 More than two dozen candidates for Maryland Assembly seats in Prince George’s County were interviewed by the Metro Council’s Committee on Political Education last Monday. Candidate responses to the COPE’s questionnaire are posted here. Endorsement recommendations will be made at the April Metro Council meeting and then forwarded to the MD/DC State AFL-CIO for their final endorsement decision.
Over 70 people packed the Shirlington Busboys and Poets Tuesday evening to hear from leaders of the recent WV teachers’ strike, in what was the most successful Shirlington Bread & Roses event yet. A short presentation, during which AFT Jefferson County local union president Lynneia Atkinson (left) described how she channeled her “inner Mother Jones,” was followed by a nearly two-hour Q&A session. Attendees were “inspired by (the teachers') solidarity in all 55 counties, with support from the community, parents, students, and the entire labor movement,” said NoVA Labor president Virginia Diamond. “From now on we’ll say to our employers, ‘Don’t make us go West Virginia!’” photo: (l-r) Atkinson and support services leader Tena McElwain; photo by Michael Shea, courtesy NoVA Labor   Originally banned for its “aesthetic frivolity,” The New Babylon will make its DC-area premiere this weekend at the AFI in Silver Spring. This film from the height of the Soviet silent film era depicts a forbidden romance between lovers on opposing sides of the Paris Commune, an historic 1871 revolt of workers and laborers in Paris. The screening features a live performance of Dimitri Shostakovich’s score by the PostClassical Ensemble, whose performances with “The Plow that Broke the Plains,” “The River,” and “The City,” have been part of the DC LaborFest.
 "There was only a company union, the bosses had their way.
A worker had to stand in line for a lousy dollar a day. When up spoke Harry Bridges, 'Us workers got to get wise, Our wives and kids will starve to death if we don't get organized.' Oh, the FBI is worried, the bosses they are scared, They can't deport six million men, they know. And we're not going to let them send Harry over the sea, We'll fight for Harry Bridges and build the C. I. O." Arlo Guthrie (right) - The Ballad of Harry Bridges lyrics by Lee Hays, Millard Lampell, and Pete Seeger |