Court Says BID Must Negotiate with Workers

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)After three long years, the SAMS may finally get the contract they’ve been fighting for. The US Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of an earlier National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) had to bargain with their workers’ union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers (IAM) (“Downtown BID Tries to Duck Workers,” UC 4/28/2011). “We’re thrilled to finally get to the table after such a long process,” said Roosevelt Littlejohn, Business Representative and lead organizer of BID employees for the IAM. “These workers have put up with a hostile work environment for years without a union. Now that the Court made its ruling, we can start working on the protection they need – a union contract.” The red-suited Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance workers, known as SAMs, have been fighting to organize since 2009. - photo of SAMS picket on 4/29/2011 by Adam Wright