Latest news with #InternationalWorkersDay
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Can JPMorgan be unionized? Employees turn to their peers at Wells Fargo for advice.
A budding movement is taking shape to unionize staffers at JPMorgan Chase, America's biggest bank by assets. If the yearslong unionization effort at Wells Fargo is any indication, they could have a long road ahead. Last week, JPMorgan's organizers hosted a virtual meeting with a unionizer who was involved in Wells Fargo's effort to "share lessons learned," according to an email shared with members earlier this week. The Wells Fargo drive, which is also supported by a coalition called the Committee for Better Banks, has stretched on for two years with little success. The meeting resulted in the following advice, according to a post on the JPMC Workers Alliance's official website: "Build trust before going public." "Use natural workplace conversations (e.g. breaks, lunch, text conversations) to test the waters and build confidence." "Talk outside of work with colleagues to gauge their sentiment." "Keep management in the dark about the process." "Push back against illegal management activity. Managers may not *SPIT: Surveil, Promise, Interfere, or Threaten with respect to unionizing activity or outcomes — but they may not know this." "Reframe the risks to increase confidence: The status quo is the real hazard. Would they fire the whole department?" JPMorgan's unionization effort was spawned in large part by the bank's return-to-office policies. Earlier this year, JPMorgan summoned the roughly 40% of its workers who were still on a COVID-era hybrid work schedule back to their desks five days a week, kicking off complaints from employees of the Polaris campus, a major technology hub for the firm. Unlike JPMorgan's investment bankers, tech workers had been working from home a couple of days a week. It's unclear how many JPMorgan workers have agreed to unionize as a result, but the JPMC Workers Alliance website boasts members from a number of US states, including New York, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, as well as multiple cities in the United Kingdom. To build support, JPMorgan's organizers have been handing out flyers and hosting events, including a recent pizza party at JPMorgan's massive Polaris campus in Columbus, Ohio, which attracted hundreds of employees. New members are vetted by a group of organizers responsible for confirming their identities and welcoming them to the alliance's group chat on Discord, a messaging app popular with video gamers. The event drew an estimated 250 to 300 workers, said a JPMorgan employee affiliated with the union who requested anonymity to protect his job. As employees lined up to grab a slice, organizers approached them to discuss the labor movement and its goals, this person said. "Happy International Workers Day," read the flyers, which were viewed by Business Insider. "Did your leadership thank you today? You deserve better." The handouts asked questions like: "Have you had to stand in the rain waiting for the shuttle?" "Was 30 days enough notice for you to find child care before RFTO?" The acronym refers to the full-time return to work. "Have you struggled to find an open desk?"
Hamilton Spectator
08-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Migrant workers a focus as NFU marks International Workers Day
The National Farmers Union (NFU) commemorated this year's International Workers Day by calling for stronger protection for agricultural workers. International Workers Day (May Day) has always had a connection with agriculture, with the event that sparked it being at a factory in Chicago that was building industrial farm equipment. In 1886, a group of workers from Chicago's McCormick Reaper Works chose to put down their tools, thus going on strike in a bid to improve working conditions. That sparked an international movement of 300,000 workers that pushed for an eight-hour workday. In turn, that major event led to the institutionalization of May 1 as International Workers' Day. NFU member Hannen Sabean told The Observer that many agricultural employees have used May Day to fight for better working conditions and other improvements. 'Farm workers have been excluded from a lot of key labour legislation passed; it does vary from province to province, but in some cases, like even now in Ontario, there's no minimum wage for farm workers. A lot of key health and safety legislation, like full unionization rights [are excluded],' said Sabean. There have been plenty of examples, including in 1924 when British harvesters were brought to Canada to work in the fields. They organized a march from Toronto to Ottawa to protest false promises of fair wages and treatment. 'Another example would be beet and tobacco workers in 1935 who rallied on May Day in Alberta to protest their wages. So, it has been a day that agricultural workers have used to protest their working conditions,' said Sabean. Much has changed since the 1930s regarding working conditions and the issues that agricultural employees face, but many of the 'classic demands' such as wages, working conditions, health and safety have stayed the same, added Sabean. A major talking point for this year's event is working rights for migrant workers, a workforce upon which Canada depends. They face a unique set of issues as opposed to regular workers. 