USB supports Seamen of Greece in strike for the 3rd Day

 

PEMEN (Union of Marine Mechanics), member of PAME, decided the continuation of the strike struggle began on Tuesday 23rd, with a new 24-hour nationwide strike in all categories of ships.

They are fighting against the attack launched by shipowners and the government on their Collective Bargaining Agreements, on their organic compositions, on their insurance-pension and trade union rights.

The strike is universal in all categories of ships in all ports of the country.

At their side are workers from other sectors, expressing their solidarity.

The PEMEN union welcomes the massive - militant participation of seamen in the 48-hour nationwide - warning strike that began on Tuesday in all categories of ships and emphasizes that "shipowners, government, Ministry of Shipping, deliberately attack for the abolition of collective Contracts, Social Security, trade union rights of seamen.

This was confirmed by today's meeting of a delegation of seafarers' unions with the Minister of Shipping.

USB expresses full solidarity and sustains the strike, the struggles, the militant unions of Greece.

your fight is our fight

USB

Labor United for Class Struggle (LUCS) protests unionbusting at Amazon

 

Protests were held across the United States on February 19 and 20 in support of the drive to organize warehouse workers at the Amazon facility located in Bessimer, Alabama. The workforce is mostly African-American, and many of the workers are women. "This is our best opportunity to smash the systemic racism that exists in the U.S., and to organize in the South of the United States for the first time in over fifty years,"said Joseph Hancock, Editor of Labor Today. 

In Los Angeles, supporters of the workers at Amazon picketed the offices of the notorious union busting law firm of Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius which advises Amazon on how to keep the workers from organizing. One of the latest moves by the giant distribution company is an offer of $2,000 payment of severence if the workers resign. Election results should be known in April of this year.

The Federation of Workers in Pharmaceuticals in Greece Denounces the Blood-stained Profit Game of the Multinational Pharmaceuticals that IndustriALL Defends; La Fédération Des Employés Pharmaceutiques De GrèceDénonce Le Jeu Taché De Sang Des Profits Multinationaux Des Médicaments Défendu Par Industriall

 

Today, a year since the beginning of the pandemic, the working class all over the world is mourning more victims every day, the signs of the irreconcilable opposition of workerscapitalists have become even more obvious, industrialists and multinationals demand more sacrifices from the workers. The Pharmaceutical multinationals are sacrificing human lives on the altar of their competition for profits, patents, and contracts, while provoking by saying that they want time and cannot deliver the vaccines that have already been prepaid. This macabre sciencetrade, which is paid with human lives, is being supported by the International Trade Union Organization IndustriALL, which is controlled by the mechanism of imperialism and multinationals, the ITUC. Specifically, with its announcement on February 1: 

 IndustriALL assures bosses that "workers are ready and eager to produce all the medication" at a time when pharma multinationals are increasing exploitation of the workers with intensification of work, unpaid overtime, despicablecontracts. 

 At a time when multinationals are firing and attacking workers’ rights under the disguise of the pandemic, IndustriALL is worried about bosses' profits! Profits, that, as announced by "Pfizer", are expected to be about 15 billion dollars in sales this year only from the vaccine developed with the German "BioNTech". The value of global pharmaproduction in 2001 was estimated at 390 billion dollars and in 2019 reached 1.5 trillion dollars while at the same time the average wage of workers fell, and thousands of layoffs were made for their "restructures". While in all over the world, not only patientsdie but also doctors, health workers, workers in the pharmaceutical industry are dying of exhaustion from the underfunding of the public health system, IndustriALL blesses the "public-private cooperation " to deal with the pandemic and that this is the best "example of internationalism"! So, they say that the robbery of the people's money, of the research of the Public-State Universities and Research Centers for the profits of the monopolies is “internationalism”! 

