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Today, world leaders will convene in London for the highly anticipated G20 summit. Without a doubt, the current global economic crisis has transformed the geopolitical landscape and is heralding profound shifts in the international distribution of power.
The debilitating ramifications of the crisis are not geographically localized, and therefore, any solution requires a global response that includes not only the most developed nations, but also the emerging market economies of the world. In this respect, Latin America is an integral part of the equation. At today's opening, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico will represent the region's interests, as President Obama initiates his study of Latin American realities. Although not dubbed as such, the area nations could play a pivotal role in London and the gathering could be looked back upon as an economic summit dominated by the developing world, with Latin America being an important constituent.
Country Overview
Argentina
As a result of its precarious financial situation as well as its fractious political atmosphere, Argentina's influence at the summit will be limited in comparison to Brazil and Mexico. Buenos Aires' immediate concern is that it is strapped for cash and unable to tap traditional lines of credit following the dreadful economic crisis of 2001 and its subsequent debt default. Consequently, Argentina is more apt to continue petitioning for greater flexibility on the terms of loans granted by the IMF to recipient countries. Furthermore, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner recently met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to coordinate their positions. In conjunction with Brazil, Argentina is likely to denounce protectionist measures and greater restrictions on trade with developed countries. However, given the country's lackluster track record in recent years -- Argentina has twice raised tariffs on imported goods from neighboring countries in the past six months -- it is unlikely that such recommendations will gain much traction coming from Fernandez alone. It was thus a wise decision to collaborate with Brazil prior to the summit.
Brazil
The G20 summit is yet another opportunity for President Lula to enhance his country's position as an up-and-coming global leader. Julia Sweig, a highly regarded political analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, captured the great irony of how the economic crisis relates to the circumstances in Brazil, when she noted, "the crisis paradoxically, while hurting [the country] domestically, may well enhance Brazil's standing as a leader in and voice for the emerging world." This, in fact, is precisely Lula's intention as he heads to London. Over the course of his presidency, he has vociferously argued for his country, as well as other developing nations to have a more equitable role in multilateral international organizations. Lula will assuredly continue to press for greater voting rights in the IMF and join his Latin American counterparts in calling for the recapitalization of the fund.
Furthermore, the Brazilian president will join Mexican President Felipe Calderon in pushing for increased trade financing and export credits to bolster the precipitously declining figures for world trade. Lula has advocated that the world's largest economies, including Brazil, should contribute up to $100 billion to boost global trade through financing and export credits that has all but evaporated over the past year, especially for less credit worthy borrowers from Latin America and the Caribbean. Averting protectionist measures from developed countries will also be a major concern for Brazil. In an interview with CNN over last weekend, Lula dubbed anti-trade measures a "drug" threatening to poison the system and strangle any hope of an economic recovery in the near future.
Mexico
Mexico will join Brazil in its denunciation of protectionism, as it has been on the receiving end of such measures from the United States. In an interview with The Financial Times, Calderon castigated the Obama administration for its decision to restrict Mexican trucks from using U.S. highways. He declared it a blatant violation of the 1994 NAFTA agreement, and thus a breach of international law. Mexico responded to these measures by imposing countervailing duties ranging up to 10 percent on 90 U.S. products entering the country. As the malevolent violence of the drug conflict begins to spread north over the border, the U.S. and Mexico are in no position to be engaging in what some would call factitious trade disputes. The danger is that such commercial quarrels will quickly turn into political debates, deteriorating the goodwill between the two nations and preventing collaboration on more germane matters like national security.
Similar to Brazil, Mexico will also be concerned with greater global financial regulation and increased funding for the IMF. Both countries are reportedly dickering with the IMF, and earlier this week, Calderon stated that Mexico would be ready to accept between the odd $30 and $40 billion from the IMF's new flexible credit line to fund infrastructure projects in the country. This new credit line was set up earlier this month to replace the short-term liquidity facility that failed to attract any borrowers due to its rigid repayment schedules. Recipients can now use the modified fund as a type of collateral and draw upon the cash only if their economic conditions further decline. The fund targets functioning emerging market economies for its generosity, precisely like that of Mexico, that have maintained sound fiscal policies during the boom years but have since found themselves particularly vulnerable after the downturn. Calderon's recent insistence that Mexico, along with other major developing countries, must assume a responsibility to limit their own carbon emissions will not be lost upon the world's rich nations.
