Workers Strike Back

Corporate greed and inequality are on the rise. Unions are using the strike weapon to fight back and win.

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Essential workers power the economy. During the COVID pandemic, corporations called us heroes and cashed in record profits. The lip service soon stopped. But the profits continue.

Inequality in the U.S. is skyrocketing. The top 1% of households own 30.9% of the country's wealth, the bottom 50% own 2.6%.

But workers are striking back—literally.

Longshore workers struck and shut down ports up and down the East and Gulf Coasts. Three days later, they won $24 in wage increases over six years. By the end of their contract, top pay for 85,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) will be $63 an hour.

Teamsters are restoring the strike weapon too. According to the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, there have been 96 Teamster strikes since members elected Sean O’Brien and Fred Zuckerman—a massive increase over the 32 strikes in the previous ten years under Hoffa.

The biggest strike won a first contract for over 1,100 DHL Teamsters and led to 1,300 more DHL workers at the same air hub joining the Teamsters.

Grocery and food distribution Teamsters have also used strikes and picket line extensions to win strong contracts and organize the nonunion competition at Sysco, US Foods, Topps and more.

The International Union has authorized strike benefits of $1,000 a week in some cases to make sure striking Teamsters are one day longer and one day stronger than the bosses.

The best way to avoid a strike is to show employers we’re ready to strike. Members are using overwhelming strike authorization votes and practice picketing to demonstrate their strike readiness and back employers down.

This is not just a Teamster trend. It’s a labor trend. The UAW used an innovative tactic of rolling strikes by 46,000 autoworkers—called the Stand Up Strike—to defeat givebacks and win a historic contract for 140,000 autoworkers.

Nearly 800,000 workers have gone on strike since 2022.

Corporations, corporate politicians, and the 1% hate the strike trend. They don’t want to see us uniting for our fair share. They would rather see workers divided against each other.

In contract campaigns, strikes, and organizing drives workers are finding a better way—standing together and building each other up instead of
tearing each other down.

TDU is a grassroots movement of Teamster members building the solidarity we need to win.

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