 IndustriALL launches a dirty washing of the multinationals saying that "their attitude during the pandemic period will judge the pharma industry".So, while the Pharma multinationals continue the macabre bargain for the contracts of the patents and vaccines on the victims of the pandemic, but also while for decades they continue to profit worldwide with the patents and the expensive costing of drugs which have led to thousands ofdeaths in Africa, in Asia, but even in America and Europe, IndustriALL acts as an advertiser for those who sacrifice human lives for their profits. Characteristic is the pursuit of profit, which the popular strata pay even with their lives, as revealed by scandals such as  that of "Purdue Pharma", which last November admitted its guilt in the so-called "opioid crisis" in the US, paying a fine of 8 billion dollars. 

 "Sanofi" also hid safety data for the anticoagulant "PLAVIX" and has received lawsuits for misleading advertising from the State of Hawaii. The company's response was that there is freedom of opinion and it had no obligation to report any side effects. 

 Another illustrative case is the 'Pfizer', which in 2009 "closed" a corresponding case of illegal promotion of drugs (painkillers and drugs for mental diseases) for uses for which they had not received license (one of these, "Bextra", later withdrew)by paying the amount of 2.3 billion dollars, ie the equivalent of its approximately three weeks of sales, while it continues this tactic in the coming years as the cost of fines is a minor part of its profits. It is typical that the workers of the multinationals that produce vaccines (see AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Pfizer) at the same time are attacked by the employers and are in mobilizations. 

IndustriALL with their press release proves the dangerous role they play in disorientating the working-class movement. They want the workers to accept the logic that say that peoples will get sicker and the monopolies will gain billions from their sickness. While workers in Pharmaceuticals and healthcare workers are giving a struggle for life, IndustriALL defends the profits and the image of the monopolies.

The Federations of Workers in Pharmaceuticals in Greece denounces the macabre profit game of the Pharma monopolies that IndustriALL defends. The workers in Pharma and Healthcare, being doctors, nurses, pharmaceuticals workers, we are giving an everyday fight for the protection of the People’s Health, and not for the profits of bosses and monopolies. 

We strengthen the struggle for health and safety measures in workplaces, for hires to cover the enduring needs of the pharmaceutical production but also at the Health System, for Collective agreements with raises in wages and improvement of the working conditions. Atthesametime,we denounce and fight for the removal of the “patents”, as a status that is immediate connected with the profits of the monopolies, by sacrificing human lives.

We fight for a single state body for the production - distribution of medicines and vaccines, within an exclusively public and free healthcare system for all and the abolition of all business activity. We are fighting for a society where medicine will be a social good, in a society where people will own the wealth they produce. 

We Strengthen the Struggle for Life, Health and Workers’ Rights We do not become defenders of the bloodstained profits of multinationals. Federation of the Workers in Pharmaceuticals in Greece 

15.2.21 

___________________________________________________________________________________

La Fédération Des Employés Pharmaceutiques De GrèceDénonce Le Jeu Taché De Sang Des Profits Multinationaux Des Médicaments Défendu Par Industriall

Maintenant que la classe ouvrière de tous les pays pleure de plus en plus de victimes chaque jour, un an depuis le début de la pandémie, qui a rendu encore plus visibles les signes de l'opposition irréconciliable entre les travailleurs - patrons, les industriels et les multinationales demandent encore plus de sacrifices par les employés. 

Les multinationales des médicaments sacrifient des vies humaines sur l'autel de leur concurrence pour les profits, les brevets et les contrats et aujourd'hui elles provoquent en disant qu'elles veulent du temps et ne peuvent pas obtenir les vaccins déjà payés d'avance. Ce commerce macabre de la science, payé en vies humaines, est soutenu par l'Organisation syndicale internationale IndustriALL, qui est contrôlée par le corps de l'impérialisme et des multinationales, la CSI. Plus précisément, dans son annonce du 1er février: 

 IndustriALL assure aux patrons que "les travailleurs sont prêts à produire des vaccins et des médicaments" à un moment où les multinationales de lamédicament intensifient l'exploitation des travailleurs avec une intensification, des heures supplémentaires non rémunérées, des contrats inacceptables 

 Au moment où les multinationales licencient et attaquent les droits des travailleurs sous prétexte de pandémie, IndustriALL s'inquiète des profits des patrons! Les bénéfices, comme annoncé par "Pfizer", s'attendent à environ 15 milliards de dollars de chiffre d'affaires cette année uniquement grâce au vaccin développé avec l'allemand "BioNTech". La valeur de la production mondiale du médicament en 2001 était estimée à 390 milliards de dollars et en 2019 atteignait 1,5 billion de dollars alors que dans le même temps le salaire moyen des travailleurs baissait, et des milliers de licenciements étaient faits pour leurs "réorganisations".

