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Latin America
Contingent Petrobras refinery workers in Minas Gerais, Brazil vote to continue their strike indefinitely
After one week on strike, contingent workers at the Petrobras’ Gabriel Passos Refinery (REGAP) in Minas Gerais, Brazil, in an assembly, voted to continue their job action indefinitely. The workers, whose commission pay is linked to the company’s profits are demanding equal pay with workers at other Petrobras Refineries, compensation for months already worked in the current contract, better working conditions and an end to the victimization of workers that insist on their rights.
The strikers have formed a workers commission (Comissão de Representação dos Trabalhadores) with more than 1,000 active participants, and are gaining the support of workers across the industry.
The Brazilian government owns 64 percent of the company’s shares of stock. The remaining shares are owned by private investors.
Farmers and truckers stage protests in 16 Mexican states
On November 24, thousands of farmers and truckers blocked roads and bridges throughout Mexico. In the Zaragosa Bridge, which connects El Paso Texas with Ciudad Juarez in Chihuahua State, hundreds of demonstrators and scores of trucks blocked commerce across the bridge. Farm workers also occupied customs offices in Ciudad Juarez.
The farmers are protesting changes in the Federal Law that regulates water use (Ley General de Aguas), supported by President Claudia Sheinbaum, that establishes government-owned water banks. The farmers reject government control over water.
The issue with the truckers is increasing criminal attacks along the highways. The protests took place in 16 Mexican states.
Workers protest economic implosion impacting life in the Dominican Republic
On Sunday, November 30, workers and students marched and rallied in the nation’s capital, Santo Domingo, against the economic implosion that now affects the country. The protest was led by the liberal-reformist People’s Force Party (Partido Fuerza del Pueblo).
Thousands marched in city streets, protesting hunger wages, the deterioration of living conditions, the wave of electricity failures, the shortage of potable water and the crisis in medical care for the poor. During the march, one truck carried a canoe, symbolizing the precarious conditions faced by the working class, with workers threatening to escape on canoes to nearby Puerto Rico.
United States
New York City IT workers strike non-profit for living wages
IT workers at one of New York City’s largest non-profits walked off the job November 5 on an open-ended strike to secure decent wages and a multi-year contract. The non-profit CAMBA has refused to return to the bargaining table until the CAMBA IT Workers Union withdraws an unfair labor practice charge and accepts management’s wage proposal that the union described as a “poverty wage”.
Workers are demanding living wages for administrative assistants and annual cost-of-living increases. CAMBA assists low-income New Yorkers to access housing, education and legal support.
Workers are incensed at the fact CAMBA is rejecting their modest demands while CEO Valerie Barton-Richardson took home a staggering $51,700 every two weeks during 2024.
Rochester, New York, healthcare workers protest premium hikes by management
Healthcare workers in Rochester, New York, rallied outside Rochester General Hospital November 19 after management unilaterally adjusted 2026 health premiums upwards to 10 to 15 times the current 2025 levels.
Jeanne Moran, a nurse at Rochester General told NBC News10, “No one should be working and paying for health insurance and then having to ration their health insurance when they have an issue. And we actually have people telling each other, ‘I don’t know if I’d go in for certain things because of the amount of out-of-pocket expenses I’m going to incur.’”
When contacted for comment, hospital management issued a typical boiler plate statement about management’s dedication to staffing and patient care but refused to address the issue of premium hikes.
Rhode Island declares Providence charter school teachers’ strike illegal
State education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green has issued a letter declaring the strike by 36 elementary school teachers at Highlander Charter School in Providence, Rhode Island illegal. The educators went on strike November 24 demanding increased pay and benefits. The strike was launched in defiance of the state’s ban on strikes by public school teachers. The law categorizes charter schools as public entities due to their receiving public funding.
“Certified teachers participating in an illegal strike are putting their continued state certification at risk,” Infante-Green said.
IBEW Local 2323, which represents teachers responded to the commissioner’s threat, calling it a “false narrative and empty threats.” The union maintains that Highlander’s teachers were certified under federal law, not state law and filed a complaint saying, “It’s not even a close question.”
The teachers unionized back in 2024 and are bargaining for a first contract. Their current wages are below those of the state’s public school teachers.
Lindsay Robinson, a twelve-year third-grade teacher at Highlander, told the Boston Globe the situation for her co-workers was “increasingly dire.”
“Financially, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to afford to take care of ourselves and our families. A lot of people are really struggling with affording their health care costs.”
Canada
Quebec workers stage mass rally against right-wing provincial government
More than 50,000 workers marched through downtown Montreal on Saturday to protest the right-wing politics of Premier François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec government. Workers attending the demonstration angrily denounced the government’s cuts to public services, the underfunding of social programs and attacks democratic rights, including the right-to-strike in the province.
The march was supported by nine major unions across the province and five umbrella groups that represented over 4,500 community organizations. It took place the day before Law 14—also known as Bill 89—came into effect. That legislation allows the government to force striking public sector workers into arbitration and provide minimum services for the public during nay strike or lockout that would virtually eviscerate the effectiveness of any job action.
The government is also proceeding with a bill that would restrict the deployment of mandatory union dues to help finance social and political campaigns or conduct court challenges. Funds could only be used for such activities after they were approved through a majority vote of the membership.
Nova Scotia long-term care workers vote to strike
Long-term care workers in a dozen Canadian Union of Public Employee locals across the province have voted to strike should a contract not be reached in a conciliation process that will soon begin. All of the locals produced massive majorities for a strike with several recording 100 percent strike mandates.
The workers are fighting for a significant improvement to wages as well as recruitment and retention initiatives. Long-term care workers in Nova Scotia are the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada, with most support services classifications making less than $20 an hour. The Nova Scotia Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives estimates that the living wage in the province ranges from $24-$29 an hour at a minimum.
In addition, workers are demanding improved recruitment and retention efforts to reduce grueling mandatory overtime schedules. The minimum 4.1 hours of provincially recommended hours of care per patient is currently met by less than half of the care institutions.
The under-staffed workforce must care for people, primarily seniors, who need ongoing support due to chronic illness, frailty, or complex needs that cannot be met at home. Patients in these facilities require various levels of care, from medical and personal assistance in nursing homes to help with daily activities in residential care settings, and often have conditions like dementia.