Latin America Pushes for a Common Agenda for Developing Countries
In the weeks leading up to the summit, the developed world has addressed the crisis in a particularly jagged manner-- Europe has called for tighter global financial regulation, while the U.S. has pushed for increased spending. Latin America, on the other hand, has sought to forge a consensus with its counterparts in the developing world in an effort to form a united front. On Tuesday, leaders from the 22-member Arab League and the 12 South American nations gathered in Doha, Qatar for their second summit. It is not a coincidence that the leaders decided to convene in Qatar. It lays at the center of the latest Word Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, in which the European Union and the U.S. have joined forces in a ferocious debate with developing countries over the level of agricultural tariffs in the developing world. Brazil was one of the leaders of the opposing fronts and has been pushing for the resumption and completion of the talks, which Lula will likely argue at the G20 summit. The location of the gathering sends a message to the developed world that the emerging market economies will be unified in their position against protectionism. While the G20 is indeed an important summit, any agreements brokered concerning trade will most likely be mainly political in nature and do not carry the force of law. Completing the Doha rounds would institutionalize through international law anti-protectionist measures.
To further convey this sentiment, the Arab and South American nations made strong commitments to push for reforms to the system of international organizations now in effect and increase trade between the two blocs, which has tripled to $18 billion since their initial commercial bilateral exchanges inception in 2005. In this respect, Latin America has taken audacious steps to protect itself from anti-trade restriction by diversifying its trading partners. Brazil's Lula stridently noted that, "the wealth of the Arab world is now becoming an important factor in development...and you have to protect it." With the World Bank estimating a steep decline in world trade of up to 6.1 percent, and the WTO predicting the figure to be as high as 9 percent, diversification in terms of links with non-traditional trade partners is beyond dispute. Only this tack can be counted on to limit the severity of the present economic blows now being visited upon the developing world.
The Outlook for Deterring Protectionism
Despite these poignant commitments to combat anti-trade restriction, it is unlikely that Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico and their Latin American neighbors will be able to secure much more than empty promises from the developed world despite the fact that they most likely will be demanding much more. At a time when unemployment is on the rise, wages are stagnant, and the strong contraction in growth is strangling the markets, there are intense domestic pressures pushing protectionist measures in the U.S. and E.U, even though the experience during the Great Depression suggests that such tactics will only exacerbate already straitened conditions. At the same time, there will be those who will presumably argue that some form of protectionism is called for due to the economic discrepancies recorded among rich and poor nations.
To rectify the problems confronting global trade, the leaders at the G20 summit will be faced with the conflict that has troubled statesmen for the centuries: the incommensurability between a nation's domestic and its international experience and obligations. Ultimately, a nation will judge a policy based on its domestic relevance as well as its legitimacy. By this standard, many American citizens and their European peers have been more concerned with protecting jobs at home, as well as their agriculture and manufacturing sectors, at the expense of trade relations abroad. Thus far, however, the decline in trade is largely the result of falling demand and limited financing and credits rather than protectionist measures. In an effort to increase trade financing and offset further declines, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico have supported proposals by Gordon Brown to secure a $100 billion fund and another from World Bank President, Robert Zoellick for $50 billion. This fund would be largely reserved for the poorer nations in which the governments of the world's largest economies would provide most of the financing and assume most of the risk. Orchestrating an agreement at the G20 to introduce these liquid funds into the system would send a positive message in support of world trade.
Lending a Helping Hand
One of the most prudent issues needing to be addressed at the G20 and of major concern for Latin American and Caribbean nations is the recapitalization of the world's international lending facilities. Of these, the most relevant during these times of financial upheaval, is the IMF, which traditionally has assumed the role of lender of last resort. At a time when credit has only been available to the highest quality borrowers and even then it is very expensive and in relatively short supply because of the high interest payments demanded by investors. These multilateral institutions have become an important source of funds for emerging market economies. As the crisis continues to spread, the World Bank has identified a $700 billion financing gap for countries of the developing world.
