The Upsurge

12/11/2023

“I think that you can make the case that this is a transformative victory for the UAW." From our latest episode at In These Times ⤵️

The UAW reached tentative agreements with each of Detroit's Big Three automakers. Workers around the country are watching.

12/11/2023

The UAW has turned the tide on decades of concessionary bargaining. Workers around the country are watching. Our latest episode at The Real News Network ⤵️

After forty-four days on the picket line, the UAW reached tentative agreements with each of the Big Three automakers. GM was the last domino to fall on Saturday, Oct. 30, just days after Ford and then Stellantis acquiesced to their own tentative deals.

10/11/2023

🪧NEW EPISODE🪧
The Big Three have fallen like a house of cards.

The UAW's historic Stand Up strike has come to an end – for now, at least. After forty-four days on the picket line, the Auto Workers have reached tentative agreements with each of the Big Three automakers. GM was the last domino to fall on October 30, just days after Ford and then Stellantis acquiesced to their own tentative deals.

50,000 strikers have returned to work, and all 146,000 Big Three union members are now voting on the contracts. While it's up to the workers to decide whether the deals are adequate, one thing is already clear: the UAW has turned the tide on decades of concessionary bargaining.

For this episode, we invited Barry Eidlin back on the show to unpack the gains and wider implications of the UAW's tentative agreements. Barry Eidlin is an associate professor of sociology at McGill University, who studies class, labor, politics and social movements. He is the author of Labor and the Class Idea in the United States and Canada, published by Cambridge University Press in 2018.

We explore why the agreements may represent a shift toward a "new kind of unionism," how the UAW's prospects for organizing the rest of the auto industry may have changed, and what listeners should be following in the rest of the labor movement.

The Big Three have fallen like a house of cards. The UAW's historic Stand Up strike has come to an end – for now, at least. After forty-four days on the picket line, the Auto Workers have reached tentative agreements with each of the Big Three automakers. GM was the last domino to fall on Saturday...

19/10/2023

"We’re seeing...change at the top [of the UAW] that is sparking the change at the bottom, which is really the change that we need to sustain reform and this struggle going forward."

The Stand Up strike has already forced General Motors to fold its electric vehicle battery plants into UAW’s master contract. Now, Ford’s largest truck plant in Kentucky is on strike.

19/10/2023

"Class warfare has been going on for a long time. It’s just that the working class needs to waken to the fact that capital has been waging class warfare against the working class for decades and has sort of quelled a lot of the militancy and the ability to fight back...what’s been so amazing is seeing everyone, including workers around the world, kind of taking note of what’s happening in the UAW and seeing such an important historical union say, 'this is not a one-sided class struggle.'"

Lisa Xu and Chris Budnick on the power of worker organizing—and the UAW’s newfound militance.

19/10/2023

🪧NEW EPISODE🪧
Nearly five weeks into the UAW's historic Stand Up Strike, there are just under 34,000 Big Three Auto Workers on strike in assembly plants and parts depots across the country. The latest escalation came on Wednesday, October 11, when the union called on 8,700 Ford workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky, to walk off the job.

For this episode, we're bringing you a UAW Strike update. You'll hear from two guests: Chris Budnick and Lisa Xu. Chris is a striking Ford worker at the Kentucky Truck Plant and the co-chair of Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD). Lisa is an organizer at the labor movement publication and organizing project Labor Notes, and she was previously an organizer with UAWD.

Chris and Lisa bring us up to speed on the strike escalations, discuss how non-striking Auto Workers are participating in the Stand Up, and unpack the massive concession made by General Motors last week – the folding of their battery plants into the UAW's master contract with the company.

Finally, we take a step back to reflect on the Stand Up Strike overall. We take stock not just of what was won contractually so far, but also of how far the union has come in the past year, and where it's going.

Nearly five weeks into the UAW's historic Stand Up Strike, there are just under 34,000 Big Three Auto Workers on strike in assembly plants and parts depots across the country. The latest escalation came on Wednesday, October 11, when the union called on 8,700 Ford workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant...

02/10/2023

UAW President Shawn Fain has said that “corporate greed” is the enemy, and autoworkers are fighting back.

30/09/2023

"We’re the backbone of the company. We didn’t know our plant was going to strike, but we're here for the fight. We’re going to stand in solidarity to get what we deserve." From our new episode at In These Times.

