Montgomery County political, labor and community allies will gather Wednesday morning to celebrate the start of Montgomery County’s new minimum wage, which goes into effect that day. The group, which came together earlier this year to support the regional effort to raise the minimum wage, will convene at the National Labor College at 10:30a. 

Barbara Easterling, President of the Alliance for Retired Americans, will help kick off the  Northern Virginia Area Labor Federation (NoVA Labor) Retiree Phone Bank and Walks on Wednesday, October 1. “People are still not tuning into the fact there is an election this fall,” says NoVA Labor’s Dan Duncan. “We will need to make sure we call and remind them to turn out for this very important election.” The daytime phonebanks are open to all and will run every Wednesday from 10am to 2pm at the NoVA Labor offices in Annandale, with lunch and beverages provided. Complete details here. 

The IATSE 22 Washington DC Stagehands held an Open House celebrating the completion of renovations to the local's Brian X. Benson Memorial Hall. IATSE President Mathew Loeb and Local 22 President Chuck Clay presented IATSE Gold Cards and honorary membership in Local 22 to  Michael Kaiser, retiring President of the Kennedy Center and Ann McKee, retiring Senior Vice President of Wolf Trap, in recognition of ”their relentless pursuit of theatre excellence, in promoting the performance arts.” The hall, renovated by a union contractor, "marks a new level of commitment to our members and investment in their neighborhood," said Clay. The hall is named after former Local 22 President Brian Benson. 
photo (l-r): Clay, McKee, Kaiser & Loeb; photo by Cathy Sonneborn/IATSE 22

Applications for the nation’s premiere political entrepreneurship training program for progressives – the New Leaders Council (NLC) Institute – are now open. Young union leaders interested in becoming a part of the 2015 class of NLC DC Chapter Fellows are encouraged to attend the NLC DC Preview on October 1 at the AFL-CIO. Learn about the NLC Institute, what it means to be an NLC Fellow and how to apply; click here to RSVP.