Melinda Newhouse discusses worker power on Leslie Marshall Show

USW Strategic Campaigns Director Melinda Newhouse appeared on the Leslie Marshall Show last week to discuss the “Striketober” movement and how workers are capitalizing on that momentum to continue building power.

USW members in a variety of industries paved the way last October for a month of mobilization to bring about change in their work places.

At the forefront of this movement were members of USW Local 40, who began their Unfair Labor Practice strike against Special Metals on Oct. 1, 2021 and remain on strike today. Instead of succumbing to the company’s unfair labor practices and demands for cuts to health care and retiree benefits, workers banded together.

“I definitely think that people are sticking together,” said Newhouse. “There is this collective sense of wanting to support each other and feeling like in the toughest of times, those are the times when we have to come together.”

Approximately 7,500 members of USW Local 7600 at Kaiser Permanente health care facilities in Southern California were also prepared to participate in Striketober, voting alongside tens of thousands of other members of the Alliance of Health Care Unions to authorize a strike last fall.

“These workers mobilized and communicated like they have never done before,” said Newhouse. “It’s like this pandemic really put some resolve into them to realize, you know, we’re stronger together, and we look after each other, because clearly our employer is not looking after us.”

Workers at Kaiser reached an agreement that raised wages and made other vital improvements on Nov. 13, 2022, just days before the scheduled strike.

Newhouse said these overwhelming displays of activism are now inspiring more workers, like those at Starbucks, to organize.

“Now, we’re seeing Striketober-plus, because workers with the labor shortage are feeling like they can push further and the company’s scare tactics don’t work,” said Newhouse.

“Striketober is a movement that is going to keep gaining steam.”

To listen to the full interview with Melinda Newhouse about Striketober, click below: