Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature Over 500 protest strikes took place across Argentina October 30 to demand decent wages and the resignation of President Javier Milei “It’s him or us,” declared one of the protesters striking workers rallied around the Obelisk monument in the center of town and thousands banged pots and pans across the city members of the Peruvian Medical Federation (FMP) protested over the poor condition of the nation’s health system The protest took place on the second day of a 48-hour national strike scores of demonstrators denounced the scarcity of medications and essential equipment in clinics and hospitals They also demanded that the right-wing government of President Dina Baluarte increase the public health budget to 8 percent of GDP The demonstrators placed emphasis on the way the present health crisis is affecting poorer neighborhoods in cities across the country which includes a scarcity of health professionals and a huge disparity between the services offered by private hospitals and Clinics and public facilities On Tuesday and Wednesday October 29 and 30 4,500 municipal workers in the city of Ecatepec blocked streets demanding back wages that have been owed to them since 2019 Workers are also owed bonus payments from 2022 The municipal workers have gone without a wage increase for several years and have not been provided with uniforms The protests involving municipal water service and other city workers included the takeover for several hours last Wednesday of the Municipal Palace In addition to streets and roads into the municipality The road closures impacted public transit and truck traffic in and out of this city The workers also demand school supplies for their children Seventeen medical doctors under temporary contract by Medi-Health company in the city of Embu-Guaçu (State of Saö Paulo) went on strike on October 28 over unpaid wages Medi-Health management blames the municipal government of Embu-Guaçu for not making payments to Medi-Health and other providers of contingent workers The strike is impacting emergency medical services in clinics in working-class neighborhoods The attack on public health care in Brazil including the use of temporary medical personnel is not an isolated case limited to Saö Paulo striking medical workers in Rio de Janeiro’s Bonsucesso Federal Hospital were attacked by Federal Police while protesting plans to privatize the hospital Striking hotel workers in San Francisco faced mass arrests over the last several days The arrested workers were taking part in an expanding series of strikes against major hotels that were launched in September following the expiration of the previous contract Over 2,000 workers in total are involved in the walkouts over pay and benefits The union said no talks have taken place since August when the contracts expired Unite Here officials said the hotel operators had balked despite the union offer of major concessions we even offered to sacrifice guaranteed wage increases and make pay contingent on hotel profits and we challenged the hotels to match our investment and reverse COVID-era cuts.” Unite Here officials in Honolulu said they had reached a tentative deal in the 40-day walkout by 1,800 staff at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort in Waikiki over pay and staffing Another 3,200 Honolulu-area Unite Here members at other hotels continue to work under expired contracts Some 5,300 Philadelphia transit workers voted unanimously to grant strike authorization and their union has given the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) a ten-day notice that workers will strike on November 7 unless management comes to an agreement According to Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 234 says SEPTA has offered workers a one-year contract without a wage increase SEPTA said a $240 million budget shortfall makes it impossible to meet workers’ demands Management spokesperson Andrew Busch has stated SEPTA and the TWU pushed through a one-year contract that deliberately was set to expire two days after the national elections thus preventing any interference with the vote in this heavily Democratic city Local 234 also represents 183 maintenance workers and 206 drivers who provide service in Philadelphia’s suburbs Those workers are segregated under a separate contract not due to expire until late November voted by a 93 percent margin to authorize strike action after more than eight months of bargaining and working for four months without a contract Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 reports that since 2012 pay for its 550 members has fallen behind the Consumer Price Index “We’ve seen very little movement from the city in terms of our cost-of-living adjustment specifically which is a huge part of our ask,” Jamie Cooney a city worker and bargaining committee member workers also want retirement and dental benefit increases to have cost-of-living escalators to combat inflation The negotiations involve a wide variety of city workers—staff at recreation and senior centers Berkeley city managers are also in contract talks with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 1 which represents 200 additional city workers About 60 workers at an Ottawa-area Best Theratronics plant producing external beam therapy units for cancer treatment cyclotrons and other hospital equipment marked six months on strike last week The striking production workers are members of Unifor while the striking white-collar workers are members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) The workers have seen an average annual wage increase of 1.1 per cent over the past 16 years Management’s last (rejected) contract offer demanded a wage freeze throughout the life of a two-year deal with a derisory $25 payment for new safety glasses has refused to negotiate with union representatives dubbed in some reports as “Canada’s Worst Boss,” is notorious for denouncing Canadian workers as lazy and calling on employers and governments to cut back on worker holidays Last June Unifor filed an unfair bargaining complaint with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board That complaint will not be heard until November 19 who have supported the big business Liberal Party for decades met with Liberal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to seek his assistance in enforcing basic labour law Workers have yet to hear another word from the minister.