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• Jul 29, 2010 Ward 1 Candidate Forum To Focus On Labor Issues, Affordable Housing 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...    more...  
• Jul 29, 2010 Increased Worker Safety Demanded At Town Hall “My son fell to his death at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas,” testified Mary (right), of United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities (USMWF). “I will live forever with a dagger in my heart because there is no deeper pain, no deeper despair. All of us are here because we’ve...    more...  
• Jul 29, 2010 CVC Union Welcomes Firing Of CEO The union organizing workers at the Capitol Visitor Center welcomed the news yesterday that the Center’s CEO has been fired ( Head of Capitol Visitors Center gets fired , The Hill 7/27) . “You have taken the first steps towards correcting an untenable situation at the CVC,”...    more...  
• Jul 29, 2010 Labor For Gray Reception Photos Posted Photos from Tuesday night’s Labor for Gray fundraiser have now been posted online . The photos are available for downloading and may be freely used; please credit Chris Garlock/Union City.    more...  
• Jul 29, 2010 Labor Photo: On The Line At The Hay Adams    more...  
• Jul 28, 2010 Labor Rises To Support Gray Mayoral Effort "This mayor has been a divider," said Vince Gray, "but tonight he's united us to throw him out of here!" Cheers erupted from the crowd of labor supporters gathered atop the downtown DC IBEW headquarters at last night's Labor for Gray fundraiser and reception. "I don't even think we've had a...    more...  
• Jul 28, 2010 Former Baltimore Sun Workers Get New Outlet “Looking for work is more dispiriting even than dating,” writes John E. McIntyre. “You put yourself forward to be judged, and you are not only found wanting but often simply ignored.” McIntyre, former chief copy editor at the Baltimore Sun, was one of 60 people – including a third of...    more...  
• Jul 27, 2010 Gray Fundraiser Provides View From The Top With hundreds planning on attending and thousands of dollars already raised, excitement is building for tonight's labor reception and fundraiser for DC Mayoral candidate Vince Gray (at right). The reception runs from 5P-7P on the IBEW's rooftop deck overlooking downtown Washington. In...    more...  
• Jul 27, 2010 Workplace Safety Town Hall Tonight “An average of 14 workers die each day in this country because the current occupational safety and health laws are weak,” says Sara Markle-Elder, who is organizing tonight’s town hall meeting on tough new legislation that seeks to strengthen mine and workplace safety rules. “The...    more...  
• Jul 27, 2010 Labor Profile: Paola Encarnacion, DC JWJ Intern “Determination is my key to success,” declares D.C. Jobs with Justice intern Paola Encarnacion (below), “everyone tells me I am going to be just like (Supreme Court nominee) Sonia Sotomayor and make history.” The Dominican Republic native -- who’s lived in Washington for the past two...    more...  
• Jul 27, 2010 Union Voice: Readers Write “Your newsletter is usually a heartening pleasure,” writes reader George dePue. “I'm very grateful. In a small, hopefully beginning way it hearkens back to the era when organized working people undertook our own media, even broadcasting. In the era of the Internet, your work is...    more...  
• Jul 26, 2010 Mobile Exhibit Exposes Modern-Day Slavery Learn about the history and evolution of slavery in Florida’s fields at a special exhibit – developed by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers – on display today  at the Church of the Pilgrims near Dupont Circle. “A century and a half after the Civil War, forms of slavery continue...    more...  
• Jul 26, 2010 Labor For Gray Fundraiser Tomorrow “I implore unions and members of the labor community to help support labor-endorsed candidate for Mayor, Vince Gray (l), at a reception and fundraiser tomorrow night,” says Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO President Jos Williams. “Throughout his career, Vince has demonstrated...    more...  
• Jul 26, 2010 CSA Golf Tourney Set Registration forms for the Community Services Agency’s annual golf tournament – now in its 15th year, scheduled for Monday, September 27  – are available for download on the Metro Council’s website. “Be sure to sign up early so that you don’t miss out!” says CSA Executive...    more...  
• Jul 26, 2010 Free Green Labor Journal The National Labor College has released the July publication of the Green Labor Journal, a free monthly e-zine that “examines issues of green jobs, sustainability, clean energy and climate change from a labor movement perspective,” reports the NLC. This month’s edition includes...    more...  
• Jul 26, 2010 Union Voice: Readers Write “I saw the mention in Friday’s ‘Weekend Labor History’ of the Alliance for Labor Action (ALA),” writes AFSCME Council 26 Executive Director Carl Goldman. “When I was a student in Montgomery College I interviewed the ALA Director for a school project. While I had been active in...    more...  
