Click here to register for the "Does Your Local Need a Website? Taking the First Steps" Workshop.
LABOR
UPDATES
Burma Aid:
The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center has launched an
online relief fund, with contributions going to
the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma so it
can distribute clothing, medicine and
non-perishable food for Burmese workers and
their families. Click
here to find out more and here to
contribute. Help on
Foreclosures: Many homeowners
need help now to avoid foreclosures and can't
wait for Congress to act . The AFL-CIO Now
Weblog has collected tips from experts,
including Union Privilege, on what homeowners
can do to save their homes. Click
here now to read more. You can also contact
the Community Services Agency for assistance at
202-974-8220.
DEADLINE TODAY FOR
WEBSITE TRAINING
Today is
your last chance to register for Friday’s
“Does Your Local Need A Website? Taking the
First Steps” workshop. The workshop –
sponsored by the Metro Council and the
International Labor Communications Association
– will assess your local’s communication
needs, teach you what a website can - and can't
- do, and provide info on what websites cost to
design, launch and maintain. Free for locals
with no website but space is limited: click
here to register now!
SATURDAY FINAL
CHANCE TO JOIN
CLUW WALK
TEAM
Saturday is the
deadline to join the Coalition of Labor Union
Women (CLUW) team for this year’s “Walk
to Beat the Clock” against cervical
cancer. CLUW is trying to assemble the largest
team to get a shot at a $2,500 grant that they
would use “for programs focusing on union
members in DC.” The CLUW team is walking in
honor of longtime DC labor and women’s rights
activist Susan Holleran. Holleran passed away
from cervical cancer last year. Members of any
union, including men, can join the CLUW team.
Click
here to register.
RECENTLY ARCHIVED
STORIES
DC COUNCIL VOTES TO
LIMIT FREE SPEECH; LOCAL LETTER CARRIERS
KICK-OFF ANNUAL FOOD DRIVE; LABOR UPDATES
(5/7/08); TIMES REPORTER SPEAKS OUT ON PLIGHT
OF WORKERS; LABOR ARTS (5/7/08); SOLIDARITY'S
FUTURE DISCUSSED; DC HITS ROAD FOR JUSTICE;
GREENHOUSE ON "THE BIG SQUEEZE"; HUNDREDS TURN
OUT TO HONOR NOVA VOLUNTEERS; NALC GEARS UP TO
"STAMP OUT HUNGER"; COUNCIL DIRECTORY UPDATED
& ONLINE; LABOR CHORUS CD DRAWING WINNERS;
UNION CITY VOICE: Readers Write (5/6/08); Read
these and other UNION CITY! stories dating back
to December 2006 in our searchable online
archives.
Metro Washington (DC) Council AFL-CIO
TODAY'S LABOR CHORUS CD
DRAWING WINNERS
Fredric
Cooper (JUFJ), Max Toth (Working America),
Theresa Gillette (AFSCME), Virginia Rodino
(OPEIU Local 2) and Doug McNeil (PeterCares
House) are the winners of Wednesday's random
drawing for a free copy of the Labor Chorus'
CD, Welcome Union Members. Click
here to enter in today's drawing and you
could be a winner too! The CD includes the
title cut, the Chorus' signature song, as well
as Siyahamba, a freedom song from the South
African trade union movement. Don't miss
tomorrow’s benefit concert by the
Chorus! The May
9 concert benefits the Emergence
Community Arts Collective, a DC non-profit
working "to foster a spirit of community"
through social activities, traditional arts classes, support
groups and educational seminars.
DC JOBS WITH
JUSTICE CORNER
Indian
Workers to Stage Hunger Strike in
DC: Hundreds of Indian workers
will return to DC next week to launch an
indefinite hunger strike to demand the federal
government investigate the guest worker program
and abuse of post-Katrina Gulf Coast workers.
Next week’s launch follows a nationwide
tour by the workers – sponsored by the
New Orleans Worker Center for Racial Justice
(NOWCRJ)
with support from Jobs with
Justice – in March and April that
included stops in DC. In late 2006, the workers
mortgaged their futures – and $20,000 – on
false promises of fortune and green cards by
recruiters from marine construction company
Signal International. But when the workers arrived
in the US to work on post-Katrina
reconstruction, they only received guestworker
visas and were forced to pay Signal $1,050 a
month to live in a trailer with 23 other
workers. “At a time when 30 percent of New
Orleans workers were looking for work, the
government suspended a law that made it illegal
to hire undocumented workers,” says NOWCRJ
Organizer Saket Soni. “The guestworker
program is designed to control labor. It
sanctions forced labor by migrants and further
disenfranchises the most vulnerable American
workers.” The hunger strike will specifically
call on the Department of Justice to prosecute
Signal International and for Congress to hold
hearings on the guest worker program in the
post-Katrina Gulf Coast. Workers and their
supporters kick off the hunger strike
Wednesday, May 14th at Lafayette Park. Watch
UNION CITY! for further details. For more info,
contact Ruth Castel-Branco, Rcastel@dclabor.org;
202-974-8281.
- report by
Ruth Castel-Branco
TODAY’S LABOR
HISTORY
The constitution of
the Brotherhood of the Footboard was ratified
by engineers in Detroit, MI. Later Became the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (1863);
More info & ammo for unionists is available
online from Union
Communication Services.
2008 EVENING WITH LABOR PHOTOS
Events
Does Your Local Need a Website? Taking the First Steps
Websites are a very cost-effective and timely way to reach your members, the general public, the media, politicians and more. But are they right for your local?
· May 9, 2008
WPFW's Gloria Minott "Metro Watch" Radio Show with Jos Williams
Metro Council President Jos Williams discusses the latest labor news with WPFW's Gloria Minott
· May 9, 2008
AFGE's "Inside Government" Radio Show
Weekly labor radio show produced by the American Federation of Government Employees
· May 9, 2008
DC Labor Chorus 10th Anniversary Concert
Concert benefits the work of the Emergency Community Arts Collective
· May 9, 2008

