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Striking Canada Post workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
Canadian postal workers are on strike
After years of struggles with their employer, Canada Post, posties in Canada have gone on strike as the holiday season settles in. Roughly 55,000 postal workers are striking for more money, a better medical leave plan, job protections, and against the Crown corporation’s move to a seven-day parcel delivery service aimed at competing with private services.
Many large businesses have shifted their deliveries to alternative mail services, but smaller businesses are struggling to manage the cost and logistics. Experts say the ensuing mail backlog could last into the new year as the strike continues, including 85,000 passports — and counting – that are being held by Service Canada.
Meanwhile, Canada Post itself has struggled in recent years to compete with private carriers, and has been losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year since 2018.
Negotiations between the union and Canada Post, helped by a special mediator, are continuing, but the end could be a while off yet. The federal government could step in and order workers back to work, as they did with mail carriers in 2018 – and port workers earlier this month. But the move would risk further alienating workers and undermining labor rights. But the Liberals have proven before they’re willing to go nuclear and legislate employees back to work, and they may be prepared to do so again.
Army Cpl. Rogelio Argueta, Patriot Launching Station Enhanced Operator-Maintainer, assigned with Task Force Talon, 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command gives commands, during a practice missile reload and unload drills on a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system trainer at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
US deploys anti-missile system to Israel, UN accuses Israel of damaging base
The Biden administration is sending an anti-ballistic missile system to Israel to bolster the Jewish state’s defenses against potential Iranian attacks and underscore Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to Israel’s defense, the Pentagon said Sunday. A deployment of 100 US troops will man the Thaad system.
The US has deployed Thaad systems to Israel twice before, once in 2019 and after the Oct. 7 attacks in 2023 — but the war has expanded, and the risks of escalation with US troops in the theater are higher.
Saber-rattling: The deployment follows discussions between American and Israeli officials over Israel’s plans to respond to Iran’s Oct. 1 missile strike on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s killings of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed last week that Israel’s strike would be “deadly, precise, and surprising,” but Washington has advised against the targeting of Iranian oil facilities and nuclear sites. On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchiwarned on X that while Iran wants peace, “we have no red lines in defending our people and interests.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s fights with Hezbollah and Hamas continue. On Sunday, a Hezbollah drone strike in the Israeli city of Binyamina near Haifa killed four soldiers and injured at least 60 people, according to Israeli rescue services. Israel also continued to strike Hamas in northern Gaza, killing at least 20 on Sunday. The UN says no food aid has been delivered since the beginning of October.
And then in Lebanon … On Sunday morning IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that the United Nations Interim Force withdraw from southern Lebanon, claiming its forces were being used as “hostages” by Hezbollah.
According to the UN, two Israeli tanks forcibly entered a UNIFIL peacekeeping base in southern Lebanon on Sunday. The tanks left but reportedly fired shells nearby that sickened some of the base personnel. Israeldisputes this and maintains that Hezbollah terrorists fired anti-tank missiles at its troops close to a UNIFIL post and that an Israeli tank evacuating two dozen casualties came under fire and backed into the UNIFIL post.
Nevertheless, Israel was denounced by the UN as wellas by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who phoned Netanyahu on Sunday about the “unacceptable” incident. Italy, usually a staunch supporter of Israel, is the largest contributor to UNIFIL with 1,000 troops.
We’re watching how other UNIFIL countries respond and what the US deployment means for further escalation in the region.
A strike by the International Longshoremen's Association, the union that represents 85,000 dockworkers, could shut down key port facilities in Newark and Elizabeth.
Dockworker strike brings chaos to dozens of US ports
Dockworker strike brings chaos to dozens of US ports
Traffic at East and Gulf Coast ports is set to plummet thanks to an overnight strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association. The union's 45,000 port workers launched a massive strike at midnight, halting operations at dozens of ports stretching from Maine to Texas.