Moreover, the forecasts for a sharp contraction in growth make these lending institutions more important now than ever. The World Bank has estimated a zero percent growth rate for Latin America in 2009. Additionally, the once booming capital flows that poured into the region are down 57 percent in 2009 from a year ago, to a dwindling figure of $34 billion. This will significantly hurt large parts of the region, especially the small countries of the Caribbean that lack the foreign currency reserves of countries like Chile and Brazil to spend their way out of the crisis. Accordingly, these malignant economic conditions are now taking a human toll.
In a poignant speech expressing the dire necessity to institutionalize support for the poorer countries of the world, Zoellick, using a rhetoric that was not his style during his USTR days, professed that, "in London, Washington and Paris people talk of bonuses or no bonuses. In parts of Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, the struggle is for food or no food." He predicted that an additional 53 million people will be pushed into poverty this year as a result of the crisis. This figure is heaped on top of the 155 million people who were forced to live below the poverty line last year as a result of sharp spikes in the price of food and fuel. For their part, and out of a diversity of motivations, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico have all pledged to be a voice for the world's most vulnerable nations.
For these reasons, recapitalizing the IMF and regional lending facilities such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) has become a central concern for the cadre of developing county leaders of the G20. The aforementioned restructuring of the IMF flexible credit line has been a step in the right direction. To supplement these efforts, COHA would agree that the G20 should conform to the demands of the IMF to increase its funds from $250 billion to $500 billion. Also, China, Saudi Arabia and Brazil are being called upon to make greater contributions. In return for this much needed liquidity, however, they should be given a greater voice in this international forum. With the IMF voting rights set for renegotiation in January 2011, the summit seems like an opportune time to introduce the subject. President Michelle Bachelet of Chile recently expressed such a perspective when she stated, "we must call on the IMF for more democratic governing and to give more funds to the developing banks to be more effective in the countries [that need the funds] the most." As the crisis continues to wreak havoc across the globe, it is becoming increasingly clear that the developing world must be further integrated into the existing system.
Aside from the IMF, the IADB is making a move to present itself as an important regional lending facility for Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2008, the IADB made 131 loans totaling $11.2 billion, which is a far jump from the 89 loans worth $7.7 billion allocated in 2007. Assuredly, the IADB is scheduled to become a major part of the solution for the developing countries of the Western Hemisphere. The bank, however, has not escaped the crisis unscathed. It has posted an estimated loss of $1.6 billion for the 2008 fiscal year.
As a result, IADB executives and member countries petitioned earlier this week to raise the bank's capital from $101 billion to $280 billion. Increased loan requests for the 2009 fiscal year could be as high as $120 billion, up from last year's requests of $7 billion, making fresh capital a necessity if the bank's lending facilities are to meet new aggregate demand. To this end, the United States, the bank's largest shareholder, has been cooperative. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, told the IADB that the U.S. was prepared to start a review of permanent IADB capital increases after the existing resources are exhausted. China and Brazil also have indicated that they are prepared to contribute to this fund. Sustaining the IADB's liquidity is crucial to the economic health of the Latin American and Caribbean region during what deserves to be seen as a uniquely perilous time.
Moving Closer to a Multi-Polar World Order
Hopes are high for the outcome of the G20 summit, but it may turn out to be just another parading of world leaders forging empty promises and failing to deliver on their sputtering pledges. Nevertheless, the marked differences in the exchanges between representatives of the developed and developing world cannot be underscored. A decade ago, it would have been unheard of that Britain would be taking economic council from Chile. In a recent summit with U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Bachelet condemned Britain's frivolous economic behavior during the boom years. She cited that while Britain was out spending and overly leveraging itself, Chile saved revenue from exports, allowing it to implement a stimulus amounting to 2.8 percent of the country's GDP. Britain, on the other hand, was unable to afford such a comparable package.
