Getting in Line

March 16–April 5

Meatpackers in Greeley, CO, followed months of unsuccessful contract negotiations with three weeks on the picket line in an effort to secure wage increases and reimbursement for protective gear. They won a new contract in mid-April that includes a 70-cent raise this year and a 40-cent raise in each of the next two years, additional vacation days, caps on health care costs, and the demanded reimbursements.

• Employer: JBS USA

• Union: United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7

• Strike length Number of workers: 21 days 3,800

April 21–June 1

Graduate student workers in Cambridge, MA, spent more than a month on strike fighting for higher pay, an enhanced grievance process, and additional protections for international students. They returned to work after the longest strike in the unit’s history, following indications that the university was willing to negotiate on key issues, and contract negotiations remain ongoing.

• Employer: Harvard University

• Union: United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 5118

• Strike length:40 days Number of workers: 4,000

May 4–5

Groundskeepers, custodians, and facilities workers at a Brookfield, IL, zoo spent just two days on strike before securing a new contract that will increase wages by 20% over the next four years while maintaining total employer coverage of health care costs and providing for additional staffing on the animal care and facilities teams.

• Employer: Brookfield Zoo Chicago

• Union: Teamsters (IBT) Local 727

• Strike length: 2 days Number of workers: 200

June 1–10

Auto parts workers in Three Rivers, MI, won a new contract that guarantees a top wage of $30 an hour by 2030 (up from a previous maximum of $22) as well as nine additional vacation days, two additional company holidays, and a $2,000 bonus for each worker to accompany contract ratification. The victory followed a ten-day strike that finally succeeded, nearly two decades later, in reversing concessions made by workers to keep the plant open through the 2008 recession.

• Employer: American Axle & Manufacturing (Dauch Corp.)

• Union: UAW Local 2093

• Strike length: 10 days Number of workers: 1,000

June 25–July 24

Workers at a cannabis grow operation in Barry, IL, mounted the largest labor action in the nascent marijuana industry’s history when they announced an unfair labor practice strike against Ascend Wellness Holdings that kept them on the picket line into late July. Workers ratified their first contract — which includes higher pay, lower health care costs, and a raft of new workplace protections — just days after ending the strike.

• Employer: Ascend Wellness Holdings

• Union: IBT Local 916

• Strike length: 30 days Number of workers: 300

July 4–6

Thanks to the first walkout in PECO’s 145-year history, Philadelphia linemen, gas technicians, and customer service workers won a new contract after three days on strike. The contract includes annual raises of at least 3% for each of the next five years as well as improved health and retirement benefits for recent hires that match those provided to longer-serving employees.

• Employer: PECO

• Union: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 614

• Strike length: 3 days Number of workers: 1,600

July 16–21

Two weeks after their previous contract expired, staff at the second-largest public defender office in New York City embarked on a six-day strike that yielded a new contract with several key concessions, including higher wages and retirement contributions, additional sick leave, and more options for remote work. The contract also rolls back a controversial location-tracking app that employees have, for the last year, been required to use to clock in and out of work.

• Employer: Brooklyn Defender Services

• Union: Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA)–UAW Local 2325

• Strike length: 6 days

• Number of workers: 500

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