The United Auto Workers expanded its strike against major automakers Friday, walking out of 38 General Motors and Stellantis parts distribution centers in 20 states.

Another 5,600 additional workers joined the strike on top of the 13,000 of the 146,000 members that began the strike one week ago.

Ford was spared additional strikes because the company has met some of the union’s demands during negotiations over the past week, said UAW President Shawn Fain.

“We’ve made some real progress at Ford,” Fain said during an online presentation to union members. “We still have serious issues to work through, but we do want to recognize that Ford is showing that they are serious about reaching a deal.”

“At GM and Stellantis, it’s a different story,” he said. Those companies, he said, have rejected the union’s proposals for cost-of-living increases, profit sharing and job security.

Auto workers, writers, actors, Starbucks workers, Amazon workers, UPS drivers, flight attendants – labor isn’t a ‘special interest’. It’s all of us

• Union strategy: 13,000 autoworkers at the three Midwest plants, about 9% of the unionized workforce at the Big Three automakers, were the first to walk off the job. Now, more workers are temporarily out of work as the automakers are asking hundreds of non-striking workers not to show up to work.
• Negotiation and demands: The UAW's call for a 40% pay increase is still intact as negotiations continue. Also on the docket are pensions, cost-of-living adjustments and quality-of-life improvements.
• Reactions: President Biden urged automakers to share their profits with workers as the strike tested his bid to be the "most pro-labor" president. He is dispatching Julie Su, the acting labor secretary, and Gene Sperling, a White House senior adviser, to Detroit to help with negotiations.

Bill Maher has delayed returning to his HBO talk show during the ongoing strike by writers and actors, a decision that follows similar pauses over the weekend by “The Drew Barrymore Show,” “The Talk” and “The Jennifer Hudson Show.”

Maher last week said he would bring his show back into production, but on Monday said he’ll wait because talks are scheduled to begin between producers and writers on Wednesday.

Alaska Airlines, American and United could all be disrupted as air crew demand fairer share of vast profits

Probably not the best time for this topic as we're heading into cold weather, but...

do you drink cold brew? What teas do you use for cold brew? How long do you steep in the fridge? Do you start with room temp water or cold water?

"average top CEO compensation was $15.6 million in 2021, up 9.8% since 2020. In 2021, the ratio of CEO-to-typical-worker compensation was 399-to-1 under the realized measure of CEO pay; that is up from 366-to-1 in 2020 and a big increase from 20-to-1 in 1965 and 59-to-1 in 1989"

As part of his Labor Day message to workers in the United States, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday re-upped his call for the establishment of a 20% cut to the workweek with no loss in pay—an idea he said is "not radical" given the enormous productivity gains over recent decades that have resulted in massive profits for corporations but scraps for employees and the working class.

"It's time for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay," Sanders wrote in a Guardian op-ed as he cited a 480% increase in worker productivity since the 40-hour workweek was first established in 1940.

"It's time," he continued, "that working families were able to take advantage of the increased productivity that new technologies provide so that they can enjoy more leisure time, family time, educational and cultural opportunities—and less stress."