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Unionized NYC Legal Workers Hold Longest Strike in Over Two Decades

New York, New York – Seeking to strengthen high-quality free legal services for New Yorkers and fight high turnover, union members of Mobilization for Justice (MFJ), a nonprofit legal services organization, hit a historic landmark this week as their strike enters its seventh week. The strike is the longest legal services walk-out in New York City history since 2003, when unionized MFJ staffers held a nine-week long strike.

The Union is fighting for a fair and dignified contract to maintain its quality of free legal services to New Yorkers by addressing MFJ’s unprecedented staff attrition rate. The strike has garnered support from state and national elected officials, such as U.S. Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who joined the picket line last week. Labor leaders have also joined the strikers in their demands that MFJ offer a fair contract. In a rally in North Carolina last week, UAW International President Shawn Fain issued a stern rebuke against MFJ Management’s union busting: “the management at MFJ is a disgrace and they are betraying the values that they claim to hold dear. But I know one thing: our members are strong, that the community’s behind them, and that they are going to win!”

In 2003, Mobilization for Justice (then known as MFY Legal Services) staffers struck for nine weeks when Management offered a contract which would eliminate spousal/partner health coverage. Chaumtoli Huq, an Associate Professor at CUNY School of Law and former MFJ staff attorney, was part of the 2003 strike. Professor Huq said that the proposed healthcare cuts would have disproportionately affected lower-paid, BIPOC workers. “I was pregnant with my son during the 2003 strike. Cutting my spousal health care would have meant that I would have had to pay more out-of-pocket expenses for family care. Legal services workers should have a right to support our loved ones, especially when we make so little money.” Professor Huq said that she “absolutely” supports the ongoing strike and Union members’ demands for a fair contract. “MFJ’s corporate board has forgotten an important lesson from the 2003 strike. You cannot strip frontline workers’ healthcare benefits and pay and expect them to take it without a fight.”

The current strike comes in the context of the worst homelessness crisis in modern New York City history, increasing evictions of poor and working-class tenants, and the unprecedented need for legal services for immigrants given recent waves of mass migration of asylum-seekers and refugees. Striking workers from MFJ include attorneys, paralegals, and social workers who advocate and represent these individuals in courts and in front of city, state, and federal agencies every day when working. “MFJ Union members are at the courts multiple days each week as part of our strike-focused Court Watch. We’re watching, with heartbreak for our clients, as MFJ managers clearly cannot handle the caseloads,” said Craig Hughes, social worker at MFJ’s Bronx office. “Executive Director Tiffany Liston has prolonged a strike on the backs of the clients MFJ is sworn to support. She is clearly indifferent to what happens to our clients, frontline staff, middle management, and the sustainability of the organization as a result.” He continued, “seven weeks in and MFJ is falling apart. Where is the leadership?”

Union members say that MFJ Management has delayed resolution of their contract negotiations, engaged in unfair labor practices, and mounted an aggressive union busting campaign. MFJ Management terminated staff healthcare without notice to staff hours after the Union declared a strike. This sudden, unannounced interruption in benefits caused Union members significant problems, including a Senior Staff Attorney whose three-year-old child was hospitalized with Leukemia. MFJ Management did not return to the bargaining table until the fourth week of the strike. MFJ Management also hired temporary strikebreakers to cover the labor shortage. Union members say that the untrained strike breakers are unable to adequately cover the organization’s caseload, which reached over 15,000 last year. Members expressed concerns that MFJ Management’s prolonged refusal to bargain in good faith will negatively impact their clients.


The MFJ Union will be picketing at the following locations this week:

– Wednesday, April 10, 1pm to 3pm: Bronx Housing Court (1118 Grand Concourse)
– Friday, April 12, 9:30am to 11:30am: MFJ Manhattan office (100 William Street)





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UAW, C.E.A.S.E. Claim Casino Smoking Exemption Unconstitutional in New Lawsuit

New Jersey – For 18 years casino workers in Atlantic City have been excluded from New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act – in violation of their Constitutional rights. New Jersey has allowed casinos to knowingly force employees to work in toxic conditions that have caused life-threatening illness and death.

