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      Deutsche Bahn files legal action over German rail strike

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Monday, 11 March - 14:50


    GDL union announces its sixth strike in a dispute over wages and hours

    German rail operator Deutsche Bahn has taken urgent legal action in an effort to stop a strike by a train drivers’ union.

    The GDL trade union, which has about 40,000 members and represents train drivers and other rail workers, announced a strike this week – its sixth in a months-long dispute over wages and hours.

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      ‘Two worlds colliding’: Berlin transport workers and climate activists unite over rights

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 1 March - 05:00

    Two groups are striking for better working conditions and investment in Germany’s underfunded public transport

    At first sight, the gathering in an office complex in east Berlin resembles a self-help group. But the public transport workers and climate protesters sitting in a semi-circle introducing themselves have been thrown together, they say, to fight for a common cause.

    “Hello, my name is Erdogan. I’m a bus driver in the northern zone of Berlin and have been in the job for 32 years. I’m glad someone is finally taking our profession seriously,” says one.

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      Public transport workers join climate activists for week of strikes across Germany

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Monday, 26 February - 13:40

    Verdi union in unusual alliance with Fridays For Future, founded by Greta Thunberg, over common goals

    Public transport workers across Germany are joining forces with climate activists for a week of strike action culminating in a collective nationwide walkout and climate protest on Friday.

    One of Europe’s largest trade unions, Verdi, which represents the majority of public transport workers in Germany, is collaborating with the youth-led Fridays for Future in what the organisations themselves admit is an unusual partnership, but one born out of recognition of their overlapping goals. More action on climate change requires greater investment in public transport, they argue.

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      Eiffel Tower reopens to visitors after strike by workers who complained of rust

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 25 February - 13:51

    Paris attraction was closed for six days after union criticised operator for seeking ‘short-term profitability’

    The Eiffel Tower has reopened to visitors after a six-day strike by employees demanding changes to the landmark’s business model and better maintenance of the 330m (1,083ft) structure, which is showing widespread traces of rust.

    The tower’s operator said in a statement it had reached an agreement with unions “under which parties will regularly monitor the company’s business model, investment in works and revenue through a body that will meet every six months”.

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      German town votes against Tesla plans to expand ‘gigafactory’

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 21 February - 17:59

    Bosses promise to go back to drawing board while carmaker faces industrial action from another union in Sweden

    The residents of a small German town where Elon Musk has built a Tesla factory have thrown a spanner in the works by rejecting plans to expand the complex.

    The majority of residents of Grünheide in Brandenburg, an hour’s drive south-east of Berlin, voted against proposals to build new infrastructure intended to improve access to the site and allow easier transport of the finished vehicles, including a freight depot and warehouses.

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      The UAW beat the big three; Elon Musk’s Tesla is among its next targets

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Friday, 3 November - 15:34

    Handshake and contract signing an agreement.

    Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

    Six weeks of targeted strikes by the United Auto Workers has proved to be an effective approach. Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors have all reached tentative agreements with the UAW over the past 10 days. Now, the union wants to focus its attention on automakers like Toyota and Tesla, who have resisted unionization or opened plants in right-to-work states that are hostile to collective bargaining.

    The UAW began strike action at three car factories in mid-September , the first time in the union's history that it initiated industrial action against all three of the big US automakers simultaneously.

    After watching years of executive pay raise largesse, the union asked for a 36 percent pay increase spread over four years, the return of cost-of-living adjustments, and the return of defined-benefit pensions. Among other demands were an end to the two-tiered system of hiring some employees as temporary workers, which meant that people hired after 2007 could be paid half as much as someone doing the same job hired before that practice was instituted.

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      Thousands of workers go on strike at Ford, GM, and Stellantis plants

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Friday, 15 September, 2023 - 14:25 · 1 minute

    Members of the UAW (United Auto Workers) picket and hold signs outside of the UAW Local 900 headquarters across the street from the Ford Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan on September 15, 2023.

    Enlarge / The US auto workers' union announced the start of a strike at three factories just after midnight on Friday, September 15, as a deadline expired to reach a deal with employers on a new contract. (credit: Photo by MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images)

    Almost 13,000 workers are on strike at three US car factories today after a midnight deadline came and went without an agreement between the United Auto Workers and Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. It's the first time in the UAW's history that it has initiated strike action at all of the Big Three domestic car companies simultaneously, as negotiations on a new contract failed.

    UAW's strike action has been narrowly targeted . Although the union represents about 146,000 members, most of them are staying at their jobs. But 5,800 Stellantis workers at the company's Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, are now on strike, as are 3,600 GM workers at a plant in Wentzville, Missouri, plus 3,300 at Ford's factory in Wayne, Michigan.

    The union and automakers had been trying to reach a compromise before the 4-year-old contract between them expired on Thursday night. Among other things, the union has been looking to end the tiered pay structure in the industry where new hires into a job earn less. It is also seeking the restoration of cost-of-living increases and an end to automakers subverting union jobs with temporary workers.

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      AI vs. Hollywood: Writers battle “plagiarism machines” in union talks

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 3 May, 2023 - 18:39 · 1 minute

    An AI-generated image of

    Enlarge / An AI-generated image of "an office copy machine in front of a hollywood-style explosion." (credit: Midjourney)

    The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is seeking to restrict the use of generative AI in writing film and TV scripts as part of an ongoing strike, reports Reuters . The concerns come at a time when anxiety over the economic impact of tech like ChatGPT looms large in the minds of many.

    The WGA strike is the first in 15 years , and it's taking place over issues beyond just AI. But in particular, Reuters reports that WGA writers have two main concerns about automation in writing, quoting screenwriter John August, who is part of the WGA negotiating committee: They don't want their material to be used as training data for AI systems, and they don't want to be tasked with fixing AI-generated "sloppy first drafts."

    That's because writers who are hired to polish first drafts get paid at a lower rate, and WGA writers are fighting to make sure that a ChatGPT-generated first draft would not be counted as "literary material" or "source material," which are terms defined in their contract.

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      Apple raises worker pay amid unionization, inflation, and more

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 26 May, 2022 - 21:23

    The branding on the front of an Apple Store retail location.

    Enlarge / The branding on the front of an Apple Store retail location. (credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images )

    Apple plans to raise the starting pay of its hourly workers, according to a Wall Street Journal report. In the US, employees' pay will be at least $22 per hour, which could be higher in some markets. That's 45 percent higher than it was in 2018.

    Additionally, Apple plans to increase starting salaries for corporate workers in the United States. It will also move up some employees' annual reviews by several months to enact pay increases as soon as July.

    In a statement, an Apple spokesperson said:

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