It is truly a testament to these new times when Latin America, a region notorious for economic crisis, is giving the U.S. and Europe veritable schoolroom lectures on sound public finances. When the current crisis subsides, it could very well be that a new world system will emerge. The reverberations of the downturn may turn out to have leveled the playing field and now the Latin American representatives of the G20 will be coming to the negotiating table with an exceedingly stronger voice.
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Lilly Briger
Founded in 1975, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), a nonprofit, tax-exempt independent research and information organization, was established to promote the common interests of the hemisphere, raise the visibility of regional affairs and increase the importance of the inter-American relationship, as well as encourage the formulation of rational and constructive U.S. policies towards Latin America.
"There are no other providers who can fill the gap if the 'defunding' of Planned Parenthood is allowed to stand," said the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and two state chapters.
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a provision of the new Republican budget law that bars Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood health centers across the United States, an attack that reproductive rights advocates warn could shutter hundreds of clinics nationwide.
The decision by Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, an Obama appointee, came shortly after the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its chapters in Massachusetts and Utah sued over the provision, which establishes a one-year Medicaid funding ban for healthcare organizations that provide abortions and received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023.
The lawsuit argues that the "clear purpose" of the provision is to "categorically prohibit health centers associated with Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements... in order to punish them for lawful activity, namely advocating for and providing legal abortion access wholly outside the Medicaid program and without using any federal funds."
The provision therefore "violates plaintiffs' Equal Protection and First Amendment rights," the lawsuit states.
Talwani ordered the Trump administration to "take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and timeframes" to Planned Parenthood and its members as the case proceeds.
Planned Parenthood welcomed Talwani's decision to issue a temporary injunction but stressed that the legal battle is far from over.
"We're grateful that the court acted swiftly to block this unconstitutional law attacking Planned Parenthood providers and patients," the organization said in a statement late Monday. "Already, in states across the country, providers and health center staff have been forced to turn away patients who use Medicaid to get basic sexual and reproductive healthcare because President Trump and his backers in Congress passed a law to block them from going to Planned Parenthood."
"There are no other providers who can fill the gap if the 'defunding' of Planned Parenthood is allowed to stand," the group added. "The fight is just beginning, and we look forward to our day in court."
"The Trump administration's hell-bent ambitions to close our clinics and abandon our patients won't stop us."
Planned Parenthood warned that if the provision—which anti-abortion groups praised—is allowed to stand, nearly 200 health centers across dozens of states would be at risk of permanent closure due to the one-year Medicaid funding ban and more than a million patients could lose access to care, including STI treatment, cancer screenings, and birth control.
According to Planned Parenthood, 60% of its health centers are located in areas that are rural, medically underserved, or plagued by a shortage of healthcare professionals.
More than half of Planned Parenthood member patients rely on Medicaid to access crucial health services, the group estimates.
"The Trump administration's hell-bent ambitions to close our clinics and abandon our patients won't stop us," said Dominique Lee, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. "Let me be crystal clear: We are not intimidated. We were built for this moment. Here in Massachusetts, we fight back, and we will never be bullied into turning our backs on healthcare or human rights."
While the agency and outside meteorologists say the NWS provided timely and accurate forecasts, the fatal flooding is generating fresh alarm about cuts and open positions.
As the official death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas ticked above 100 on Monday, concerns over vacancies as well as job and potential funding cuts at the National Weather Service continued to mount—even as the NWS and independent meteorologists insisted that the agency had "issued timely warnings in advance of the deadly floods."
The flooding came just over two months after all living former directors of the NWS published a letter sounding the alarm about President Donald Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 and its cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the parent agency of the NWS in the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The five men—Louis Uccellini, Jack Hayes, Brig. Gen. D.L. Johnson, Brig. Gen. John J. Kelly Jr., and E.W. "Joe" Friday—wrote on May 2 that "even if the National Weather Service remains level funded, given the interconnectedness of all of the parts of NOAA, there will be impacts to weather forecasting as well. We cannot let this happen."
