First mega-thread I’m submitting so go easy on me.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters will officially be on strike on August 1st of this year. It’s all hands on deck as people prepare in places like Iowa with their own “practice picket” sessions and people in Rhode Island confirm that they’ll be joining in. The UPS hub in Atlanta was picketed by Teamsters recently and I myself am planning to prepare for the strike with my org.
This is the latest of strikes or soon-to-be strikes in what is now a 3-year strike wave, kicked off by the 2020 protest movement (as well as riots) that shook the whole country during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2020 uprising brought down several post-Civil War Confederate statues as well as other memorabilia. Many choose to forget that the biggest uprising since 1968 had actually happened. It is an enforced amnesia on a proletariat, in a land where historical amnesia runs rampant, when even the anti-war movement during the Iraq and Afghan wars are barely a memory.
But anyway, ask the org you’re apart of if they plan to get involved or maybe suggest it to them, in order to augment the numbers of the strikers across the country. Make sure to also scout for your local Teamsters local in your area or around whichever region, municipality, local county, etc. you live in.
I would suggest bringing either a flag or your own picket. Flag poles are easy to get off of eBay. Maybe a Teamster logo or whatever logo your organization has.
Frankly, if you have no strike or protest experience, this is as good a time as any to get involved.
Anyway, for now, I’ll leave you with what the Teamsters on their official website say:
“(WASHINGTON) — Around 4 a.m., UPS walked away from the bargaining table after presenting an unacceptable offer to the Teamsters that did not address members’ needs. The UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee unanimously rejected the package.
Following marathon negotiations, UPS refused to give the Teamsters a last, best, and final offer, telling the union the company had nothing more to give.
“This multibillion-dollar corporation has plenty to give American workers — they just don’t want to,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “UPS had a choice to make, and they have clearly chosen to go down the wrong road.”
The UPS Teamsters contract covering more than 340,000 full- and part-time workers expires July 31. No additional negotiations are scheduled.
The Teamsters have repeatedly made clear that UPS members will not work beyond the expiration of the current contract. In June, rank-and-file UPS Teamsters authorized a strike by an overwhelming 97 percent.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.”
Megathreads and spaces to hang out:
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reminders:
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Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
💙Comprehensive list of resources for those in need of an abortion -- reddit link
Theory:
I realized how many of my friends are "tired all the time" and "don't have any energy" and "totally lost their libido" and "just feel gross" the last few years and I'm pretty sure a lot of that is covid and I want to cry because none of them deserved this and there's no way to fix post viral syndromes, nor would they likely be allowed to have those treatments (bc money) if they existed.
When our turn comes, we will make no excuses for the terror.
I'm just terrified of what this is going to do to people over time. I rarely if ever see news articles treating Long Covid as a primary, serious danger from infections. If people get long covid symptoms 10-30% of the time after infection, if the virus attacks and permanently harms the immune system with every infection, if it's the most contagious disease ever by a huge margin, If it's becoming less accutely deadly while becoming more and more infectious and more adept at evading and damaging the immune system?
That starts to look pretty grim if people are getting infected 1-3 times a year, every year, forever. Like really, really, "disease burden unlike anything ever seen in human history" grim. All kinds of sources keep saying "It's over it's over it's over" but never reckon with the long term damage and what it will do to inidividuals and to society. People treat it like the only concern is death from acute infection and there's no other reason to worry.