The port workers have been demanding better pay and benefits and guarantees that automated machinery won’t replace their jobs. The ILA warned that if no agreement were reached with the US Maritime Alliance, the group representing employers, its members would walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.
The strike will impact nearly half of all US sea-borne imports and as much as 68% of containerized exports — everything from seafood, electronics, and pharmaceuticals, to cars and parts, and even some fruits.
Joe Biden could use the Taft-Hartley Act to intervene in the labor dispute. “Invoking the act might prove enticing to protect national and economic security,” says Jeremy Slater, a trade and supply chains expert at Eurasia Group. But Biden is unlikely to do so in this case, Slater says, “because it essentially undercuts labor rights by forcing negotiations and prohibiting collective striking – not great optics for a pro-labor administration.”
“The knock-on effects from a disruption would compound with every day offline, with a two-week strike necessitating recovery efforts into 2025 by some estimates,” Slater warns.
FILE PHOTO: Docked cargo ships are loaded with shipping containers at Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S., July 12, 2023.
Port strike could be huge headache
Workers and port authorities on the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States are headed for a potential strike on Oct. 1, which poses a huge threat to American businesses, and a political problem for the government of Joe Biden.
Businesses have already been scrambling with alternative routes to avoid pre-Christmas supply chain problems as 47,000 eastern dockworkers press their employers for bigger wage packages. A similar showdown on the West Coast ended with a contract last year after workers staged slowdowns but no strike. Now eastern workers are seeking similar gains.
Any work stoppage could cost the US economy up to $5 billion a day, creating an enormous headache for Biden and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during the crucial last weeks of the presidential campaign. It would put Biden in a difficult position, since he would be loath to either order workers back to the job, which would anger unions, or let the economy go into a headspin, which would anger everyone else.Railway cars crowd the CN Rail freight depot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on Aug. 19, 2024.
Blame Canada! Rail strike impact will ripple across North America
Canada’s two largest rail companies have halted rail shipments after failing to reach an agreement with the union representing their employees.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian Railway had until midnight last night to find common ground on a new labor contract with Teamsters Canada, which is seeking better safety guarantees for its members. Both of Canada's major railways locked out 9,300 workers after they failed to agree on a new contract.
The two companies have a virtual monopoly over Canada’s rail network, which moves goods worth $280 billion annually. Fertilizers, grains, and coal are particularly vulnerable to the rail stoppage. Canada’s fertilizer industry alone, for example, stands to lose $50 million a day amid the strike.
Impact on the US. Truckers carry most goods across the border, and they’ve already jacked up fees ahead of increased demand. But rail carries about $100 billion annually between the two countries. US rail giant Union Pacific warned that a Canadian strike would be “devastating.” The auto industry is particularly worried: Canadian trains move components for at least a dozen US plants and 90% of those in Mexico.
What happens next? The minority Liberal government of PM Justin Trudeau has so far been reluctant to force the sides into an agreement or to require the Teamsters to go back to work. In part, that reflects pressure from his left-wing coalition partners, the New Democratic Party. But now that the rails are idle, he may come under more pressure to act.
- Second annual US-Canada Summit focuses on security and trade ›
- Political fortunes, job futures, and billions hang in the balance amid labor unrest ›
- Hard Numbers: Mpox hits the 6ix, Canadian rail strike looms, sexual assaults in the US military go undercounted, J&J looks to close out talcum powder suit, the problem with city birds ›
Residents of Avellaneda protest against the DNU (Decree of Necessity and Urgency) and the Omnibus Law promoted by the government of Javier Milei.
The masses test Milei with major protest
Starting mid-day Wednesday, Argentina’s most powerful unions will stop work to demonstrate against the financial overhauls proposed by new President Javier Milei, as his omnibus spending bill works its way through Congress. An impressive turnout is expected for the march to the national Congress in Buenos Aires, with smaller solidarity protests across the country. Workers everywhere – from banks to domestic airlines to those informally employed – say they will join the strike.