"These proposed cuts come just days after approximately 300 National Weather Service... employees left the public service to which they had devoted their lives and careers," the ex-directors pointed out. "That's on top of the approximately 250 NWS employees who were fired as a result of their probationary status in new—often higher-level positions—or took the initial buyout offered by the Trump administration in early February."
"That leaves the nation's official weather forecasting entity at a significant deficit—down more than 10% of its staffing—just as we head into the busiest time for severe storm predictions like tornadoes and hurricanes," they continued. "Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life. We know that's a nightmare shared by those on the forecasting frontlines—and by the people who depend on their efforts."
Discussing recent job reductions with The Associated Press on Monday, Uccellini, whose tenure leading NWS included Trump's first term, warned that "this situation is getting to the point where something could break."
"The people are being tired out, working through the night and then being there during the day because the next shift is short-staffed," he said. "Anything like that could create a situation in which important elements of forecasts and warnings are missed."
For the flooding in Texas, the NWS Austin-San Antonio office had five meteorologists working, rather than two, as part of its "surge staffing" protocol.
However, Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the NWS Employees Organization, a union that represents government workers, also told NBC News that the agency's Austin-San Antonio office does not have a permanent science officer, who conducts training for and implements new technology, or a warning coordination meteorologist, who has contact with media.
That office "is operating with 11 staff meteorologists and is down six employees from its typical full staffing level of 26," NBC reported. The nearby San Angelo office "is short four staff members from its usual staffing level of 23. The meteorologist-in-charge position—the office's top leadership position—is not permanently filled. The office is also without a senior hydrologist."
Despite some open positions at the two offices, the NWS began warning of potential flooding as early as Thursday morning, and as conditions worsened overnight, the agency issued its first warning for "life-threatening flash flooding" for parts of Kerr County at 1:14 am Central Time Friday, according to CNN.
"But questions remain about how many people they reached, whether critical vacancies at the forecast offices could have affected warning dissemination, and if so-called warning fatigue had been growing among residents in a region described as one of the most dangerous in the country for flash flooding," the network noted.
As Fahy put it to Politico: "The crux of this disaster is a failure of the last mile of communication... The forecasts went out, they communicated the forecasts, they disseminated the watches and warnings. And the dilemma we have is there was nobody listening at 4 o'clock in the morning for these watches and warnings."
Wisconsin-based meteorologist Chris Vagasky similarly told NBC that "the forecasting was good. The warnings were good. It's always about getting people to receive the message... It appears that is one of the biggest contributors—that last mile."
As The New York Times reported:
In an interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said the county did not have a warning system because such systems are expensive, and local residents are resistant to new spending.
"Taxpayers won't pay for it," Mr. Kelly said. Asked if people might reconsider in light of the catastrophe, he said, "I don't know."
As of Monday evening, 104 people are confirmed dead, most of them in Kerr County, which includes Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp that lost at least 27 campers and counselors. The AP reported that "search-and-rescue teams carried on with the search for the dead, using heavy equipment to untangle trees and wading into swollen rivers. Volunteers covered in mud sorted through chunks of debris, piece by piece, in an increasingly bleak task."
In a statement to multiple news outlets, the NWS provided a detailed timeline of its alerts. The agency also said that it "is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County" and "remains committed to our mission to serve the American public through our forecasts and decision support services."
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday sent a letter to Roderick Anderson, acting inspector general at the Department of Commerce, urging an investigation into "the scope, breadth, and ramifications of whether staffing shortages at key local National Weather Service... stations contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding."
"The roles left unfilled are not marginal, they're critical," he emphasized. "These are the experts responsible for modeling storm impacts, monitoring rising water levels, issuing flood warnings, and coordinating directly with local emergency managers about when to warn the public and issue evacuation orders. To put it plainly: They help save lives."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt lashed out at him and reporters for such scrutiny on Monday, saying that "unfortunately, in the wake of this once-in-a-generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and some members of the media. Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning."
