A strike by janitors at the GAO has been averted, reports SEIU 32BJ. Dozens of contracted cleaners at the Government Accountability Office voted earlier this month to authorize a strike to protest their employer’s proposal to stop paying into the workers’ pension fund. Late Tuesday, SEIU 32BJ reported that the contract had been settled. "Workers fought and saved their pension," 32BJ's Julie Karant told Union City.
 “Don't worry if it doesn't come perfect at first," said Matt Redabaugh encouragingly. "Jump in and see if you like doing this work.” Redabaugh, Apprenticeship and Training Director at the International Masonry Institute/ Bricklayers Local 1, urged students to step up at one of the practice stations on Monday. Bricklayers Local 1 President Scott Garvin rolled up his sleeves and joined Redabaugh (left, in blue cap) in leading the Community Service Agency’s Building Futures pre-apprenticeship students during their hands-on practice.
"Bricklaying is the way to go if you try to build a solid career," Garvin (above, tan shirt) said. "The local’s apprenticeship program is taking applications now,” said Sylvia Casaro Dietert, Building Futures Program Coordinator, “and I hope that some of our Building Futures students are accepted as finishers or bricklayer apprentices upon graduation September 12." The Community Services Agency has operated the Building Futures Pre-Apprenticeship Program since 2007, in partnership with several public and private area funders, and with area union apprenticeship training centers. photos by Sylvia Casaro-Dietert  Golfers can still join fellow union members from AFSCME 2462, Operating Engineers 99 and SEIU 722 – just to name a few of the locals already fielding teams - hitting the links at the 21st annual CSA Golf Tournament to raise money for the Community Services Agency’s Emergency Assistance Fund. Monday, September 26“promises to be 72 and sunny at the union Enterprise Golf Course,” says CSA’s Kathleen McKirchy. “Join us for a fun round, followed by great food at the Newton White Mansion.” Click here for the registration form.
photo: 2015 AFSCME 2462 team; photo by Chris Garlock  John Reed forms the Communist Labor Party in Chicago. The American journalist, poet, and socialist activist is best remembered for his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution, “Ten Days That Shook the World.” - 1919
Some 10,000 striking miners began a fight at Blair Mountain, W.Va., for recognition oftheir union, the United Mine Workers of America. Federal troops were sent in and miners were forced to withdraw five days later, after 16 deaths - 1921 The Trade Union Unity League is founded as an alternative to the American Federation of Labor, with the goal of organizing along industrial rather than craft lines. An arm of the American Communist Party, the League claimed 125,000 members before it dissolved in the late 1930s - 1929 "Solidarity" workers movement founded as a strike coordination committee at Lenin Shipyards, Gdansk, Poland. The strike launched a wave of unrest in the Soviet Union that ultimately led to its dissolution in 1991 - 1980 An estimated 325,000 unionists gathered in Washington, D.C., for a Solidarity Day march and rally for workplace fairness and healthcare reform - 1991 photo: Anne Martens/Page One Photography Detroit teachers begin what is to become a 9-day strike, winning smaller class sizes and raises of up to 4 percent - 1999 - compiled/edited by David Prosten at Union Communication Services. |