Together the UAW and C.E.A.S.E. (Casino Employees Against Smoking’s (Harmful) Effects) represent workers at every casino in Atlantic City. They ask the Court to void the exemption in a lawsuit which seeks immediate injunctive relief, filed today by Nancy Erika Smith, Esq., of Montclair’s Smith Mullin.

“For almost two decades casino workers have been fighting for the same legal protections that other New Jersey workers have, the right to work in a place free of toxic smoke,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “UAW and C.E.A.S.E. members have fought tirelessly to get lawmakers to do the right thing, but politicians have chosen to protect corporate profits over workers’ health. Today, we put an end to that and ask the court to respect the right of workers to breathe clean air on the job.”

Today’s lawsuit argues that the current exemption for casino workers from the Smoke-Free Air Act violates the New Jersey State Constitution on three grounds:

First, the New Jersey Constitution guarantees that “all persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are… pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.” Casino workers have been denied their right to safety.

Second, the Constitution also makes clear that the “Legislature shall not pass any special laws… or grant to any corporation … any exclusive privilege [or] immunity…” In this case, rich corporate casinos are excluded from the Smoke-Free Air Act, giving them the exclusive right to endanger the lives of their workers.

Third, this exemption from a law designed to protect workers from smoke also denies casino workers their right to equal protection.

“The CDC has found that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that the harmful effects are felt within 60 minutes of exposure. Casino workers have been sickened and died as a result of that exposure while other workers in New Jersey are protected against being poisoned at work,” said the workers’ lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith Esq. “We have taken this fight out of back room ‘money talks’ politics and put it in the courts where we are confident that the judge will find that casinos cannot knowingly poison their employees in the pursuit of profits. It’s immoral and legally indefensible.

“Attorney General Matt Platkin bravely refused to defend an unconstitutional law recently – we ask him to do the same here. We also ask Governor Murphy to restore these workers’ right to safety, which he can do today. Finally, Acting Commissioner of Health Baston enforces the Smoke-Free Air Act and, as the Commissioner of Health, she can refuse to enforce a law that endangers the health of workers.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure, with harmful, inflammatory and respiratory effects produced within 60 minutes. 

“For casino executives, if you put on the uniform of a dealer, slot tech, bartender, server, maintenance person or housekeeper, the bosses are fine with you getting cancer and dying. It’s the cost of doing business,” said Daniel Vicente, Director of U.A.W Region 9. “The UAW will never be able to out-spend these executives, some making more than 10 million dollars a year. We can, however, take the fight for working people’s health and safety to a fairer playing field – one unbeholden to campaign donations or big money PACs. We are proud to stand with C.E.A.S.E. NJ and bring this fight out of the legislature and into the judiciary. We look forward to seeing all of you coming out publicly and telling the people of New Jersey why our lives don’t matter as much as yours.”

Statement of support from Senator Joseph Vitale can be found here.

Related economic materials proving there is no financial excuse for casinos to poison their workers can be found here.

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Mercedes-Benz Workers in Alabama File for Union Election as Southern Autoworkers Stand Up to Join the UAW

VANCE, Ala. – A supermajority of Mercedes-Benz workers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a vote to join the UAW. The over 5,000 workers at the Mercedes plant outside Tuscaloosa, Ala., are the second group of Southern autoworkers to call for a union election in less than three weeks. Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., filed for their election in mid-March and will have their vote to join the UAW April 17–19.  

A new video announcing the election filing at Mercedes features the Alabama autoworkers at a recent rally with UAW President Shawn Fain. In the video, Mercedes workers speak out on why they’re voting yes to join the UAW. (The media is invited to use footage from the video.) 

In a statement today, Jeremy Kimbrell, a measurement machine operator at Mercedes, said, “We are standing up for every worker in Alabama. At Mercedes, at Hyundai and at hundreds of other companies, Alabama workers have made billions of dollars for executives and shareholders, but we haven’t gotten our fair share. We’re going to turn things around with this vote. We’re going to end the Alabama discount.” 

“We are voting for safer jobs at Mercedes,” said Moesha Chandler, an assembly team member at Mercedes. “I’m still young, but I’m already having serious problems with my shoulders and hands. When you’re still in your twenties and your body is breaking down, that’s not right. By winning our union, we’ll have the power to make the work safer and more sustainable.” 