Union leaders recognize the need for economic reform (with 211% inflation rates and 40% of Argentines living in poverty, who wouldn’t?) but object to the working class being tasked with carrying so much of the burden. Milei has already used his executive powers to slash subsidies for transport and energy, among other areas, but his administration says increases to childcare and food aid benefits are meant to prevent catastrophe for impoverished citizens. The radical cuts proposed in the omnibus bill are all but certain to be moderated in Congress, where Milei’s party holds only a small minority of seats — but no one expects a painless experience.
Is Milei’s honeymoon period ending? It’s one thing to wave a chainsaw around and yell about the “communist shits” in power, but it’s quite another to reverse Argentina’s century-long economic decline. A strong turnout against the cuts could put pressure on lawmakers to ease up, but don’t expect a collapse of the overhaul effort even in the case of a massive showing. The economic situation demands change – even unpopular change – and Milei’s rivals from former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s party are only too happy to let Milei’s approval rating take a beating before they make their move.Men and paramedic staff help transport a man who was injured in a blast in Mastung to a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan.
Hard Numbers: Pakistan blast, mRNA Nobel win, Kaiser Permanente strike, escaping Nagorno-Karabakh, flights to Libya, cashing in rupees
59: Fifty-nine people were killed Saturday in a bomb blast at a mosque in Mastung, Pakistan, where people were gathering to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad. Pakistan’s interior ministry accused India’s intelligence service of masterminding the attack, a charge Delhi denies.
2: Two scientists, Professors Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for having developed the technology that led to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. The same technology is now being tested to help fight other diseases.
75,000: In what would be the largest healthcare strike in US history, 75,000 workers at care provider Kaiser Permanente are threatening a three-day walkout as of Wednesday. While the company said hospitals and ERs would remain open, patients might see longer wait times and delays in lab work.
100,000:Over 100,000 ethnic Armenian refugees have fled to Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan retook control of the territory. The UN has called for international assistance, and Armenia has asked the European Union for shelter assistance and medical supplies.
10: Flights resumed from Libya to Italy after a 10-year hiatus due to a ban imposed by the European Union. Medsky Airways is now offering twice-weekly service from Tunis to Rome, though it is unclear how it is getting around the EU ban that is still in force.
96: India is extending the deadline to Oct. 7 to cash in its 2,000 rupee notes, 96% of which have been returned to the national treasury. The bills, worth an estimated $24, were introduced in 2016 during a campaign to demonetize the economy in which higher-value notes were discontinued.
Striking UAW workers picket outside a Stellantis facility in Center Line, Michigan, on Sept. 22, 2023.
Biden’s auto dilemma
Today, President Joe Biden will join striking autoworkers on the picket line in Michigan.
Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, will be in the Great Lake State tomorrow, but he’s expected to use a speech in Detroit to pit workers against leaders of their union, the United Auto Workers.
In some ways, Biden has the tougher political task. His image as “friend of the working man” stands at odds with the current image of his Democratic Party which, in the words of pundit and activist Paul Begala, “has gone from being the party of the factory floor to the party of the faculty lounge.” Biden’s outspoken support for labor unions – and the historical rarity of a US president joining a picket line – demonstrate his political commitment to win more working-class votes.
There’s an even more direct political calculus here. To win reelection, Biden badly needs Michigan, home to a big share of US autoworkers. The percentage of union members is also high in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Trump won in 2016 because he won all three of these states. Biden won in 2020 because he won them all back for Democrats.
But… Biden’s policy agenda depends heavily on support for production of electric vehicles in the battle to limit climate change. The UAW has so far refused to endorse Biden’s reelection bid, in part, according to the union’s president, because Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has provided large financial incentives to car companies to make more electric vehicles without including guarantees for better worker pay and conditions.
That’s why this strike, and Biden’s role in it, are important 2024 election stories to watch.