In 1973, 21-year-old Barbara Moore became the first woman to enter the apprenticeship program of Bricklayers (BAC) Local 1 of Maryland. A couple of decades later, she served as both president of the former local and as Baltimore chapter chair of BAC Local 1 MD/VA/DC. “A lot of people thought I wouldn’t make it this long,” Moore said at a ceremony honoring her 25 years of union membership in 1998. In fact, she just retired after more than 40 years of laying masonry, a tenure that included work on a number of Baltimore landmarks, including Oriole Park at Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium and the (Baltimore) Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary...read more on the AFL-CIO Now Blog. The Hiring Hall section of the Metro Council’s new website has two new features: jobs are now posted by category, so that if you’re interested in, say, communications or political positions, you can go right to the specific category instead of scrolling through others. And area unions looking to post openings can now do so easily right on the Hiring Hall page, using the online form. Hiring Hall job postings, as always, are free. She began her career in a school cafeteria, as a lunch lady. In three weeks, she will take over as head of the nation’s largest labor union, representing 3 million educators. Lily Eskelsen García, 59, a telegenic, guitar-slinging firebrand, has made her unlikely rise to the top of the National Education Association as the union faces the most daunting political challenges in its 157-year history. She is already fighting back with blunt talk, urging teachers nationwide to revolt against “stupid” education reforms and telling politicians to leave teaching to the professionals...read more in The Washington Post The Amalgamated Transit Union has acquired the former National Labor College in Silver Spring and plans to continue to use it to train union workers.
- Washington Business Journal |