Standing strong for the students. Credit: Seattle Education Association

Folks, the weather may be cooling off, but the movement isn’t. This week I’ve got strikes, fines, jobs, rallies, and New Yorkers yelling at billionaires. Let’s get into it.

Seattle teachers stay strong: As of press time, 6,000 Seattle teachers are on strike, as The Stand reported yesterday. They’re drawing support locally from politicians such as Kshama Sawant, who marched with teachers Wednesday, and across the country, including from UPS workers. You can help out your local teachers by sending a message here to Seattle Public Schools telling them to agree to the Seattle Education Association’s proposal. You can also sign the community petition, and join a picket line!

If you run a business, be like the Twilight Exit and offer teachers good deals. Man, anyone else suddenly extremely hungry for some fried mushrooms? 

 
 
 
 
 
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Updates from around the state: Kent teachers reached an agreement at 2:43 IN THE MORNING, and, as of press time, teachers in Ridgefield and Eatonville are still holding strong.

Petco workers get more press: On Tuesday, More Perfect Union released a video with the workers at the Shoreline Petco store. I’ve been tracking their fight to organize amid alleged management meddling right here on Conquests the past few weeks:

Cash America Pawn allegedly stole nearly $380,000 from workers: Time for a little name-and-shame! According to the Seattle Office of Labor Standards, international pawn shop company Cash America Pawn allegedly “failed to pay Seattle’s minimum wage rate, provide employees with a written PSST policy, provide required rest and meal breaks, and provide required written notices of employment information.” OLS settled with the company and will return $380,000 to 253 workers. That’s almost $1,500 per worker! Congrats to them for getting their own money back.

Office of Labor Standards is hiring: Interested in helping the OLS investigate shady businesses and protect workers? They’re hiring a Policy Manager ($47.85-$71.80/hour) and a Policy Analyst ($43.89-$65.83/hour).

Starbucks rally on Tuesday! On Labor Day, our comrades in New York marched to Howard Schultz’s $40 million penthouse to chant, “Fuck Howard Schultz!” Then they went to Bezos’s place. On Wednesday, some of our leftier members of Congress shamed Starbucks in a public letter, condemning their union-busting. Then, on Thursday, Howard went on CNBC to lie, and his new CEO, Laxman Narasimham, spun a nonsense feel-good yarn instead of answering whether he supported unions or not. Want to join the cause? Come out and show your support this next Tuesday, September 13, for a rally at Starbucks HQ in SoDo.

Warren FTW on RTW! Speaking of The Few Politicians Who Have Not (Yet) Sold Us Out, yesterday HuffPost reported that Elizabeth Warren is re-introducing a bill to Congress that would end anti-worker Right to Work laws that are currently enforced by 27 states. Though the bill is unlikely to pass, this makes it clear that the Dems are noticing what’s going on In These Streets. Still unclear if Dems realize they would win every election by embracing worker rights. Stay tuned on that!

Check out these labor wins: Speaking of what’s going on I.T.S., on Labor Day, More Perfect Union dropped a thread of big worker Conquests wins so far in 2022—and they are significant:

Minor leaguers inch closer to unionizing: Two big updates this week from the lands of Base and Ball. On Tuesday, the Major League Baseball Players Association announced they already had “a significant majority” of yes votes from minor leaguers only about a week after they sent out union cards. They’ve since formally requested that Major League Baseball recognize their union. Then, on Wednesday, the MLBPA announced they were joining the 12.5-million member AFL-CIO. Commissioner Rob Manfred, who this summer said minor leaguers who make less than $15,000 a year were “paid a living wage,” has been unsurprisingly silent.

Update 4:23 pm: Wup, I was wrong. Always knew that Manfred was a cool guy: 

Railroad strike is coming around the bend: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has joined the railroad negotiations in hopes of averting a strike, and Politico reports the two sides are close on wage increases but not on quality-of-life issues such as paid leave, hours, and on-call policies. A week from today, the clock strikes zero.

And the wind…screams…join a union: The Guardian says, “Oh man, sounds like American workers are burned out. You know what would help? Joining a union.” Kim Kelly (no relation) says you should join a union—yes you. More Perfect Union dropped a video on how to form a union. And NPR even put its resident Gen-Zer on the case:

@planetmoney How to unionize in 4 steps #union #starbucks #coffee #economics #learnontiktok ♬ original sound – planetmoney

Queen Elizabeth II is dead: Smell ya.

And you say, but what else, my dear boy?: NW Labor Press published a cartoon on the labor anthem “Solidarity Forever.” New Amazon CEO Andy Jassy got grilled on union-busting and again repeated his lie about the Staten Island union victory. Companies continue to show solidarity…in screwing you over. And, finally, Fortune ran an article this week fear-mongering about a possible UPS strike. More Perfect Union pointed out that it’s a hell of a coincidence that UPS, one of the magazine’s advertisers, pulled its ad dollars last time their workers went on strike. Huh!

Tippy-tap me some tips! Thank you to our wonderful readers and anonymous sources who reach out with tips every week. Please tippy-tap me your press releases, your sweet organizing photos, your anonymous tips, and the hot labor goss you’ve just been dying to spill.

And now, our song. This business with Fortune magazine isn’t the end of it. Pretty soon, thoughtful op-eds in Important Papers will say working class people can’t be trusted with money, or that we should really think of the poor sweet debt companies, or we need to keep the hoi polloi at work longer so they don’t clog up the roads and the sidewalks. They’ll say that better things aren’t possible. The labor movement will not be supported by big media companies who rely on ad dollars. The revolution will not be televised. But it’s happening already, and it’s fun as hell. Have a great weekend.

Conor Kelley covers labor for The Stranger. He is currently being priced out of Capitol Hill.