Chicago teachers have launched the first major charter school strike. The teachers and their union charge that the “independent” schools are overcrowded and underfunded. Charter schools are being used to create a second tier in the teaching profession, the union says.

The strike of 550 teachers and paraprofessionals in 15 charter schools is for pay equality with public school wages, more resources for students and smaller class sizes.

Read more at Chicago charter school teachers walk out in first major strike

Google’s temporary, vendor and contract workers (TVCs) are demanding better pay and access to benefits. TVCs make up more than half of the company’s workforce.

A letter from the TVCs to Google CEO Sundar Pichai said, “As you know, 20,000 full-time and temporary, vendor, and contract workers (TVCs) recently walked out to protest discrimination, racism, sexual harassment and a workplace culture that only works for some.”

The letter continues, “The exclusion of TVCs from important communications and fair treatment is part of a system of institutional racism, sexism, and discrimination. TVCs are disproportionately people from marginalized groups who are treated as less deserving of compensation, opportunities, workplace protections, and respect. We wear different badges from full-time employees, which reinforces this arbitrary and discriminatory separation. Even when we’re doing the same work as full-time employees, these jobs routinely fail to provide living wages and often offer minimal benefits.”

While Google conceded to some of the workers’ demands following the Nov. 1 walkout, many demands have been ignored by the company. The struggle continues.

Read more at Google contract workers demand better pay and benefits

Read the TVCs’ letter at Invisible no longer: Google’s shadow workforce speaks up

The Fight for $15 movement to raise minimum hourly wages led directly to a collective $68 billion raise for 22 million low-wage workers in both the public and private sectors.

That’s the conclusion of a new analysis published by the National Employment Law Project, which backs a higher minimum wage. “Of the $68 billion in additional income, the overwhelming share (70 percent, or $47 billion) is the result of $15 minimum wage laws that the Fight for $15 won in California, New York, Massachusetts, Flagstaff, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, the District of Columbia, Montgomery County, the Twin Cities, Seattle, and SeaTac over the past few years,” NELP researchers reported.

NELP further found that the $68 billion figure is “more than 14 times larger than the total raise under the last federal minimum wage increase, approved in 2007.”

Read more at For Low-Wage Workers, the Fight For 15 Movement Has Been a Boon