Frito Lay Strike

Over 500 workers at the Frito-Lay plant in Topeka Kansas have been on strike for more than two weeks now. The strike started after a failed contract negotiation where workers were offered a 4% raise over 2 years. Along with low and stagnant wages, other issues workers are striking against are forced overtime with no days off, and “suicide shifts”. Shifts that require workers to work 12 hours on 8 off and then right back for 12 more. Frito-Lay calls these shifts “squeeze shifts” which is quite an apt name for the process of squeezing every last drop of surplus labour from its workers in their endless search for profits.

In the process of fighting for better working conditions, these united workers have garnered a footing in national headlines and with that support from other workers. Members of the UAW Locals 31,710, and 249 have come out in solidarity with the strike which is an encouraging step towards the further development of the association of workers.

As of July 21, the union leadership at the BCTGM Local 218 has concluded negotiations with Frito-Lay management. The new contract is said to include some enhancements to guaranteed time off each week and a 4% raise over 2 years. Eerily similar to the concessions that the previous contract promised and that workers rightfully went to bat against.

USA Fast Food Workers

Fast-food workers across the US went on strike for a $15 Federal minimum wage and union representation on July 20th. Workers came together from the states of Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, Texas, and Minnesota, to protest deteriorating working conditions and abysmal wages in a time of a so-called “labor shortage”.

Interviews with workers from Missouri and North Carolina shed light on the miserable condition of being a “low-skill” worker even in the event of a national labor shortage for these positions. Workers cite having to choose between having a roof over their heads, having their kids eat, or paying their bills as just some of the driving factors for their strike on Tuesday the 20th. These positions workers find themselves in typically have no vacation, or sick days and no health coverage.

For all the noise being made in the American Media about the importance of essential workers, and the necessity of keeping America running, neither members of the big or petite bourgeoisie are interested in giving any concessions whatsoever to the American proletariat.

The walkouts, strikes, and mass quitting of positions demonstrate a newfound militancy blooming within the American working class. A militancy that can hopefully be used to grow the labor movement as a whole, and with this brings the issue of class struggle to the forefront of the American proletariat’s mind.

Brazilian Rail Workers

On July 15, organized rail workers working for the Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos in São Paulo, Brazil went on strike. The strike was called for because of a new contract proposal that included a wage increase of $0, and the fact that the CPTM, ran by the Brazilian state, refused to pay out their profit-sharing plan on 2 separate occasions. The workers led by their union shut down a section of public transportation that ended up affecting over 40 out of 93 stations and affecting 4 out of the 7 rail lines owned by the CPTM.

The strike was heavily criticized by the President of the CPTM, Pedro Moro, who suggested that the rail workers should be happy because they exist within a privileged position in Brazil. The strike ended the same day it started with the unions negotiating a very meager “win” for the workers they are supposed to represent. The profit sharing will be paid out in 2 separate installments but there would be no percentage gain in wages. For a country that is currently seeing a rise in the cost of living, we would hope that the unions that are supposed to represent their rank and file would negotiate a contract that is so pitiful for the workers, and beneficial for the owners.

Colombian Protests

Protests broke out again nationwide on July 20, the day of Colombia’s independence. The protests originally started on April 28th in response to a proposed tax bill and a health care reform bill. The former would increase the cost of everyday commodities like food, and utilities, while the latter would privatise an already failing healthcare system in the middle of the pandemic. With a high rate of unemployment amongst young people, and around 40% of the population living in poverty we can see why the working-class of Colombia choose to fight.

Throughout these protests, we have seen a mixture of different interests all rebelling against the Colombian State. In the list of organizations coming together with a proposal headed by the National Strike Committee, we see local trade unions, feminist organizations, indigenous groups, and student activists. The CNP has created a list of 10 major reforms that are attempting to deal with the social decay of Colombian life. Poverty, state violence, and privatisation of public services are just some of the issues workers are fighting against.

The Colombian state has responded with violent repression against the protestors, who have been confronted by the police and military. While the president of Colombia is calling for the different social classes within the country to come together as a “team”, the state he helms is currently killing, maiming, and disappearing people for struggling against the deplorable conditions they find themselves in. The hypocrisy of the democratic state is blatant for all to see.