Dans tous les pays, à cause du sous-financement du système de santé publique,à part des patients, meurent d'épuisement aussi les médecins, les agents de santé, les travailleurs du médicament et en même temps IndustriALL bénit les "partenariats public-privé" pour faire face à la pandémie et que c'est la meilleur "échantillon d'internationalisme"! C'est-à-dire le vol de l'argent du peuple, la recherche des universités publiques et des centres de recherche au profit des monopoles! IndustriALL procède à un rinçage immoral des multinationales disant que "leur attitude pendant la pandémie jugera l'industrie pharmaceutique". Alors que les multinationales de l'industrie pharmaceutique poursuivent le marché macabre pour les contrats de brevets et de vaccins en puisant dans les victimes de la pandémie et en continuant à faire des bénéfices à l'échelle mondiale avec des brevets et des prix de médicaments coûteux qui ont conduit à des centaines de morts en Asie, mais même en Amérique et en Europe, IndustriALL agit comme un agent publicitaire pour ceux qui sacrifient des vies humaines pour leurs profits.

 Il est caractéristique que la chasse au profit est payée par les couches populaires même avec leur vie, comme le révèlent des scandales tels que 

 Celui de Purdue Pharma, qui en novembre dernier a plaidé coupable de la soi-disant «crise des opioïdes» aux États-Unis, en payant une amende de 8 milliards de dollars.  "Sanofi" a également caché des données d'erreur pour l'anticoagulant "PLAVIX" et a reçu des poursuites pour publicité trompeuse de l'État d'Hawaï. La société a répondu qu'il y avait une liberté d'opinion et qu'elle n'avait aucune obligation de signaler les effets secondaires. 

 Un autre exemple est "Pfizer", qui en 2009 a "fermé" une affaire correspondante de promotion illégale de médicaments (analgésiques et médicaments contre la maladie mentale) pour des usages non autorisés (l'un d'entre eux, "Bextra", qui s'est ensuite retiré), en payant $ 2,3 milliards, soit l'équivalent d'environ trois semaines de ventes, et continuera de le faire dans les années à venir, car le coût des amendes est plusieurs fois supérieur à ses bénéfices. Il est typique que les salariés des multinationales qui produisent des vaccins (Astra Zeneca, Sanofi-Pfizer) en même temps acceptent l'attaque des employeurs et se mobilisent. IndustriALL avec son annonce prouve son rôle dangereux dans la désorientation du mouvement ouvrier. Il veut promouvoir l'acceptation par les travailleurs de la logique selon laquelle les gens tomberont malades et les monopoles gagneront des milliards grâce à leur maladie. À l'heure où les travailleurs de l'industrie pharmaceutique et de la santé se battent pour leur vie, IndustriALL défend ses profits et l'image des monopoles. 

La Fédération des Employés Pharmaceutiques et Professionnels Associés de Grèce dénonce le jeu taché de sang des profits multinationaux de lamédicament défendu par Industriall. Les travailleurs de l'industrie pharmaceutique et de la santé, qu'ils soient médecins, infirmiers, travailleurs pharmaceutiques, se battent pour la protection de la santé du peuple, non pour les profits des patrons et des monopoles. Nous renforçons la lutte pour des mesures d'hygiène et de sécurité sur le lieu de travail, pour des recrutements pour répondre aux besoins de longue date de la production de médicaments mais aussi dans le système de santé, pour des conventions collectives avec des augmentations et une amélioration des conditions de travail. En même temps, nous dénonçons et luttons pour l'abolition des «brevets», en tant que régime directement lié aux profits des monopoles, sacrifiant des vies humaines. Nous revendiquons un organisme d'État unique pour la production - distribution de médicaments et de vaccins, dans un système de santé exclusivement public et gratuit pour tous et l'abolition de toutes les activités commerciales. Nous luttons pour une société où la médecine sera un bien social, dans une société où les gens domineront la richesse qu'ils produisent. Nous renforçons la lutte pour la vie, la santé et les droits des travailleurs Nous ne devenons pas les défenseurs des profits sanglants des multinationales .

