100,000 workers take action as ‘Striketober’ hits the US
More than 100,000 US workers will strike, or have threatened to in October, as a wave of industrial action dubbed “Striketober” hits America.
On Thursday, 10,000 workers at farm equipment maker John Deere walked out over pay and conditions.
Some 60,000 TV and film crew workers are set to strike on Monday, while 24,000 nurses could also protest.
It follows a rise in US union activity after decades of decline, as staff demanded better rights in the pandemic.
Employers – which often suppressed such efforts in the past – have found themselves on the back foot amid a labour shortage that has forced them to push up wages.
Yet one expert cautioned the number of work days lost as a result of US strikes remained “near historical lows”.
Thousands of others were already on strike in October, including 700 nurses in Massachusetts, 2,000 New York hospital workers and 1,400 Kellogg factory workers in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
Some 6,500 lecturers in California are also on the brink of a walkout.
On Thursday, left wing Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez voiced her support for the action using the hashtag #Striketober which has gone viral.
