Despite the result of the presidential election, workers in the US have been fighting on their own terms, reports Jamal Elaheebocus

Earlier this autumn, Counterfire reported on multiple strikes that were developing across the United States as workers took the cost-of-living crisis into their own hands and fought for better pay and working conditions.

These strikes have developed with mixed results, but the uptick in industrial action across the pond continues. With Trump winning re-election, and suggestions of tax cuts for the rich and huge departmental spending cuts, it will be more important than ever that workers in the US continue to fight back.

Seven weeks out

Boeing workers are returning to work after they voted to accept a 38% pay rise across four years to end a seven-week strike that has crippled the company; 33,000 machinists, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, walked out after rejecting a 25% pay rise offered by the company.

The strike is estimated to have cost Boeing $10bn and before it ended, was costing a further $100 million a day. Boeing consequently reported $4bn worth of losses in the three months to the end of September. Such was the impact of the strike, the Labour secretary Julie Su flew to Seattle to help with negotiations.

In the end, workers have got close to the 40% pay rise the union demanded at the beginning of the dispute and will additionally receive a one-off $12,000 bonus. However, there was no agreement on job losses, following Boeing’s announcement last month that it would be cutting 17,000 jobs.

The union was also demanding the previous, more generous pension plan be restored, but this didn’t materialise, with only some improvements made to the current plan. The vote to accept the deal was 59%, showing that many rank-and-file workers did not think it met their demands.

Dockworkers’ strike on hold

After dockworkers walked out for three days in early October, the International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) reached an agreement with employers to pause the strike until 15 January.

The strike by ILA members at fifteen major ports along the east and Gulf coasts caused chaos in the shipping industry and produced a backlog that has only just been cleared. Workers walked out after the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) offered a pay rise of just under 50% across six years, short of the 77% being called for by the union.

The strike was suspended as the USMX increased its offer to 62% over the next six years. However, with no agreement on the automation of ports and associated job losses, negotiations are continuing on the new contract.

The strike is still having an effect, with shippers diverting cargo due for January to the West Coast, amid fears there will not be a deal to end the strike. One freight-company boss put the risk of a second strike at 60-70%.

New York Times workers deliver election blow

Tech workers at the New York Times have caused their bosses a nightmare as they walked out the day before the presidential election. Members of the NYT Tech Guild began their strike at midnight on Monday, after last-minute negotiations failed to produce a satisfactory deal.

Workers voted on 10 September to strike on election week if an agreement wasn’t reached before then, and so software engineers, data analysts and more were on the picket while the results came in on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

The union said there was not enough compromise from the company on job protections, remote work and pay equity. They are now on a continuous, indefinite strike which will severely hamper the Times’ digital operations.

They are calling on readers to boycott the NYT games, including Wordle, Connections and the crossword, while the strike continues.

Eaton Aerospace workers hold the line

Workers at Eaton Aerospace have entered the eighth week of their strike in Jackson, Michigan, standing firm against threats from management. Last week, the company said that it had made its best and final offer and was focussing on replacing workers who are on strike.

Workers last voted on 24 October to reject a deal put forward by the company by a larger margin than the first vote. UAW members now are unfazed by the empty threats; they know the skill and training needed to carry out their jobs. One striking worker said: ‘Every job we do it takes minimum nine months to learn. You can’t learn something in just a couple of weeks when everyone qualified to train you is standing out here.’

Workers are also banking on the end of the Boeing strike having an impact on Eaton, since they supply Boeing with parts. Now that the Boeing workers are going back to work, there will be increased production demands on the company, and they will not have the workforce to deal with it.

The fight continues

The message from voters in the presidential election was clear: working-class people are struggling to make ends meet and the politics of Biden and Harris have done nothing to ease the pressure on them. Trump will of course do nothing to improve the pay and living standards of ordinary people in the US and so it is vital that workers continue to take collective action to force the bosses to give them the pay they need and deserve.