In addition to the president's so-called Department of Government Efficiency—previously led by billionaire Elon Musk, the richest person on Earth—pushing layoffs and retirements, Trump's administration is working to boost fossil fuels that drive the global climate emergency.
As Common Dreams reported earlier Monday, a study published by ClimaMeter found that the floods in Texas were caused by "very exceptional meteorological conditions" that cannot be explained merely by natural variability.
Former Common Dreams staff writer Kenny Stancil is a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project, which has documented "Trump's attacks on disaster preparedness and response."
"The deadly Texas floods will not be the last manifestation of extreme weather turbocharged by fossil fuel pollution," Stancil wrote in a Monday blog post. "In an era of escalating climate threats, we need a stronger public sector with more resources to mitigate risks, help people weather storms, and adapt to the future."
"We got people that work and repair the water mains and can't afford their water bill," said union leader Greg Boulware last week. "I don't want to be rich. We just want comfort inside the city that we serve daily."
Philadelphia's largest municipal workers' strike in over 40 years is entering its second week after negotiations with the city broke down this weekend.
Over 9,000 sanitation workers, 911 dispatchers, water services workers, crossing guards, and other city employees walked off the job last week, demanding that the city increase their salary enough to meet the rising cost of living.
But even with trash piling up on the streets and other city services understaffed, Mayor Cherelle Parker (D) would not agree to the demands made by AFSCME District Council 33, Philadelphia's largest blue-collar union.
Parker has offered a pay increase of 8.75% over the next three years, which she described as historic.
But DC 33 president Greg Boulware said that's far too little for municipal workers, many of whom are among the city's "working poor," to survive.
"It's not like as if our members are making $80,000, $90,000 a year," Boulware said. "A 2% increase on those would be significantly higher than it would be on somebody making $40,000-$45,000 a year. So, her math truly is not mathing, and you're clearly not paying attention to the working people that are going on in this city."
The average municipal worker in Philadelphia makes around $46,000, which is $15,000 less than the median income in the city and less than half of what a single adult needs to live comfortably, according to a study by SmartAsset.
"We got people that work and repair the water mains and can't afford their water bill," Boulware said at a rally last week. "We got people that repair the runways at the airport and can't afford a plane ticket. I don't want to be rich. We just want a comfort inside the city that we serve daily."
The union initially asked for an 8% raise for the next four years, which the city dismissed. This weekend, they pared their proposal down to 5%, but the city still did not budge.
Parker has insisted that her smaller proposed increases are merely what is "fiscally responsible," and that the city cannot afford to offer more.
The union has disputed this, pointing out that Parker herself is budgeted to receive a 9% increase to her salary of more than $240,000. That increase alone is nearly half the current salary that the average DC 33 member makes in a year.
As of Monday, negotiations have stalled, with no clear end in sight. With a throng of picketers behind him, Boulware told NBC 10, a local affiliate, that the union was working on a third proposal, and that negotiations may resume Tuesday. But he seemed to expect more obstinacy from the city.
"We've been there to be able to sit and meet and negotiate," he said. "It doesn't seem like the city quite honestly wants to entertain any of the questions that we have about things and actually have a true dialogue... That's how you negotiate and that's not truly what's been going on."
Despite the city's refusal to budge, momentum around the strike has continued to grow. On Friday, rapper LL Cool J dropped out of a 4th of July festival in the city, saying, "There is absolutely no way I can perform across a picket line."
Other AFSCME councils around Pennsylvania have joined pickets in solidarity. This includes Philadelphia's Council 47, which represents thousands of "white collar" city workers.
With mounds of trash accumulating on streets, sometimes becoming as "tall as people," the environmental activists with the Sunrise Movement have also joined in the effort to pressure the city. On Monday, activists hauled bags of trash into the lobby of City Hall, labeled with the words "Meet DC 33 Demands" written in yellow tape.
AFSCME, meanwhile, has stated its resolve to fight on as the strike has gained national attention.
"City workers are holding the line until they get a FAIR contract with the wages and benefits they deserve," the national union's account wrote on X Monday. "One day longer, one day stronger, no matter what it takes."