Fédération des Employés Pharmaceutiques de Grèce 

California Bill Aims to Regulate Amazon’s Relentless Warehouse Worker Quotas

 

One of California's most influential legislators has introduced a bill that would regulate warehouse productivity quotas from Walmart, Amazon, and other major retailers.

By Lauren Kaori Gurley

A California bill aims to regulate quotas for warehouse workers who labor under relentless productivity requirements from Amazon, Walmart, and other major retailers. 

On Tuesday, California assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, one of California's most influential legislators who has written several high-profile bills targeting tech companies' labor practices, introduced the bill. Called AB 701, it would require companies that run warehouses to provide workers with a written description of "the quantified number of tasks to be performed, or materials to be produced or handled" within a given time period. 

The logistics companies would also have to disclose any disciplinary action against workers that could result from failing to meet production quotas. Retaliating against workers outside of these disclosures would become illegal. 

"This bill is aimed at Amazon's business model, which is to profit off workers who continue to be pressured to fulfill orders quicker," Gonzalez told Motherboard. “They need more protections at work. The injury rate at Amazon is twice the average the industry rate." 

This legislation arrives as e-commerce giants like Amazon have made record profits during the pandemic and online retail has boomed. This growth (and the explosion of other companies' online businesses, such as Walmart) has been built on the backs of warehouse workers. Workers at both Amazon and Walmart complain about crushing workloads and time constraints that have been put in place to make the companies' respective two-day and next-day delivery times, according to organizers at the Warehouse Worker Resource Center. 

Recent studies and investigations show that Amazon requires workers to scan hundreds of items an hour, penalizing and terminating workers for failing to keep up with quotas, which is marked as "time-off-task." 

The result of Amazon's drive for productivity has been widespread and debilitating injuries. According to a report in Reveal, Amazon's records show that its warehouse workers are injured at twice the rate of others in the warehouse industry and three times the rate of other private employers. Between 2016 and 2019, injury rates in Amazon warehouses increased by 33 percent, particularly with the implementation of robots. The most common Amazon warehouse injuries are musculoskeletal, such as sprains, strains and tears, according to the National Employment Law Project and the Athena Coalition.

Gonzalez's bill—which has received backing from unions, labor advocacy groups, and workers centers—also aims to tackle warehouse worker injuries. The bill requires that the state's workplace health and safety agency, CAL/OSHA, introduce "a standard that minimizes the risk of illness and injury among employees working in warehouse distribution centers that employ production quotas." 

During the pandemic, Amazon claimed to temporarily drop its productivity expectations, but warehouse workers across the country complained that pressures to produce quickly kept them from social distancing, washing their hands, and cleaning their workstations. 

"One of the reasons we structured the bill this way is that Amazon would have to put in writing what their quotas are, which sometimes they deny having," Gonzalez said. "Those expectations fluctuate and change. Having Amazon putting them in writing would help OSHA to establish a safe work environment. Right now there’s so little to go on. We need data."

Gonzalez has written laws to expand the rights of Amazon warehouse workers, janitors, and farmworkers. In 2020, she received national recognition as the architect of a law, known as AB5, that required gig economy companies to reclassify their workers as employees. Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash spent tens of millions on a 2020 California ballot initiative, known as Prop 22, to exempt themselves from the law. 

Big Education Demonstrations all over Greece No Police in Schools-Money for Education not Oppression

Thessaloniki: https://youtu.be/UZTJAMw8AU8

 Thousands of students, teachers and unions all over Greece demonstrated yesterday, Wednesday February 10 all over Greece demanding the withdrawal of the Education Bill that will impose Police inside Universities and further the privatization of Education and the new class barriers. PAME unions supported the demonstrations and the demands of the students.New demonstrations are to take place today, in spite of the restrictions.