UAW President Shawn Fain has said that “corporate greed” is the enemy, and autoworkers are fighting back.

29/09/2023

"You want to keep playing this game? We’ll shut the whole thing down... We don’t want to do it, but if you want to get in a street fight with street people, that’s a dumb thing to do if you're from Wall Street." From our new episode over at The Real News Network

Auto workers give updates on the UAW strike against the Big Three along with their thoughts on COLA, the two-tiered wage system, and more.

29/09/2023

🪧NEW EPISODE🪧
The UAW's Stand Up Strike is alive and growing. More than 18,000 auto workers across the Big Three – Ford, GM, and Stellantis – are on strike across twenty states, and just a few hours after this episode posts, thousands more will likely join them. The Fiery Labor Fall is here.

In this episode, we bring you on the ground of UAW picket lines and rallies across three states – Michigan, Ohio, and New York. You'll hear the perspectives and stories of over a dozen rank-and-file auto workers, as well as direct interviews with UAW president Shawn Fain and other union leaders.

Follow Teddy as he zig-zags across states to ask the workers themselves what they think about the strike. UAW auto workers explain the stakes and key demands of their fight, how it's gotten to this point, and what the renewed militancy of their union means to them.

The UAW's Stand Up Strike is alive and growing. More than 18,000 auto workers across the Big Three – Ford, GM and Stellantis – are on strike across twenty states, and just a few hours after this episode posts, thousands more will likely join them. The Fiery Labor Fall is here. In this episode, w...

21/09/2023

“This is what the UAW has always been about. We’ve always been a progressive, organized union fighting for the working class. And it’s good to see it come back.” From Teddy Ostrow's report for The Real News Network.

The UAW’s ‘stand up’ strike strategy has inspired confidence from auto workers on the picket line while sending the Big Three scrambling.

12/09/2023

"Whether you’re an actor or writer on strike to save your profession, an Amazon or Home Depot worker dreaming of a union, a laid-off Toy “R” Us worker angry at how Wall Street gutted your job or you’re just enraged over skyrocketing CEO pay, you have common ground with auto workers and the forces they’re up against."

The bosses who are blocking the auto workers’ demands are also architects of war and oil-driven planetary destruction.

09/09/2023

150,000 United Auto Workers members are on the verge of striking against the Big Three automakers—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.

09/09/2023

“It's not about protecting the American dream or fighting for the American dream. It's literally like resuscitating it from the dead.”

08/09/2023

A reporter got an intimate look at how contract discussions played out at one local.

08/09/2023

"Those people deserve so much more because...they’re going to secure our future...saving this planet & we owe them so much more than like a wage that will literally put you on government assistance." Our new episode over at The Real News Network.

150,000 United Auto Workers members are on the verge of striking against the Big Three automakers—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.

08/09/2023

“Getting rid of the two tiers — that really kind of changed the whole game for everybody. … You know how happy I was to hug my mom and say, ​‘Listen, I made it’?” said UPS package car driver Ronnie Buchanan. The Upsurge's Teddy Ostrow tells the story of one Teamsters local for In These Times & The Real News Network.

A reporter got an intimate look at how contract discussions played out at one local.

08/09/2023

“How do you have someone with $20, $30, $40 million in compensation trying to tell me or one of my union brothers or sisters working right next to me that the $18 an hour they're making is enough?” asks UAW activist Luigi Gjokaj in our latest episode, published in In These Times.

“It's not about protecting the American dream or fighting for the American dream. It's literally like resuscitating it from the dead.”

07/09/2023

🚨NEW EPISODE🚨
The hot labor summer isn't over yet.

In a week's time, the United Auto Workers may launch a strike of 150,000 of its members if the Big Three automakers – Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) – fail to meet the workers' demands in a new contract by September 14.

You see, the Big Three made a quarter-trillion dollars over the past decade. And with non-union electric vehicle and battery manufacturing on the rise in the United States, this may be a make-or-break moment for the union. So, with a more militant leadership at its helm, the UAW is demanding more than they have in a long time: serious wage increases; the elimination of tiers; the return of pensions, COLA, and retiree healthcare; and a 32-hour workweek.

For this episode, we unpack the auto workers' demands, their stakes for the auto industry and the broader working class, and the burgeoning EV transition. We also explore how during this round of negotiations, the union is doing something it hasn't done in a very long time. Inspired by the Teamsters, the UAW is conducting a contract campaign, with rallies, practice pickets, and all.

