Graduate Employee Strike at UO and Fighting for Worker Control w/ Lola Loustaunau

The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF 3544) has authorized a strike to begin on November 4, 2019 at the University of Oregon. More than 1,000 workers authorized the strike after 11 months of intense negotiations with university management.

Lola Loustaunau, a graduate employee and member of GTFF, discusses the strategy GTFF has adopted for their collective bargaining efforts, the reasons the strike has been authorized, and the broader experience these negotiations have had on fellow workers and union members.

She also provides personal insights into how public universities are using a post-Janus environment as an opportunity to try to discipline and destroy higher ed unions, and for these reasons along with many others unions need to recommit to a vision of fundamentally transforming society and ending exploitation.

We also had a brief interview with Erin Kanzig, VP of Bargaining for the Coalition of Graduate Employees (CGE 6069) about their current collective bargaining efforts and their goals in bargaining.

#gtff3544 #cge6069 #giveusanedraise #strike #1u #lolaloustaunau #alexriccio #erinkanzig #theeohsees #universityoforegon

State of Unions after Janus with Bill Fletcher, Jr

We spoke with Bill Fletcher, Jr on the need for "social justice unionism" in a post-Janus United States.

Bill Fletcher Jr is a long-time labor leader and author of multiple books, including Solidarity Divided: The Crisis In Organized Labor And A New Path Toward Social Justice (co-author Dr. Fernando Gapasin) and a new mystery thriller The Man Who Fell From The Sky.

In our interview, Fletcher Jr discusses the need for "social justice unionism" in a post-Janus United States. Workers are becoming increasingly atomized in the US, and the state continues to rollback any investments into the reproductive labor that stitches society together. The moment, as Fletcher Jr states, that organized labor can seize for victory is almost over. We might not get another moment.

What role do teachers strikes, worker-owned businesses, and housing cooperatives play in seizing this current moment? How do the rank and file push labor leadership to understand that we cannot continue doing "business as usual" despite not being knocked out by Janus right away?

More Info: Bill Fletcher Jr billfletcherjr.com/

A Conversation With Bill Fletcher Jr laborcenter.berkeley.edu/conversation…ll-fletcher/

Women Are Leading The Wave of Strikes in America. Here's Why. ~Tithi Bhattacharya www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2…strikes-america

#socialjustice #unions #billfletcher #janus #agencyfees #democrats

Women's Strike, Reconsidered with Marianne Garneau

We spoke with Marianne Garneau, editor of Organizing Work, on why for strikes to be effective they must have specific targets tied to specific demands within a larger strategic plan, and how all of these features are absent from the International Women's Strike, so far.

#iws #mariannegarneau #organizingwork #iww #strikes #unions