Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
The repercussions of the pandemic lockdowns are still echoing in shockwaves through the global labor movement. Workers flexed their power during the early stages of the pandemic, walking out en masse for stronger health and safety protocols, going on strike for hazard pay, calling-in-sick to stop hasty reopenings, and much more. As the pandemic stretches toward its 18-month mark, workers haven’t stopped organizing. It seems they’re just getting started.
In South Africa, engineers are on an indefinite strike, frustrated that, after forgoing an annual pay hike during the pandemic, their bosses won’t increases wages this year. Meanwhile in Hollywood, 150,000 film crew members are on the verge of an industry-wide strike. France’s labor unions are mobilizing in a national strike as labor rights are being attacked. Factory workers at the cereal company Kelloggs are going on strike. And 2,000 nurses in Buffalo, NY, are on strike amidst grueling pandemic conditions, demanding better pay, staffing, and workplace conditions.
The pandemic’s impact isn’t limited to the labor sector, either. In Brazil, large demonstrations are demanding the impeachment of President Bolsonaro over his poor handling of the crisis. More than sixty protests for a rent moratorium and debt cancellation took place in the United States, driven by the economic meltdown of the pandemic. The health crisis has brought things to a head, and people are rising up with resistance.
In other Nonviolence News, Sudanese protesters that won a successful nonviolent revolution in 2019 are now demanding civilian control over the transitional government following a recent military coup attempt. The Pandora Papers release is sending shockwaves through the rich and powerful, as it reveals the offshore hoarding and illegal practices of the super-wealthy. In Canada, Wet’suwet’en land defenders used Coastal GasLink’s own equipment to set up a trench and blockade to protect a river. In New Hampshire, the No Coal, No Gas Coalition planted a garden in a road and organized a kayaktivist flotilla to demand that a coal plant be shut down.
It’s yet another remarkable week of Nonviolence News. Enjoy.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: South African engineers demonstrate during their indefinite strike.
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