To discuss all this and more, we spoke with two UAW activists in Metro Detroit. Luigi Gjokaj was an assembly worker at Stellantis since 2010 and is the newly elected vice president of UAW Local 51. Jessie Kelly is a skilled moldmaker at General Motors and alternate committeeperson at UAW Local 160.

You'll also hear from auto workers in Metro Detroit and Chicago, who attended rallies and practice pickets to drum up unity before the strike deadline.

The hot labor summer isn't over yet. In a week's time, the United Auto Workers may launch a strike of 150,000 of its members if the Big Three automakers – Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) – fail to meet the workers' demands in a new contract by September 14. You see, the ...

25/08/2023

"You don’t want to crest the hill. You always want to be striving for more. And part of the way you do that is by getting people involved and active and fired up, which is what we did to get what we’ve gotten in this agreement." From our new episode at In These Times.

The union voted to ratify the contract by 86.3%.

24/08/2023

"You want to keep that fire burning for the next five years and beyond. You wanna keep those folks, that are just getting into this and seeing the possibilities, from giving up hope. You want them to understand that they now have the tools in their bag to make these things happen." Our new episode at The Real News Network.

With overwhelming support for the contract, the Teamsters have a major victory under their belt. But the fight doesn't stop here.

24/08/2023

On Tuesday, August 22, the Teamsters union announced that its members voted to ratify the national UPS contract by 86.3% – and with record turnout. Workers won significant raises, the abolition of the two-tier driver system, air conditioning in package cars, thousands of new full-time jobs, and more.

In our previous episode, we discussed the gains of the tentative agreement and the years of Teamsters organizing it took to make them possible, including the past year's contract campaign which built a credible strike threat. In this episode, we dug deeper into the various layers of members' reactions to the contract, as well as what's required of the membership to enforce it and build on it moving forward.

We invited Greg Kerwood, a UPSer from Local 25 in Somerville, Massachusetts, back on the show to share his point of view. Greg explained what he's heard from the membership, how social media may have distorted members' views, and why it's important to translate the disappointment of some workers – including his own – into productive organizing on the shop floor.

We also share some news on the future of The Upsurge…

On Tuesday, August 22, the Teamsters union announced that its members voted to ratify the national UPS contract by 86.3% – and with record turnout. Workers won significant raises, the abolition of the two-tier driver system, air conditioning in package cars, thousands of new full-time jobs, and mo...

22/08/2023

💥 TEAMSTERS RATIFY HISTORIC UPS CONTRACT 💥

Today, Teamsters voted by an overwhelming 86.3 percent to ratify the most historic collective bargaining agreement in the history of UPS. The five-year contract protects and rewards more than 340,000 UPS Teamsters nationwide, raising wages for full- and part-time workers, creating more full-time jobs, and securing important workplace protections, including air conditioning.

The agreement passed by the highest vote for a contract in the history of the Teamsters at UPS.

All supplemental agreements were ratified as well, except for the Local 769 LAI supplement which covers 174 members in Florida. The national master agreement will go into effect as soon as this supplement is renegotiated and ratified. The UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee will immediately meet with the company to work to resolve any outstanding issues with the supplement. Upon resolution, the adjusted supplement would be voted on by respective UPS Teamsters in-person.

“Our members just ratified the most lucrative agreement the Teamsters have ever negotiated at UPS,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry. This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention.”
https://teamster.org/2023/08/teamsters-ratify-historic-ups-contract/

11/08/2023

"I think that we’re kind of in a new moment in the Teamsters. I think it’s more reflective of a new moment in the working class and the labor movement more broadly, where workers are done with givebacks, with concessions and with living with things that we’re not willing to live with anymore." Our latest episode over at The Real News Network.

UPS Teamsters nationwide are voting on the tentative agreement for the largest private-sector labor contract in the United States. The vote will end on August 22. A majority decision will determine whether the contract is ratified, or the national negotiating committee will return to the bargaining....

10/08/2023

🪧NEW EPISODE🪧

UPS Teamsters nationwide are voting on the tentative agreement for the largest private-sector labor contract in the United States. The vote will end on August 22. A majority decision will determine whether the contract is ratified, or the national negotiating committee will return to the bargaining table and potentially call a strike.