Mercedes management is running an aggressive anti-union campaign, but that has not blunted the workers’ momentum. By late February, less than two months after Mercedes workers went public with their drive to join the UAW, a majority of them had signed union cards. The Mercedes workers hope to be voting in their union election by early May. The NLRB is expected to quickly set the date for the election.  

The UAW has filed federal labor charges against Mercedes for illegal union busting, as well as charges in a German court for labor violations that could net billions in penalties for the German automaker. 

“We’re going to make Mercedes better with this vote,” said Jacob Ryan, a KVP team member at Mercedes. “Right now, the company keeps losing good people because they force them to work Saturdays at the last second, to take shifts that mess with their family lives. And the only choice people have is to take it or quit. With the union, we’ll have a voice for fair schedules that keep workers at Mercedes.” 

The Mercedes workers are part of the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies. Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

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U.S. Department of Energy Announces Final Rule for Distribution Transformers, in Major Win for UAW Members

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced its final rule for energy conservation standards for distribution transformers, preserving over 1,000 good union jobs in Western Pennsylvania, after UAW members spoke out about the impact of the DOE’s actions. 

“Today’s announcement from the Department of Energy is a victory for the 1,100 members of UAW Local 3303 in Butler, Pennsylvania,” said Jamie Sychak, President, UAW Local 3303. “It has been a very long and trying year for Local 3303 and our plant. At the outset of this rule, we faced a plant closure. As they say, that which does not kill us makes us stronger, and we’re a testament to that. We fought to protect our jobs, our plant, and our community. And today, we won. The DOE’s final rule ensures a viable pathway for UAW-made steel to supply the transformer market long into the future. Throughout this process, we worked closely with Cliffs, our UAW leadership, local, state, federal officials, and the DOE to provide feedback on the proposed rule. Because of the strength of our union, labor is recognized today as a key stakeholder on the policies and decisions of our government. We are grateful that the highest levels our federal government recognize that the workers of America — the people that make this country go — have a voice and must be heard on the matters that affect them and our nation.” 

“Today’s announcement of the final rule from D.O.E. regarding electrical steel is an absolute win for U.A.W. Local 3303 and Cleveland-Cliffs,” said UAW Region 9 Director Daniel Vicente. “Labor and Management don’t always see eye to eye — like all relationships, disagreements exist. But when it comes to protecting American jobs and producing U.S.-made electrical steel for our critical infrastructure, UAW and Clevland-Cliffs stand shoulder to shoulder. We thank the Department of Energy for listening to the voices of our members in Butler, PA, and having a willingness to learn from our subject matter experts who actually make these products. When American working people stand together, we win.”

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UAW Files Charges in Germany Against Mercedes-Benz: Company’s Anti-Union Campaign Against U.S. Autoworkers Violates New German Law on Global Supply Chain Practices

The UAW filed charges today against Mercedes-Benz Group AG for violating Germany’s new law on global supply chain practices. Mercedes-Benz’s aggressive anti-union campaign against U.S. autoworkers in Alabama is a clear human rights violation under the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains. If found guilty, Mercedes-Benz faces billions in penalties, including significant fines and bans on government contracts.

The UAW’s charges are an important early test of the act, which took effect on January 1, 2023, and applies to German-headquartered firms with more than 1,000 employees. The UAW is the first American union to file charges under the act, which is also known by its German acronym LkSG.

The law sets standards for global supply chains that German-based firms must adhere to, and it clearly prohibits companies from disregarding workers’ rights to form trade unions. Workers at Mercedes-Benz’s sprawling assembly and battery plant in Vance, Ala., are organizing to join the UAW and have faced fierce backlash from company management.

