With rallies, news releases, videos and a petition signed by nearly 500 Guild members and other Washington Post employees, the Post unit of the Washington-Baltimore Guild turned up the heat on Post owner Jeff Bezos yesterday in the battle for a fair contract. At lunchtime Thursday, after gathering outside the Post building to read some of the names on the petitions, a group of about 25 staffers marched inside the Post's Washington, D.C., headquarters and upstairs to the publisher’s office to deliver the signatures. “The Post is not just a brand or a building," the petition said. "Keep your eyes focused here, on your loyal employees who work hard to uphold the great name and legacy of this outstanding news organization." - based on a report by Janelle Hartman; photo by Hartman Contract workers in federal buildings, including cooks and janitors, went on strike Wednesday to protest low wages, which force many of them to rely on food stamps to feed their families. Though President Obama, through executive order, raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10, many say it’s not enough. "I work as a cook in the Senate cafeteria and I don't make enough to give my kids a shot at the American Dream," said Bertrand Olotara (right) at a Capitol Hill rally Wednesday. Olotara says he makes $12 an hour and has taken a second job, working 70 hours a week, yet he has trouble paying rent, buying school supplies for his kids and putting food on the table. “I hate to admit it, but I have to use food stamps so that my kids don’t go to bed hungry,” he wrote in a powerful opinion piece published in The Guardian. - adapted from a post on AFSCME’s blog; photo courtesy Good Jobs Nation Find out more about Fast Track/TPP and “why it’s bad not just for our countries but for other participating trade countries as well” at tonight’s community town hall in Bethesda (see calendar for details). Organizers are connecting Dr. Martin Luther King’s challenges to the injustice of poverty 47 years ago this month with “the injustices past trade deals have inflicted on families, workers, and the environment.” Representatives Donna Edwards (D, MD), Chris Van Hollen (D, MD), US Senator Ben Cardin (D, MD) have been invited. Two years ago today, the multistory Rana Plaza building collapsed in Bangladesh, killing more than 1,130 garment workers. In the months after the disaster, global outrage spurred much-needed changes, and workers could more freely form unions to create safer working conditions. But those freedoms are becoming increasingly rare, garment workers say. Meanwhile, Rana Plaza survivors and their families have not received the full compensation promised by global brands. Says Mosammat, whose injures from Rana Plaza have made it impossible to adequately support her family: “I do not know how we will get by without additional support.” Read stories from survivors and their families and more at the Solidarity Center. photo by Balmi Chisim |