• Jul 26, 2010 Labor Photo: Mott's Strikers Garner Support From NoVA Labor    more...  
• Jul 23, 2010 "Shame On Massey" Say Protesters More than 50 labor rights activists rallied outside the National Press Club Thursday where Don Blankenship – the Chairman and CEO of mining company Massey Energy – was scheduled to speak. “A total of 31 miners have been killed this year at mines owned by Massey,” Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO...    more...  
• Jul 23, 2010 Labor For Gray Fundraiser Next Week Local unions are encouraged to show their support for labor-endorsed candidate for Mayor of the District of Columbia, Vince Gray, at a reception and fundraiser  next Tuesday, July 27. “I strongly urge you to help support Vince's campaign by attending this event,” says Metropolitan...    more...  
• Jul 23, 2010 Tough Mine, Workplace Safety Bill Advances “Tough new mine safety and workplace safety rules cleared a big hurdle Wednesday when the House Education and Labor Committee approved legislation that includes stronger enforcement tools, tougher penalties and broader workers’ rights,” reports the AFL-CIO . “The bill—now named...    more...  
• Jul 23, 2010 Searchable Union City Archive Nearly five years of Union City stories are just a click away in Union City’s searchable online archives . Now you can quickly locate complete articles – along with photos and artwork – going back to December 2005.    more...  
• Jul 22, 2010 Activists To Rally For Mine Workers' Rights Today Dozens of workers’ rights activists will rally outside the Press Club at 11:30A today  to tell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Massey Energy, Don Blankenship - whose company owns the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia where 29 miners were killed on April 5th - that “lives...    more...  
• Jul 22, 2010 "Boycott The Reserve" Urge Restaurant Workers Representatives from DC Jobs with Justice and community allies leafleted outside The Reserve on L Street, NW at noon yesterday, urging passersby to boycott the restaurant where workers are owed tens of thousands in back wages by owner Moe Hamdan. “Hamdan still refuses to pay his workers,”...    more...  
• Jul 22, 2010 WHC Nurses Continue Push For "Fair Contract" Over 300 Nurses United members – who have been working without a contract since the end of June - rallied outside the Washington Hospital Center Monday, calling on management to bring “fair and reasonable” proposals to the bargaining table. “Nurses are not asking for pay increases,...    more...  
• Jul 22, 2010 Fed Up Residents Establish "Tent City" Enraged over Mayor Fenty’s back flip on promises to provide affordable housing, dozens of DC's Shaw neighborhood residents, homeless activists and community allies – led by ONE DC and Take Back the Land – have established a ‘tent city’ on the corner of 7th and R Streets, NW to draw...    more...  
• Jul 22, 2010 Miner Safety To Be Explored At Labor Briefing Join labor and community allies for a special briefing next Tuesday  on the Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010, which seeks to strengthen oversight and enforcement in mines and other dangerous workplaces. Briefing organizers are seeking workers who have had workplace injuries and...    more...  
• Jul 21, 2010 Endorsements Finalized At Special Council Meeting Braving a marathon session of rigorous debate Monday night, Executive Board members and Delegates of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO finalized the remaining political endorsements in state and local races. Click here  to review the complete list of endorsements on the Metro...    more...  
• Jul 21, 2010 Hold Massey Energy Accountable! Labor and community allies will hold a demonstration Thursday  against Don Blankenship (r), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Massey Energy, whose company owns the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia where 29 miners were killed on April 5th. “Massey had racked up a disgraceful...    more...  
• Jul 21, 2010 Union Voice: Readers Write “Enjoying the newsletters,” writes Mona Miller. “Especially the article about the labor tour in DC with the map of labor-friendly (and not-so-friendly) hotels and restaurants.” Whether you love Union City, found an error or have a story suggestion, we love hearing from our readers!...    more...  
• Jul 20, 2010 Fish Fry Helps USDA Local Build Membership Whoever said there’s no such thing as a free lunch wasn’t at the USDA last Wednesday. Members of AFSCME 3925 – which represents the USDA Farm Services and Risk Management Agency’s employees -- enjoyed a free fish fry, as did their colleagues who signed up for the union that day. As...    more...  
• Jul 20, 2010 Verizon Charged With Exploiting Workers Verizon workers in Northern Virginia say they are being forced to perform “mandatory overtime,” charging that Verizon’s Director of FiOS Installation is exploiting a provision in their contract that allows up to eight extra “volunteer hours” per week if necessary. “For a business,...    more...  