In this episode, we explore the highlights of the tentative agreement and what its gains, such as the abolition of the driver two-tier and substantial wage increases, mean for workers' lives. We also dig into how the TA is proof that years of Teamsters organizing, including the past year's contract campaign, have reaped significant concessions from the company — something workers and other unions are already taking note of.

Lastly, we discuss why raised member expectations, the COVID pandemic, and unsustainable costs of living have left some Teamsters disappointed with the current tentative agreement — and why this may actually be encouraging.

You'll hear from two guests: Sean Orr is a UPS package car driver and elected shop steward out of Teamsters Local 705 in Chicago. He is also co-chair of the International Steering Committee of Teamsters for a Democratic Union. Al Bradbury is the editor of Labor Notes, which is a media and organizing project that has been empowering rank and file workers to put the "movement" back in the labor movement since 1979.

UPS Teamsters nationwide are voting on the tentative agreement for the largest private-sector labor contract in the United States. The vote will end on August 22. A majority decision will determine whether the contract is ratified, or the national negotiating committee will return to the bargaining....

29/07/2023

In this special July 25 live panel discussion with Teamster UPSers—a collaboration between The Real News, In These Times, and The Upsurge podcast—we hear workers' live reactions to the new tentative agreement and discuss where we go from here.

25/07/2023

Tune into The Upsurge x The Real News Network x In These Times livestream TOMORROW at 7pm ET! With a week till the strike deadline, Teamsters organizers sit down with Teddy Ostrow and Maximillian Alvarez for a special live panel on what's at stake for UPS workers and the wider labor movement.

July 31 is the deadline for UPS and the Teamsters to work out a new contract agreement. If a new contract can't be reached, it's strike time—and 340,000 work...

24/07/2023

"Nobody gives two hoots about corporate executives in Atlanta...[The public] see the driver & that’s who they relate to, & that’s who they count on to get their packages."

Since negotiations broke down on July 5, Teamsters leadership has been touring UPS facilities around the country to rally the rank-and-file.

21/07/2023

Decades of deregulation have chipped at union power in the freight industry—in order to turn it around, the Teamsters need to show non-unionized workers what a fighting union can do.

Decades of deregulation have chipped at union power in the freight industry—in order to turn it around, the Teamsters need to show non-unionized workers what a fighting union can do.

21/07/2023

🚨LIVESTREAM JULY 25
🗓SAVE THE DATE

With the July 31 UPS strike deadline fast-approaching, Teamsters organizers will sit down with The Upsurge's Teddy Ostrow, Maximillian Alvarez of The Real News Network, and In These Times for a special live panel on what's at stake for UPS workers and the wider labor movement.

July 31 is the deadline for UPS and the Teamsters to work out a new contract agreement. If a new contract can't be reached, it's strike time—and 340,000 work...

21/07/2023

🪧NEW EPISODE🪧
With one week till the strike deadline, UPS and the Teamsters have agreed to resume negotiations on July 24. A deal is still possible and workers' pressure is proving effective.

The Teamsters have already won tentative agreements on several key issues. UPS has pledged to end two-tier pay for drivers, install air conditioning in new trucks, and curtail forced overtime. But the Teamsters aren’t celebrating yet. Instead, there is cross-classification unity for the union's remaining demand: higher pay for part-time workers. If UPS refuses this demand, then, as Teamster General President Sean O’Brien puts it, they are choosing to “strike themselves.”

In the first part of this episode, we bring you to one of several rallies happening at Teamster locals all over the country. In Long Island, solidarity abounded as Sean O'Brien, Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and the new president of the UAW Shawn Fain rallied for a just contract at UPS.

Next, Rand Wilson, a Teamsters for a Democratic Union organizer from Episode 2 returns to the show, alongside Misty Baker, a ten-year part-time UPS worker out of Local 651 in Lexington, Kentucky. You'll hear about the organizing going on around the country, the remaining issues in contract negotiations, and the propaganda UPS is putting out to pit worker against worker, and worker against consumer.

With one week till the strike deadline, UPS and the Teamsters have agreed to resume negotiations on July 24. A deal is still possible and workers' pressure is proving effective. The Teamsters have already won tentative agreements on several key issues. UPS has pledged to end two-tier pay for drivers...

13/07/2023

"These negotiations are arguably the most important in generations...We are not going to continue down this path while CEOs are making tens of millions of dollars and our people are having to get government assistance just to feed their families."

