Portside

Last week, 15,000 nurses at seven Twin Cities hospitals voted to authorize a strike. Their demand is simple: put patients before profits.

After a year of contract negotiations in which Kaiser has rejected proposals aimed at increasing staffing and improving access to care, they’re on their first ever open-ended strike.

Two key issues for the workers, all members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, have been the subject of negotiation: wage increases and the union’s demand to increase the time therapists spend on tasks other than seeing patients.

Workers at a Dollar General store in Holly Hill, South Carolina are taking a bold step by walking out on strike and discussing plans to unionize.

Freight train drivers who direct 20 billion tons of goods per year have threatened to walk off the job.

The railroads and their unions have been embroiled in a contract dispute since January 2020, with wages and health care benefits being major sticking points. Unless the White House acts, either party is free to exercise “self-help” options — including a strike that could occur as early as 12:01 a.m. next Monday.

Workers at the Kroger-owned supermarket chain King Soopers were recently on strike — a public relations nightmare. The solution? Enlist Beltway spin doctors to talk about how wonderfully the company treats its employees, actually.

Workers started the unfair labor practice strike over claims of bad faith bargaining by Warrior Met Coal over a new union contract. The strike has cost the company an estimated $6.9 million.

More than 8,000 workers at Kroger-owned King Soopers and City Market stores are on strike in Colorado. Their fight highlights the company’s long history of atrocious treatment of its workforce.