The Bureau of Engraving and Printing Joint Labor Council met Tuesday to discuss working more closely with the Metro Washington labor council and Community Services Agency. “We recognize that we all have issues in common, and that there is strength in numbers,” said Council chairman Christopher Mahoney of IBEW 121. “It just makes sense to work more closely together and take part in the programs run by the MWC and CSA.” Community Services Agency Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy provided an overview of MWC/CSA activities including local legislative and political activities, the recent DC LaborFest, the MWC Directory of affiliates and allies, CSA’s Emergency Assistance Fund, Labor Night at the Nats, the fight against Fast Track and more. The council is made up of locals of the IBEW, Sheet Metal Workers, Int’l Association of Machinists, Nat’l Treasury Employees Union, Teamsters, Plate Printers, Graphic Communications, Carpenters, the FOP, and the Painters. Members include those in the DC area as well as ones who work at the Bureau’s Texas facilities. Kalpona Akter and Maritza Vargas both make clothes, and both work in factories, but the similarities end there. Vargas works at a unionized factory in the Dominican Republic, where she earns a living wage, while Akter struggles to unionize factories in Bangladesh. The garment workers spoke about their different experiences on Tuesday at a panel discussion on “Worker Justice in the Global Apparel Industry.” “The factory owners are more powerful than the government,” said Akter, who started working when she was just 12. She described how difficult it is to simply enforce the existing labor laws, let alone implement new ones that would require a living wage and proper safety measures. Akter is part of a coalition of labor groups working to require that companies producing in the country sign onto the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which requires that a certain proportion of a companies’ profits be allocated towards safety, and that they maintain union neutrality. Unlike workers in most of the garment industry, Vargas’ job at the Alta Gracia factory in the Dominican Republic, where she is the general secretary of her union, pays her three times the wages of the average Dominican garment worker. “It makes a huge difference, because workers at the factory can work and attend university, and can even send their kids to university,” she said. Together the women demonstrated just how hard workers around the world have been fighting, and how far they are able to go. - report/photo by Sivan Rosenthal A recent New York Times article highlighted photographer Noel Bowler, whose recent work has been to photograph the work spaces of labor unions around the world. This photo shows the office of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union in Dublin, Ireland. View the rest of the photos here. The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday unanimously passed legislation ensuring that all private-sector employees in the county can earn paid sick days. Bill 60-14 includes some of the strongest paid sick days protections in the country for even very small businesses. "This policy will improve the lives of working families in our county where more than 100,000 workers currently lack even one paid sick day," said Montgomery County Council President George Leventhal, who co-sponsored the legislation with Councilmember Nancy Navarro. "More parents will be free from making the heart wrenching choice between taking care of a sick child or losing a day of pay." The measure was supported by a broad group of local labor, faith and community organizations including 32BJ SEIU, Advocates for Children and Youth, CASA, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jews United for Justice, Job Opportunities Task Force, LiUNA! Mid-Atlantic, Maryland Working Families, the Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO, MomsRising, the Montgomery County Education Association, National Nurses United, Progressive Maryland, Public Justice Center, SEIU Local 500, UFWC Local 1994 MCGEO, and UFCW Local 400...click below to read more. |