 Solidarity Center union allies in the country are reporting no casualties among their staff and are organizing to support relief efforts in the Nepali capital after Saturday’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake. “Kathmandu valley is unimaginably destroyed,” says Bishnu Rimal, General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions president. The earthquake and aftershocks were felt as far away as Dhaka, Bangladesh, where one garment worker was killed and more than 200 injured as workers rushed out of factories when the quake hit. Find out more at the Solidarity Center. photo: Apheda
 Cornell's Worker Institute and the Berger-Marks Foundation have released a new guide with detailed advice and real-world tools that can be used to create women's committees in labor unions and worker-centered organizations. The publication, A Guide to Organizing Women’s Committees: Everything You Need to Know to Make a Difference, provides step-by-step methods for the development and implementation of women's committees. And if your organization already has a women's committee, the guide easily can be used to help existing committees expand and grow. The report is filled with good information on program ideas and strategies and there’s also a workshop to accompany the guide.
- Carolyn J. Jacobson, CLUW  WPFW 89.3 FM – which hosts Union City Radio weekdays at 7:15a and is running labor programming all day on May 1, International Workers Day -- is looking for volunteers to take phone pledges during its upcoming Spring Membership Drive, which begins this Sunday, May 3. Volunteer shifts on the “Jazz & Justice Radio Station” are flexible, station studios are at K at 20th. For more information or to sign up for a shift (tell him Union City sent you!), contact Vinnie Jack at [email protected] or call him at 202-588-0999 x360.
 More than two dozen housekeeping and dietary workers at Arcola Health and Rehabilitation Center voted last month to join 1199SEIU. “I have worked at Arcola as a laundry aide for over 18 years,” said Vicki Watson. “For the past five years we have had no pay raises, health insurance or benefits whatsoever. Retirement is on my mind. I have put too much into this company to walk out with no retirement package and be homeless.” Over 900 workers have voted to join 1199SEIU so far in 2015, with caregivers from the Maryland/DC area to Upstate New York affirming the need for affordable healthcare, better pay and a voice in patient care.
- excerpted from a report on the 1199SEIU website |