The Alabama plant is operated by Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), a subsidiary of Stuttgart-based Mercedes-Benz Group AG. The UAW complaint details how MBUSI has intimidated, threatened and even fired Alabama workers in violation of U.S. labor law and International Labour Organization Conventions. The complaint documents seven violations of the German act, including:

  • The firing of a union supporter with Stage 4 cancer. The employee had been allowed to have his cellphone with him at work so he could receive updates on the availability of his scarce chemo drug. But a supervisor who has intimidated union supporters claimed there was a zero-tolerance policy on cellphones and had him fired.
  • A January letter from MBUSI CEO Michael Göbel to employees that attempted to chill union activity and violated their freedom of association. The letter was filled with stock phrases used by anti-union consultants designed to stoke fear, uncertainty, and division.
  • A mandatory plant-wide meeting Göbel held in February to discourage workers from unionizing. At this meeting, Göbel told workers “I don’t believe the UAW can help us to be better” and that they “shouldn’t have to pay union dues that generate millions of dollars per year for an organization where you have no transparency where that money is used.”
  • Another mandatory plant-wide meeting in February that featured former University of Alabama football Coach Nick Saban. Before and during the meeting, MBUSI supervisors attempted to stop union supporters from passing out UAW hats.

Despite the company’s anti-union campaign, a majority of MBUSI workers have signed union cards and recently rallied with UAW President Shawn Fain.

In addition to the charges against Mercedes-Benz in Germany, the MBUSI workers have filed multiple charges with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board. Last week, the workers requested an injunction against MBUSI to put an end to the company’s retaliation against workers for standing up for their rights at work.

MBUSI’s actions not only violate U.S., German and international law, they also violate Mercedes-Benz’s Principles of Social Responsibility and Human Rights. Those principles state: “In the event of organization campaigns, the company and its executives shall remain neutral; the trade unions and the company will ensure that employees can make an independent decision.”

Every Mercedes-Benz plant in the world is unionized — except the company’s two plants in the United States. 

Mercedes workers are part of the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies. Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tenn., Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join.

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UAW President Shawn Fain and Hundreds of Workers Kicking Off Daimler Truck Contract Talks Tuesday with Livestreamed Rally

STATESVILLE, N.C. — On Tuesday, April 2, UAW President Shawn Fain will rally in North Carolina with Daimler Truck workers as contract negotiations covering 7,000 UAW members get underway. The workers are demanding an agreement that includes the long overdue fair wages and working conditions they deserve.

Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET rally will be livestreamed at the UAW’s Facebook page. It can also be viewed at the UAW’s YouTube Channel. (Media are invited to use the footage.)

Bargaining with Daimler Truck management begins on Tuesday morning and the workers’ contract expires on April 26. Fain and UAW members at Daimler are standing up and speaking out against the workers’ unfair pay and worsening working conditions.

The workers who build Freightliner trucks, Western Star trucks, and Thomas Built Buses are facing declining real wages and job security even as Daimler Truck tallies record profits and makes massive payouts to shareholders. Over the past six years, Daimler’s profits have increased by 90% while workers’ buying power has fallen 13%.

Tuesday’s rally with Fain comes just weeks after 7,000 Daimler Truck North America workers voted by 96% to authorize a strike if necessary. This overwhelming support shows the workers are determined to secure the record contract they’ve earned.

On the heels of the UAW’s historic Stand Up Strike and record contracts with the Big Three automakers, and as tens of thousands of workers across the country continue organizing to join the UAW, Fain will stand with Daimler workers in their fight for fair pay, cost of living adjustments (COLA), job security and a better future for working families. 

WHAT:   
UAW President Shawn Fain to Rally with Hundreds of Daimler Truck Workers as Contract Talks Begin

WHEN:   
Tuesday, April 2, at 6 p.m. ET 
*Press should arrive by 5:45 p.m. ET

WHERE:  
UAW Local 3520
2290 Salisbury Hwy.
Statesville, NC 28677 

WHO:    
UAW President Shawn Fain 
UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith
UAW Local 3520 President Corey Hill 
UAW Local 5285 President Ricky McDowell 
North Carolina State AFL-CIO President MaryBe McMillan
Daimler Truck workers and Allies

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UAW Stands with Striking Tesla Workers in Sweden

This week, UAW International Affairs Director Kristyne Peter joined the IF Metall picket line at Tesla in Stockholm. Tesla, run by CEO and budding Bond villain Elon Musk, is refusing to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the mechanics at its Swedish repair shops.

The mechanics have been on strike against Tesla since October 27 and union representatives from around the world traveled to Sweden this week to support them. On Tuesday, the UAW’s Peter shared this message with the Swedish strikers:

I bring solidarity, and support, from the one million members and retirees of the United Auto Workers.

