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WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report 2020 AFL-CIO George Meany–Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award Ceremony: Tue, June 30, 10:30am – 11:30am Register here Honors the Civil Human Rights Front of Hong Kong for its inspiring efforts to organize a powerful movement for democracy and human rights. Caravan to "Fund The Frontlines": Tue, June 30, 1:30pm – 3:00pm 190 W Ostend St, Baltimore, MD 21230 DC LaborFest screening: BLOOD FRUIT: Tue, June 30, 7pm – 9pm Free via Zoom; RSVP here Know Your Rights in a ReOpened DC!: Wed, July 1, 4pm – 5pm Webinar; RSVP here Excluded workers and their allies rallied yesterday to demand that DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC City Council Chairman Phil Mendelson include $30 million in the city's budget for excluded workers. photo by Susan Saudek Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are teleworking; reach them at the contact numbers and email addresses here. Latest DC-area labor news, delivered daily: tell a friend and help build our Union City! This week's Labor Radio-Podcast Weekly: Post, Coast To Coast; Thoroughbred Teamsters; Stronger Together; Unify: A Young Workers Podcast; The Break Time Breakdown; The UnionWorking Podcast  Proposed budget cuts would be “absolutely devastating to the people of Maryland,” says AFSCME Maryland president Patrick Moran. Multiple unions are planning a car caravan and rally tonight in Annapolis (see Calendar above), on the eve of the next Board of Public Works meeting, to show their opposition to the proposed cuts. Many of the state’s departments have been short staffed for quite a while, according to AFSCME. Ashley Watson, an AFSCME union member and case management specialist for the Department of Juvenile Services, said that her department was understaffed before the pandemic. Jason Suggs, a claims associate for unemployment at the state Department of Labor in Prince George’s County warns that pay cuts may drive people out of the profession. “It’s hard to find people who are qualified who would want to take this job for the pay when you look at the amount of stress,” said Suggs, who is president of an AFSCME local. Read more here.
 At-Large DC City Councilmember Robert White fielded a wide range of questions at Monday’s Labor Town Hall, the fifth in a series organized by the Metro Washington Council’s COPE. A record crowd of 40 turned out to discuss education, health, re-opening DC, policing and other issues affecting DC residents and workers. “As a parent, I’m very concerned about sending my child back into a DC school building,” White said, “but as a Councilmember, I understand the urgency of re-opening our institutions and businesses.”
 For Pride Month, which wraps up today, the AFL-CIO has been spotlighting various LGBTQ Americans who have worked -- and continue to work -- at the intersection of civil and labor rights.
Earlier this month, they profiled Aimee Stephens, Gerald Lynn Bostock and Donald Zarda, the three plaintiffs in the 2020 Supreme Court cases that led to the landmark decision protecting the workplace rights of LGBTQ Americans. All three sued, claiming they were fired because of their sexuality; the cases were combined and earlier this month the Supreme Court sided with the LGBTQ workers, saying that firing them because of their sexuality was a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Supreme Court extended protections to millions of LGBTQ Americans because three individuals—Aimee Stephens, Gerald Lynn Bostock and Donald Zarda—faced discrimination and refused to accept it. That's the type of courage that Pride Month celebrates. Read more here on the AFL-CIO blog. |
