Metro Washington Council Union Cities Coordinator Chris Garlock will lead a “Washington Worker's Guided Walking Tour” this Sunday from 12-3p for The Washington DC History & Culture Meetup. The 3-hour walking tour of downtown DC reveals labor’s often-untold story of protest and resistance. Highlights include the 1932 Bonus Army encampment, the real Roosevelt Memorial, the "Man Controlling Trade" statue and the A. Philip Randolph Memorial. $10 per person benefits the Employment Justice Center. The AFL-CIO’s Bonnie Ladin Union Skills Training Program (BLUS) is offering a new class, _"Immigration A to Z", October 12-16 at the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum, MD. "Immigration A to Z" is a hands-on course that will provide union leaders, staff, stewards and activists the tools to thoroughly understand the issue of immigration and its impact on labor standards and workers’ rights. Instructor Ana Avendaño is the former assistant to the president and director of Immigration and Community Action at the AFL-CIO and served as assistant general counsel at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and as associate general counsel at the AFL-CIO. She has spent more than a decade on the frontlines of the immigration reform battle, most recently as the lead labor negotiator in connection with the historic bill passed in the Senate in 2014. Click here to register. House Speaker John Boehner's surprise retirement announcement last Friday "has muddled an already confusing situation," regarding the possibility of another government shutdown, reports AFSCME Council 26's Carl Goldman. "Some experts and many in the media are saying that Boehner's action makes it less likely that a shutdown will occur, while others are saying the opposite. Even many of the more optimistic commentators acknowledge that a shutdown could still happen in the coming weeks and months. The truth is that no one knows for sure." What is clear is that the unions representing federal workers are actively preparing for a shutdown as early as October 1. "We are engaging in legislative action, preparing leaflets, expanding our communications network, preparing public actions and getting ready to engage the media," Goldman told members over the weekend. "Anyone who was around during the last shutdown knows what we are capable of doing." Do you want women to have a voice at work? Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) President Connie Leak invites area activists to join her in November when hundreds of union activists will be converging in Sacramento, California at CLUW’s 18th Biennial Convention to tackle the many issues “that define the War on Women,” says CLUW. Any union member who joins CLUW by October 5th can become a convention delegate with full voting privileges; click here for details on the convention and/or to join. “Exceptional speakers have been invited, stimulating panels have been planned and over 21 workshops are scheduled,” says CLUW Executive Director Carol Rosenblatt. |