As we go into the dog days of summer and the temperatures rise, so too does the class struggle heat index rise. We are seeing an uptick in labor union actions across the country. From Wichita to Seattle, workers are on strike, but the biggest battle of all is looming on the horizon.

Some 6,000 machinists in Wichita, Kansas just ended a successful strike against Spirit Aero Systems, maker of the fuselage for Boeing. Yet, the now nine-week-long strike by 11,500 screenwriters is not showing any signs of ending soon, and may be joined by screen actors by the middle of July.  

Thousands of union hotel workers in Los Angeles hit 19 hotels last week in what Unite Here Local 11 calls wave strikes. Although the union pulled the pickets at these first strike sites, some 40 more hotels are awaiting their turn to face the “workers wave.”

Recently, Starbucks workers closed 21 stores during PRIDE Month events. According to the union, Starbucks Workers United, 120 stores in all, including its flagship Seattle store, participated in worker actions.        

The biggest strike of all is looming just down the road. Some 340,000 Teamsters Union workers are set to face off with the shipping giant UPS. By the end of July, we could all be part of the biggest single-employer strike in American history.

Let’s face it, highly profitable UPS is doing just fine. In 2022 the company more than doubled its pre-pandemic profits and gave over $8.6 billion to shareholders. The workers on the other hand are asking for higher wages, an end to the two-tiered wage system, and better working conditions like air-conditioning in UPS trucks.  

We all need to be prepared to support our Teamster brothers and sisters. To inform the public, informational picketing at some UPS terminals has already begun. Nearly every city has a UPS distribution center or warehouse. Let’s do our homework, contact the Teamsters and scout the UPS locations near you. Let us know if you act.

Get ready to join the picket line!

Join PDA’s Labor Solidarity Issue Organizing Team.

Labor Solidarity!

Dan O’Neal for the PDA National Team