Kera Peterson: To build back better, pass the PRO Act

 

Kera Peterson is president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.

Millions of working people and their families are hurting in America right now. We’ve seen it firsthand at the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, as our nonprofit Labor Studies and Resource Center has begun coordinating free food-distribution events with local unions. At four events so far, union volunteers have distributed thousands of packages of fresh food to families in need. During events at the Labor Center, the line of vehicles often spilled out of our parking lot and into West 7th Street.

These were families bearing the brunt of multiple crises facing our country right now: the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic collapse, chronic income inequality and systemic racism. While working Americans worry about eviction notices, job losses and exhausting their paid time off, U.S. billionaires are amassing even more wealth – over $1 trillion, combined, during the pandemic so far.

From Day 1 our federal government’s pandemic response has been bungled. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned on a promise that we, as one nation, will build back even better than before.

At a time when working people are holding our country together, we have to do better than building back an economy where the rules are still rigged against us. The new administration understands that. The American people, who voted decisively and in record numbers to reject the politics of darkness and division, understand that too.

So what does building back better look like? It starts with direct and significant economic relief for workers and small businesses on Main Street, not Wall Street. Our local governments need aid too, as revenue shortfalls caused by the pandemic could force many to make steep cuts to services more essential than ever right now, like public health and public safety. And job losses resulting from cuts to public services would only deepen our economic crisis.

Building back better also means restoring fairness to our economy. It means leveling the playing field and giving working people more power to join together and bargain better wages, benefits and working conditions. Congress can do that by sending the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act to President-elect Biden’s desk in the coming months.

The most significant labor legislation in 80 years, the PRO Act would address several weaknesses in our federal labor laws, giving workers more bargaining power on the job. It would put teeth into rules prohibiting employers from retaliating against workers who try to form a union. It would require employers to disclose payments they make to union-busting law firms and consultants brought in to stifle workers’ voices. It would speed up the organizing-election process and establish a mechanism for workers and employers to arrive at a first contract quickly after an organizing drive.

House Democrats passed the PRO Act last February, but it never stood a chance in Mitch McConnell’s Senate. Today, members of Congress introduced the PRO Act again, and President Biden, who has said he wants his to be “the most significant pro-labor, pro-worker administration” ever, has pledged support for the measure. It’s encouraging to see that two congresswomen from our area, Reps. Betty McCollum and Angie Craig, are co-sponsors of the bill.

But the ideals behind the PRO Act – collective bargaining, a voice on the job, the belief that all work has dignity – are not Democratic or Republican. They are American ideals. It’s time for our leaders to put politics aside, to think big and to act boldly. Click here to tell your representatives to make the PRO Act a reality.

Our labor movement stands ready to build back better, together.

– Kera Peterson is president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.

Following The Applause, The Government Calls On The "Health Heroes" In The Security

 

A year after the hypocritical calls for applause, the government is now calling on the "health heroes" for questioning by the Police and proves that its response to the tragic shortages of hospitals in the midst of a pandemic is the persecution of healthcare unionists. In another provocative move, amid the pandemic, the government is seeking to silence any voice that reveals its dangerous policy of managing the situation. In recent days, the presidents of doctors’ and hospitals' unions (OENGE-National Federation of Doctors of Public Hospitals of Greece) have been receiving calls for questioning by the Police because they mobilized and demanded the recruitment of doctors, and protection material for healthcare workers and doctors.

The government, in the face of the third wave of the pandemic, a year after its outbreak, has funded billions to big business, tourism groups, and aviation companies. They ran to buy police and repression equipment and want to bring thousands of special guards, cameras and police to Universities, Metro, and wherever else they can imagine. But they insist on not hiring drivers for public transport, teachers for schools, and medical staff for hospitals!

In order to defend its barbaric policy that sacrifices the life and health of the people for the profits of the few, it launches a mechanism of intimidation and repression against those who oppose it. As the Iron Heel, it legislates night and day measures against anyone who fights and claims, prohibits demonstrations, seeks to silence and intimidate any demanding voice.