'I would say that now that Canada has a large migrant workforce, having open work permits has been a new issue with even further disadvantages,' said Sabean. Many of these workers are on closed work permits, so if they come to Canada under that program, they cannot leave the original employer. 'So, if you're facing bad conditions or something like that, you don't have any opportunities to seek other employment opportunities. You have to stay with that employer.' The NFU points to a few modern protests that have echoed concern for those issues. In 2006, a group of Canadian cities joined the 'A Day Without Immigrants' May Day protests to demand status for 11 million undocumented U.S. workers. In 2016, on the 50th anniversary of Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), Justicia for Migrant Workers organized a march from Leamington, Ontario to Ottawa to protest working conditions and demand status for migrant workers. Legal status is a newer issue for agricultural employees, and puts them in a precarious position since they face the potential threat of deportation if they speak out, said Sabean. 'Farm workers who are migrant workers pay into services that resident employees do, but they don't have access to them, and they're under the threat of deportation if they speak out against their working conditions.' The NFU stresses that migrant workers deserve open work permits and to be afforded the same rights as all Canadian citizens. 'Farm workers and farmers are the backbone of Canada's food system, and as we envision food sovereignty and a resilient food system during a period of tariff threats, we must ensure this vision includes safe, valued work – and the extension of basic labour rights – for those growing the food we all eat.'
The Citizen
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
COSATU celebrates Workers Day in Sharpeville
SHARPEVILLE.- The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in Gauteng observed May 1, International Workers Day, at the Sharpeville Cricket Oval last Thursday. The party said the celebrations were done in observation of the gains over the past years in developing and bettering the lives of the poor and the working class. COSATU, South Africa's biggest workers federation gathered its affiliates, social partners, and tripartite alliance partners (a political alliance between the ANC, the SACP, and COSATU) to join the festivities. The event was graced by, amongst others, the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, who also gave an address. The speakers talked about the need to unify the workers and also that the working class has a responsibility to elect and support a government that is empathetic towards their agenda. The leaders deployed by the ruling party were not spared by the speakers, who highlighted the challenges of service delivery, nepotism and corruption by self-serving individuals within the ruling party. Duncan Luvuno, the second deputy president of COSATU, pleaded with affiliates to build formidable worker-controlled organisations that will easily deal with the challenges that workers face in their workplaces. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Times of Oman
04-05-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
Oman celebrates International Workers Day
Muscat: The General Federation of Oman Workers (GFOW) on Sunday marked the International Workers Day, which falls on 1 May every year. The celebration, held in Muscat, was aimed to highlight the importance of the labour union movement in the Sultanate of Oman and its role in improving working conditions in private sector establishments. The ceremony, held under the auspices of Dr. Mahad Said Ba'Owain, Minister of Labour, was attended by senior government officials, representatives of some private sector establishments, civil society institutions and labour syndicates in the Sultanate of Oman. A 'Labour Syndicates Data Management Programme' was launched on the sidelines of the ceremony. The programme seeks to facilitate labour syndicate procedures, improve communication among labour syndicates, provide a unified database for all and achieve transparency in labour union action. A programme on 'Privileges of GFOW Affiliate Members' was also launched in cooperation with the local firm Thawani Technologies. The ceremony saw the felicitation of various labour syndicates, government departments, private establishments and civil society institutions that won the 'Labour Syndicate Action Award 2025'. The gesture was made in appreciation for the award winners' role in supporting labour action and developing it in a manner that achieves balance in the labour market and securing economic and social stability. The award aims to encourage all target groups to keep up efforts to develop labour movement action in the Sultanate of Oman.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Community-led ‘May Day' march held in Charlotte; activists speak against 'war on working class'
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Another round of protests this weekend were held across the country — including here in east Charlotte. The 'May Day' march is in celebration of International Workers Day. Saturday's march was led by the Charlotte-Metrolina Labor Council, Action NC and Carolina Migrant Network. Todays march is in response to acts by the Trump Adminstration and Elon Musk's DOGE. Activists say they're standing up against 'illegal and unwarranted' deportations and the war on working people. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