• Jul 20, 2010 Labor To Host Reception For Gray Meet labor’s endorsed candidate for Mayor of the District of Columbia, Vince Gray, at a reception and fundraiser on Tuesday, July 27 . "Labor will have an integral role in a Gray administration," said Gray in May, when the Metro Council endorsed him. "Union members are the life's...    more...  
• Jul 19, 2010 Special Metro Council Delegate Meeting Tonight Don't miss tonight's Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO delegate meeting  – the first July Council meeting in many years -- where delegates will hold a special session for the sole purpose of taking action on endorsements in the metro-area's remaining political races. Click here...    more...  
• Jul 19, 2010 Children's Hospital Workers OK New Pact Hospital workers at the Children's National Medical Center overwhelmingly approved a new 3-year contract on July 6. The new pact provides 1,000 members of SEIU 722 with 3% raises each year and “cleared up time and attendance issues,” reports Local 722 President Dan Fields. The local...    more...  
• Jul 19, 2010 IN MEMORIAM: CWA Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus James Booe; Harry Kranz, DOL, UAW, CIO CWA Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus James Booe: Retired CWA Secretary-Treasurer James B. Booe (r), who helped guide CWA for nearly 45 years, died July 9. He was 83. Booe retired as secretary-treasurer in 1992 after having served CWA as secretary-treasurer and executive vice president. Booe...    more...  
• Jul 16, 2010 Wal-Mart DC Plans Challenged Wal-Mart’s low wages won’t fly in the nation’s capital. With negotiations underway for the giant retailer to open a store in the District, unions and community advocates are pushing big box stores to pay workers a living wage and hire District residents. A poll conducted by the United...    more...  
• Jul 16, 2010 Building Futures Project Graduates 5th Class The Community Services Agency's GSA Building Futures Project successfully graduated their fifth pre-apprenticeship class this week.  The nineteen youth graduates celebrated their accomplishments Wednesday afternoon at Covenant House Washington surrounded by enthusiastic family, friends,...    more...  
• Jul 16, 2010 Dyer Re-Elected OPEIU Region 2 VP OPEIU Local 2 President Dan Dyer was re-elected Vice President for OPEIU’s Region II at the union’s 25th annual convention, held in Washington June 21-24. The convention focused on the theme "Diversity is Our Strength" in honor of OPEIU's gender and ethnic diversity, as well as the...    more...  
• Jul 16, 2010 Got Books, Need Bags The National Labor College’s upcoming Southern School for Union Women  is looking for donations of leftover union convention or conference canvas bags or briefcases. “We received a number of books to give away,” says organizer Elise Bryant, “but need a good, strong union bag to...    more...  
• Jul 16, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": Sickening Injustice at Area Restaurants This year's Labor on the Bimah theme is restaurant worker justice. Even in the current economic crisis, the restaurant industry is one of the fastest-growing industries. And though this growth would not be possible without workers such as waitstaff and bartenders, many restaurant employees...    more...  
• Jul 16, 2010 When Finances Stall, Union Plus Provides A Jump Start For ATU Member Times are tough for members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 – service cuts loom large, job performance is under heavy scrutiny, and the safety of both passengers and drivers is a constant concern. Throw a career-threatening injury into the mix, and the stress level soars to...    more...  
• Jul 15, 2010 Daycon Thumbs Nose At NLRB, Workers "We're still on strike!" reports Teamsters 639 Business Agent Doug Webber. The Teamsters met Tuesday afternoon with Daycon management and a federal mediator after the National Labor Relations Board issued a formal complaint against the local cleaning supplies company, whose workers have been...    more...  
• Jul 15, 2010 Electricians Pay It Forward Thirty electricians and apprentices kept things humming Saturday as they wired up a Covenant House facility in southeast Washington. The volunteers included members of IBEW Local 26’s Minority Coalition, who recruited fellow local members of all races to help wire the housing and training...    more...  
• Jul 15, 2010 Labor Profile: Robert Bass, MCGEO/UFCW 1994 Shop Steward Shop stewards are on a local union's day-to-day frontlines, and that’s where UFCW 1994 shop steward Robert Bass (at far left in photo) was last Wednesday. "We've got to nip this in the bud," he said, referring to the raiding attempt by an out-of-state union on Local 1994's members. After...    more...  
• Jul 14, 2010 PERB Upholds Reinstatement Of Fired DC Caseworkers “Without my union I don’t know where I’d be today,” said an exuberant Nicole Smith Tuesday as her fellow caseworkers cheered outside the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) in southeast DC. Smith and two of her colleagues had just won another ruling reinstating them after...    more...  