In the face of bans, violence and intimidation, the workers-popular movement has already given a thunderous response on May 1, November 17, to the recent mass mobilizations of youth and teachers. The responsibility of healthcare workers is on the person who suffers. The duty of the workers movement is Indiscipline and Struggle against anti-workers’ policies and prohibitions. Persecutions and intimidations will follow the path of the previous prohibitions and bans… in the wastebasket of history We call on all trade unions to express their solidarity with the Presidents of the health trade unions. Strengthen our fight to protect our health and our rights. 

5.2.21

Community rallies around refinery workers as Marathon lockout enters third week

Gov. Tim Walz rallies with locked-out refinery workers in St. Paul Park.

ST. PAUL PARK – As picketing at the refinery in this small, suburban community entered a third week, members of Teamsters Local 120 and Gov. Tim Walz ratcheted up the pressure on Marathon last night with a rally highlighting workers’ safety concerns.

Each day the lockout continues, Local 120 steward Tylor Sardeson warned, Marathon is putting its workers and surrounding communities at risk.

“We’re on this side of the fence,” said Sardeson, a crude operator at the facility. “It’s the wrong side of the fence to make sure this place stays safe.”

Nearly 200 Teamsters are standing together to resist the company’s demand for dramatically different staffing inside the refinery, including the ability to replace union members with workers from lowest-bidder subcontractors.

“They’re going to add more jobs to my plate, and I don’t even feel comfortable with the ones I have right now,” Local 120 steward Dean Benson said. “Safely, it’s just not possible.”

Walz listened as workers and family members laid out the stakes of contract negotiations with Marathon. Rhiannon Sklavenitis fought back tears as she recalled a serious burn injury her husband suffered at the refinery, which left her more afraid for his safety than when he was deployed into combat with the Navy.

The governor then took the stage and called on Marathon “to get back to the table” and “make sure safety is at the center” of talks. He praised union members for taking a stand.

“It’s about the safety of this community,” Walz said. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that.”

Rally in support of @Teamsters120 locked out by Marathon underway in Saint Paul Park. Nearly 200 union members have been locked out of their jobs for 2 weeks. They accuse the company of refusing to bargain over safety on the job and for the community pic.twitter.com/2Dx7Rzojfg

— Union Advocate (@unionadvocate) February 5, 2021

http://advocate.stpaulunions.org/2021/02/05/community-rallies-around-refinery-workers-as-marathon-lockout-enters-third-week/ 

Elected officials have tread a beaten track to St. Paul Park since the work stoppage began, offering their support to Teamsters on the picket line. Some lawmakers have taken managers at the refinery to task for locking out experienced workers.

U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, in a letter to local Marathon executive Amy Macak, noted ownership of the refinery has changed multiple times in recent years, but its “dependable, highly-skilled, local union-represented workforce” has been a constant presence.

“The breakdown of contract negotiations and use of outside contractors by Marathon raises serious questions about safety,” McCollum wrote, adding that the 2018 explosion at Husky Energy’s refinery in Superior, Wis., serves as a “grave reminder of the need to maintain the highest standards for safety.”

Members of other local unions are showing their solidarity with locked-out Teamsters as well, joining them on the picket line, providing food and other supplies, and contributing to workers’ defense fund.

“There are a whole bunch of unions in this crowd,” Kera Peterson, president of the 66,000-member St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, told locked-out workers during the rally. “This fight is Minnesota’s fight, and we are with you in this for the long haul, as long as it takes.”

That’s @SenTinaSmith greeting @Teamsters on the picket line at Marathon’s St Paul Park refinery this morning. Nearly 200 members of @Teamsters120 are in the 2nd week of a ULP strike to protect good, safe jobs at the facility pic.twitter.com/Yy54nTSdYw

— Union Advocate (@unionadvocate) January 30, 2021

Teamsters who work at the St. Paul Park refinery – electricians, operators, maintenance and other workers – originally went on strike Jan. 21, three weeks after their union contract expired.

