Drivers at Alexandria DASH -- the city-owned transit company in Alexandria -- overwhelmingly voted to join ATU Local 689 on November 15, saying "Thank you to the @ATUComm International team and everyone at Dash and Local 689 that made this happen!!! We were not intimidated by union busting, we are #UnionStrong." Management had agreed to back off on their anti-union campaign after strong pressure from the labor movement and political allies. The U.S.-based Amalgamated Bank has selected the Solidarity Center as one of its featured nonprofits in an online contest. The organization that receives the most votes will receive up to $5,000 and be recognized as a prominent social justice organization making change for workers. (Please click here to vote for the Solidarity Center.) The campaign runs through December 7, and you can vote for the Solidarity Center once a day. UFCW Local 400 and the Metro Washington Council punched well above their weight in the annual 2018 International Labor Communications Association (ILCA) Labor Media Contest, winning 14 awards between the two organization’s various media. “These awards are a testament to the incredible vibrancy of the metro Washington region’s labor movement and to the dedicated labor communicators who get the word out on so many exciting platforms,” said Metro Council president Jackie Jeter. “Kudos to everyone involved!” Local 400 won two first-place awards for their reports on organizing and political action, three second-place awards for reporting on collective bargaining, Best Series and Best Editorial or Column, a third-place award for Best Profile and Honorable Mentions for General Excellence and Best Feature Story on the Local 400 website. The Metro Washington Council’s Union City newsletter once again took first place -- the eighth time it’s been recognized -- while thedclabor.org website won two awards. Union City Radio took top honors in two categories, and the Labor History Today podcast – which just completed its first year -- won second place in the Best Audio/Podcast/Radio Broadcast category. A number of DC-based international unions also won awards; click here for the complete list of winners. The awards will be distributed at the annual ILCA Awards Luncheon on December 7 at the AFL-CIO. photo: from "Local 400 Members Speak Out on Capitol Hill," UFCW 400 1st place ILCA award-winner for political action writing Former NABET 31 president James Harvey died on November 10. After serving in the U.S. Navy in WWII and the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Harvey went to work at WNHC-TV in New Haven, CT as a TV Engineer. In 1962, Harvey joined ABC News as a TV Engineer at their new Washington D.C. news bureau, working there for 29 years, covering the funerals of Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower, Inaugural parades, election nights, Watergate hearings and in 1972 he was a member of the advance group of TV Engineers that went to China to prepare for Nixon’s visit. After retiring from ABC in 1991 he went to work as NABET Local 31 Vice President, and later President, retiring in 2000. Family will receive friends at Pumphrey’s Bethesda-Chevy Chase Funeral Home (7557 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, MD) on Sunday, November 18, 2018 from 3-6p and the funeral will be held at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Church (9601 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD) on November 19 at 11a. Contributions in his name may be made to the Bethesda Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. |