oil Refinery strike began

On this day in labor history, the 2015 United Steel Workers Oil Refinery strike began. 5,200 United Steelworkers (USW) began striking at 11 refineries across multiple U.S. states, citing unfair labor practices, including bad-faith bargaining and unsafe working conditions. The strike, which later expanded to 6,500 workers across 15 plants, marked the first nationwide oil refinery strike in over 30 years. Workers demanded better safety protocols, staffing levels, and limits on the use of contractors. The strike, which affected about a fifth of U.S. oil production, began to impact gas prices, particularly in California, where prices slightly rose. After six weeks, the workers reached a potential agreement with Shell Oil, focusing on improving safety and staffing. The strike underscored ongoing concerns about long hours, forced overtime, and the use of undertrained contractors, which compromised both worker safety and public welfare. * February 2nd: Iris Rivera fired in 1977 for not brewing coffee

On this day in labor history, Iris Rivera was fired in 1977 for refusing to brew coffee. Rivera, a secretary at the Illinois State Appellate Defender’s Office in Chicago, refused to follow a new policy requiring her to make coffee for her office. Rivera believed it was beyond her job responsibilities, and after her firing, she filed a discrimination complaint. The case sparked widespread support, including protests by other secretaries and media coverage. Rivera’s stance, questioning the gendered expectations of secretarial work, led to her reinstatement, and sparked broader debates about secretaries’ rights. This movement inspired further protests and contributed to the growing women’s rights activism in the workplace. Rivera’s case resonated with many, eventually influencing cultural portrayals of women’s roles in the workforce, such as the movie Nine to Five and the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.

Sources in comments.