After 24 hours on the picket line, striking workers offered to return to their jobs, but they were turned away at the gate – a move Local 120 President Tom Erickson called the most reckless he’s seen in 30 years negotiating contracts.

The two sides have held at least one bargaining session since the lockout began. But like the 24 sessions leading up to the lockout, it was negotiations in name only, union members said.

Jim Swanson, an electrician at the refinery, told U.S. Sen. Tina Smith on the picket line Saturday that union members make sure to bring their phones into bargaining, so they have something to read after the company’s negotiators walk out of the room.

Local 120 members Luke Naber and Tyler Sardeson demonstrate outside the Speedway in St. Paul Park, informing potential customers about the refinery lockout.

“They just haven’t negotiated at all,” Swanson said. “It seemed like they had an agenda right from the beginning. I think they planned to not even negotiate and have us go on strike.

“We never brought up money once,” he added. “I don’t think anybody here is concerned about money. It’s issues in the refinery – safety stuff and trying to eliminate positions.”

As the lockout drags on, Local 120 members have begun following trucks from the refinery to local freight yards and Speedway gas stations, looking to raise awareness of the lockout.

While they cannot legally call for a boycott of Speedway, workers can advise potential customers that the fuel being sold crossed a picket line, and that the company has locked out workers whose training and experience keeps St. Paul Park and its surrounding communities safe.

“We don’t want the Husky incident to happen here,” Sardeson said. “I live in Cottage Grove. My children go to school here in Cottage Grove. It’s very important to me that the facility stays running and stays safe.”

60+ Groups and Unions to Senate Democrats: End Harmful 'Gridlock and Dysfunction' by Eliminating the Filibuster

 "It is truly outrageous that we still allow a partisan minority to block legislation at will and wholly prevent our government from functioning. Kill the filibuster."

by

Jake Johnson, staff writer

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a 

press conference about student debt outside the U.S. Capitol 

on February 4, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

A diverse coalition of more than 60 progressive advocacy organizations and labor 

unions representing millions of people across the U.S. sent a letter Friday urging

Senate Democrats to eliminate the legislative filibuster, a procedural relic that the 

groups describe as a "weapon of pure partisan gridlock" and a major obstacle to 

necessary change.

Addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the letter (pdf) from Fix

 Our Senate, Stand Up America, the Sunrise Movement, the Communications Workers 

of America, and dozens of other groups argues that nuking the filibuster "would not be a 

radical step, but a pragmatic response to gridlock and obstruction to help senators 

deliver for their constituents."

"People want a government that works for them, not just the wealthy, well-connected,

and entrenched special interest groups," the letter reads. "That is why we are reaching

out... to call on Senate Democrats to move quickly to fix the broken Senate and 

eliminate the filibuster as a tool that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.]

can use to nullify the results of the election and block progress on popular legislation 

supported by a majority of senators and a majority of the American people."

The letter, first reported by NBC News, comes on the heels of the Senate's marathon

 "vote-a-rama" session, an absurd spectacle of largely meaningless votes required under

 the filibuster-proof reconciliation process, which Democrats are using to push through a

 coronavirus relief package without needing support from obstructionist Republicans.

"It would be easier just to end the filibuster," the grassroots group People for 

Bernie tweeted early Friday morning as the "vote-a-rama" process—which ultimately 

lasted more than 14 hours—dragged on.

New York magazine's Ed Kilgore echoed that point Friday, calling "vote-a-rama" the

 "price Democrats must pay to avoid the filibuster."

"The Senate will get to go through another vote-a-rama later, assuming the budget 

resolution passes and a reconciliation bill is brought to the floor," Kilgore wrote. 

"Avoiding one of the Senate's ludicrous traditions (the filibuster) means indulging

 another."

While Democrats may succeed in passing a robust coronavirus relief package through 

budget reconciliation, the rules of the process would prevent the majority party from 

using it to approve other key priorities, from voting rights legislation to regulations aimed 

at fighting the climate crisis.

Spotlighting the constraints of the expedited budget process, HuffPost reported earlier

 this week that Democrats will likely be forced to drop paid family and medical leave from

 their coronavirus package because it probably would not survive reconciliation rules, 

which require provisions to have a direct budgetary impact.