You inspire all of us with your fight against corporate greed and the billionaire class. The billionaire class that wants to tear down the social democracy that Swedish workers have built.

You are holding the line against Elon Musk – the billionaire who represents everything that is wrong with the global economy. He busts union. He hoards wealth. And more and more, he sides with the reactionary forces that want to end democracy around the world.

Together, we will stop him.

Your fight here at Tesla shows that solidarity is stronger than the world’s richest man.

And last year, in our Stand Up Strike against America’s automakers, UAW members showed solidarity is stronger than any company.

When workers stand up together, we win our fair share of the wealth we create. And by standing together here today, we will win this fight against Elon Musk and Tesla.

Mercedes Community

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Alabama Workers File Federal Charges Against Mercedes-Benz, Request Government Injunction to End Company’s Illegal Union Busting

VANCE, Ala. – Workers at Mercedes-Benz’s largest U.S. plant have filed multiple federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board in response to the company’s aggressive and illegal union-busting. Workers are requesting an injunction to put an end to the company’s retaliation against workers for standing up for their rights at work. In February, Mercedes workers announced that a majority of their coworkers at the Mercedes plant in Vance had signed union authorization cards. Every Mercedes plant in the world is unionized—except the company’s two plants in the United States. 

“Since we started organizing, I put in my FMLA leave with management multiple times and every time they said they lost the paperwork,” said Lakeisha Carter, a Mercedes employee in the battery plant. “I’m an outspoken union supporter and Mercedes illegally disciplined me for medical absences that were clearly covered by my FMLA requests. It’s just plain retaliation from Mercedes, but I’m not going to be intimidated.” 

In February, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $438,625 in back wages, unpaid bonuses, and damages for two former workers at the Mercedes plant in Vance after management violated their rights to protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

Al Ezell, a public union supporter in the Mercedes battery plant, has stage 4 lung cancer and supply chain issues have made it difficult for him to receive his medication. Al was given permission to have his phone on the factory floor in case his doctor called him about refilling his prescription. 

“Management called me into the office to discipline me for having my phone on the floor. My manager looked me in the face and told me she didn’t care that I have cancer or that I had permission, she was going to enforce the company’s zero tolerance policy,” said Ezell. “We’ve never had a zero-tolerance policy for having a phone on the floor. Management is just trying to scare us, but we won’t back down.”  

“Mercedes is forcing me and my coworkers to attend meetings and watch anti-union videos that are full of lies,” said Taylor Snipes, another worker in the Mercedes battery plant. “I finally had enough and asked my group leader if I had to watch the video and he treated me like a child, telling me I either had to watch the video or put my head down on the desk.” 

Later that day, Mr. Snipes was called into a meeting with Mercedes management and immediately fired for having his phone on the factory floor. Taylor had previously been given permission to have his phone on the floor so he could check for messages from his child’s day care center.  

“During the meeting, I told management that it was suspicious that I was being called into the office on the same day that I spoke up in anti-union meeting,” said Snipes. “My manager said the two had nothing to do with one another, but then proceeded to aggressively interrogate me about why I support having a union.” 

Mercedes workers are part of the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies. Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tenn., Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

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Volkswagen Workers in Chattanooga Will Vote in Their Union Election on April 17–19

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — More than 4,000 Volkswagen workers are set to vote in their union election on April 17, 18 and 19. The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled the election and will oversee the secret-ballot vote at the VW plant in Chattanooga.  

“We’re voting yes to win a better life for ourselves and our families,” said Isaac Meadows, an assembly worker at Volkswagen. “We need a say in our schedules, benefits, pay, and more. We’re proud to work at Volkswagen, but we also know the value of a voice at work.” 

The VW workers filed for the election last week after a supermajority of them signed union cards. The VW workers reached a majority on cards in early February, just two months after launching their public campaign to join the UAW.  

The April 17–19 election at Volkswagen marks the latest breakthrough in the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW. The movement was inspired by the record contracts UAW members won during last year’s Stand Up Strike against the Big Three auto companies.  

Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at VW, Mercedes in Vance, Ala., Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at more than two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

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