Ward 1 Candidate Forum To Focus On Labor Issues, Affordable Housing

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

With the DC primaries less than two months away, Ward 1 City Council candidates will appear before labor and community groups tonight for a candidate forum. Sponsored by DC Jobs with Justice, Defeat Poverty DC, Empower DC, Jews United for Justice and the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO --among others -- the forum will feature incumbent Jim Graham, and challengers Jeff Smith, Bryan Weaver and Marc Morgan. “This is an important opportunity for labor to join community groups, pose questions to the candidates and hold elected officials accountable,” says Alya Solomon of the Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO. Questions will address the role of Project Labor Agreements in ensuring local hiring and apprenticeships, the need for responsible contracting language to prohibit the city from doing business with contractors who have violated workers’ rights, and next steps to expand employment and job readiness services.The forum will run from 6-8:30p at True Reformer Building, 1200 U Street. The forum is free and open to the public, and there will be an open floor for questions. For more information contact Ruth Castel-Branco at 202-974-8281.  - photo: at the August 2009 Take Back DC rally; photo by Adam Wright