"You can pass $1,400 checks through budget reconciliation, but you can't pass

 emergency paid leave," New York Times columnist Ezra Klein noted Thursday. "When 

Congress writes laws through budget reconciliation, it writes them with one arm tied 

behind its back."

Scrapping the filibuster, and thereby allowing the majority party to legislate without such 

restrictions, would require the backing of the entire Senate Democratic caucus plus a tie-

breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris—a level of support Democrats don't

currently have, given persistent opposition from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and 

Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and skepticism from others.

In their letter, the coalition of 62 progressive organizations argues that transformative 

progress will only be possible if Senate Democrats unite to change the chamber's rules

 and "end the gridlock and dysfunction."

"The best way to restore a functioning Senate," the letter states, "is to eliminate the

 filibuster as a weapon the minority can use to block an agenda that a majority of

 Americans have just embraced at the ballot box."

Read the full letter:

Dear Majority Leader Chuck Schumer:

Voters across the country have made their voices heard loud and clear

         culminating in the strong message that was recently delivered in Georgia.

         People want a government that works for them, not just the wealthy, well-

         connected, and entrenched special interest groups. They are sick and tired of the 

         gridlock and dysfunction that is keeping the system rigged against them and their 

         families and is preventing progress on the many critical issues facing our nation.

The results of this election have unlocked the door to change, but another

          clear obstacle remains: the rules of the United States Senate that allow a

          partisan minority to block legislation and will prevent the Senate from

         governing and delivering on the promises they made to voters if they are left

         in place.

 

         To be clear, the filibuster was never intended to be used and abused the way

         it has been over the past decade. Despite what some will claim, the filibuster

         isn't in the Constitution. The framers were explicitly trying to avoid supermajority 

        requirements for legislation, and until recently, the filibuster was only very rarely

        used to block ordinary legislation supported by the majority of senators. The 

        notable exception, of course, was its deplorable use as a tool to block civil rights, 

        voting rights, and anti-lynching bills, which is why President Barack Obama 

        correctly referred to it as a "Jim Crow relic" that should be eliminated if it stands in 

        the way of securing the rights of every American.

 

Even those of us who have supported the filibuster in the past now see clearly

         that it has become something very different in recent years. If the filibuster

         was ever effective in promoting bipartisanship and compromise, that is clearly 

         no longer the case as use of the filibuster has skyrocketed while bipartisanship and

        consensus has plummeted. The filibuster has become a weapon of pure partisan

        gridlock and its abuse is a big part of what has broken the Senate.

 

        That is why we are reaching out on behalf of our millions of members across

        the country to call on Senate Democrats to move quickly to fix the broken

        Senate and eliminate the filibuster as a tool that Senate Republican Leader

        Mitch McConnell can use to nullify the results of the election and block

        progress on popular legislation supported by a majority of senators and a

        majority of the American people.

 

This would not be a radical step, but a pragmatic response to gridlock and

          obstruction to help senators deliver for their constituents. Senate rules have

          been changed many times over the years. In 2013, the Senate took some

          initial steps to end the partisan blockade of President Obama’s nominees.

 

And just since 2017, the Republican majority eliminated the filibuster on

         Supreme Court nominees in order to confirm President Trump’s picks, and

 

then changed the rules again to reduce the debate time for other nominees,

 

including District Court judges appointed to lifetime terms. The Republican

 

majority also made use of the budget reconciliation process, first used in

 

1980, to pass their tax bill with a simple majority. And most recently, they

 

changed the so-called "McConnell rule" to advance President Trump's

 

Supreme Court nominee  just weeks before an election after refusing to

 

advance President Obama's nominee during the final year of his term.

 

We urge Senate Democrats, under your leadership, to take speedy action to

 

fix the broken Senate and make progress possible by changing the rules to

 

end the gridlock and dysfunction. The best way to restore a functioning

 

Senate is to eliminate the filibuster as a weapon the minority can use to block

 

an agenda that a majority of Americans have just embraced at the ballot box.

 

Thank you.