Our new episode at The Real News Network.

150,000 UAW workers at the Big 3 automakers—Ford, GM, and Stellantis—could follow their UPS siblings in a strike this September.

13/07/2023

“If we don’t do this now, we won’t have another opportunity.”

Our latest episode at In These Times.

“If we don't do this now, we won't have another opportunity.”

13/07/2023

The United Auto Workers' contract negotiations at the Big 3 automakers – Ford, GM, and Stellantis – just began. Their current labor contracts expire in mid-September, and the new UAW leadership has been crystal clear: they're not afraid to take 150,000 of its members out on strike if their demands aren't met. This would be less than two months after the potential strike of 340,000 Teamsters at UPS.

In this bonus episode, we discuss the renewed militancy of the UAW, and the reform movement, Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), which shocked the labor world for taking control of the union leadership earlier this year.

There is no labor movement resurgence without the resurgence of labor in manufacturing, but the UAW has also been a leader in the upsurge of higher education organizing over the past five years.

To discuss all this, we spoke with two newly elected UAW officers: Brandon Mancilla, Director of UAW Region 9A, and Dan Vicente, Director of UAW Region 9.

The United Auto Workers' contract negotiations at the Big 3 automakers – Ford, GM, and Stellantis – just began. Their current labor contracts expire in mid-September, and the new UAW leadership has been crystal clear: they're not afraid to take 150,000 of its members out on strike if their deman...

10/07/2023

"Despite the great publicity about the fights for organizing baristas & folks at smaller companies, blue collar, large unions have not won major victories in the United States. And that’s where this can be very important." Our new episode at In These Times.

Bargaining between the Teamsters and UPS has broken down. Can they still reach a deal?

08/07/2023

Gig work is often pitched as flexible for the worker. But in reality, it’s a breakdown of standards that many Teamsters want to uphold at all costs. Even if that means going out on strike. Our new episode over at The Real News Network.

Among a flurry of problems with UPS offers to the Teamsters is the thorny issue of gig work and how it impacts workers.

07/07/2023

"With low pay, high inflation, and only three to four hours guaranteed per shift, many part-timers work multiple jobs while living in their cars, Negrete said — or worse, in homeless shelters."

In 1997, the central slogan of the Teamsters’ UPS strike was “Part-Time America Won’t Work.” Today, as the Teamsters weigh another UPS strike, part-time workers at the company say their pay and working conditions are still unbearable.

07/07/2023

📢NEW EPISODE📢

Negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters have collapsed after disagreement over part-timer wages. With less than a month from contract expiration, the largest single-employer strike in US history is looking more and more likely.

We have another two-part episode this week. First, an update on the contract campaign. The Teamsters gave UPS two deadlines for their last, best, and final offer on proposals. UPS didn't meet either of them. So the union is upping the ante with practice pickets around the country.

Could a deal materialize or is a strike imminent? We asked Stephen Franklin, a veteran journalist who is the former labor writer for the Chicago Tribune, and an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Labor and Employment Relations.

Next, a deep dive into gig work at UPS and subcontracting more broadly. The Teamsters want to rid their workforce of so-called personal vehicle drivers (PVDs), workers who deliver packages out of their private vehicles and work off a smartphone app, much like other gig workers. We spoke with UPS workers from Georgia, Utah, and California, and a former gig worker from Indiana, about why gig work and other subcontracting is an existential threat to the union.

Gig work is often pitched as flexible for the worker. But in reality, it's a breakdown of standards that many Teamsters want to uphold at all costs. Even if that means going out on strike.

Negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters have collapsed after disagreement over part-time wages. With less than a month from contract expiration, the largest single-employer strike in US history is looking more and more likely. We have another two-part episode this week. First, an update on the co...

29/06/2023

Happy Pride Month! In a new bonus episode, we're sharing the efforts that LGBTQ+ Teamsters are engaging in to fight for liberation at UPS, other Teamsters employers, the union itself, and beyond.

We spoke with Andrew Rivas, a UPS package car driver and political coordinator of Teamsters Local 533 in Reno, Nevada. He is also on the board of the relatively new Teamsters LGBTQ+ caucus. Andrew told us about the initiative, what it's like to face and fight against discrimination in the workplace, and specifically what the LGBTQ+ Caucus is demanding in the UPS contract negotiations.

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