• Jul 14, 2010 Labor Rallies For O'Malley Union members gathered in front of the State House in Annapolis Monday to reiterate their support for Gov. Martin O'Malley, saying the Democratic governor has always paid attention to them, unlike his Republican predecessor. "Are we going to let our piece of property be taken over?" asked...    more...  
• Jul 14, 2010 "Musicians For The Cure" Top Fundraising Record The small but mighty ‘Musicians for the Cure’ team from AFM Local 161-710 raised a record $2,503.02 in this year’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure , the team’s most successful effort yet. “Thanks to the participants and all who contributed to our efforts this year,” says team...    more...  
• Jul 14, 2010 Endorsement Vote Monday Delegates of the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO will hold a special meeting next Monday, July 19 for the sole purpose of taking action on endorsements in the remaining outstanding political races. The meeting starts at 6:30P sharp at the AFL-CIO, 815 16th St NW.    more...  
• Jul 14, 2010 Labor On The Move: AFSCME 2250's Shaw Passes Former ACE/AFSCME 2250 Executive Director Harold Shaw (r) passed away in late June. "Harold was a hard and dedicated worker in the labor movement," said Local 2250 President Faith Jones. "He was instrumental in forming Local 2250 in 1967 when the Maintenance Department Association was...    more...  
• Jul 13, 2010 Local 99 Grads Keep Their Cool After more than 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and 600 hours in the classroom, 14 students graduated last month from the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99 Joint Apprentice-ship Committee training program. Operating engineers make sure the air conditioning, heat,...    more...  
• Jul 13, 2010 A Chance For Injured Workers To Speak Out If you or someone you know -- a member of your local, for instance -- has been injured on the job, Sara Markle-Elder wants to talk to you. Markle-Elder is organizing a job safety town hall  later this month on federal legislation which seeks to strengthen oversight and enforcement in...    more...  
• Jul 13, 2010 Labor On The Move: AFSCME's Bill Lucy Retires; Chuck Gray Passes AFSCME’s Bill Lucy Retires: Longtime labor icon and civil rights leader William Lucy (r) -- known to everyone as Bill -- has retired after more than four decades at the forefront of the labor movement. As Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of State County and Municipal...    more...  
• Jul 12, 2010 Pro-Active Campaign Saves Union Jobs At Giant Warehouse "We just didn't back down," says Teamsters 730 President Ritchie Brooks. The union last week announced that Giant had agreed not to lay off any unionized workers -- and to accept the terms and conditions of the existing Teamster contract --  at its dry goods distribution business in...    more...  
• Jul 12, 2010 Shaw's Warehouse Workers Ratify New Contract, Ending Strike Associates at the Shaw's Methuen (MA) distribution center have ratified a mediator-recommended settlement agreement, ending the strike that began March 7 ( Local UFCW Members Support Strikers In Massachusetts  5/3/2010 UC ). "Congratulations to our brothers and sisters at Shaw's," said...    more...  
• Jul 12, 2010 Team Solidarity Nets Nats Win On Labor Night More than 5,000 area union members and their families joined a packed crowd at Friday’s fourth annual Labor Night at the Nats, as the home team clobbered the Giants in a 8-1 victory. AFGE 3615’s Juanita Jackson threw out the ceremonial first pitch, OPEIU 2 member and AFSCME staffer Renee...    more...  
• Jul 12, 2010 Labor Photo: "Thou Shalt Not Steal" Say Restaurant Workers Former employees of The Reserve restaurant were joined by DC Jobs with Justice and dozens of labor allies and community supporters Friday afternoon in front of the L Street eatery as they demanded tens of thousand in back wages they're owed by restaurant owner Moe Hamden. - photo by Adam...    more...  
• Jul 12, 2010 Union Voice: Readers Write "I'm an unemployed Wisconsinite," writes Union City reader Merritt Bussiere from Kewaunee, Wisconsin. "A compañero in DC added me to your mailing list. So, starting out, I was in it for the Hiring Hall. But Today's Labor History has become my favorite feature. So inspiring and helps me keep...    more...  
• Jul 9, 2010 Moe Is Less At Local Eatery Restaurateur Moe Hamdan (at left) used his new upscale DC eatery as his own personal piggy bank while leaving workers empty-handed, say former employees of The Reserve. According to one former manager who requested anonymity, Hamdan - who's the target of a demonstration by former workers and...    more...  
• Jul 9, 2010 Union Nats Fans: Wear Your Colors, Bring A Toy "Don't forget to wear your union colors at tonight's Labor Night at the Nats," says Community Services Agency Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy. Union City will be roaming the stands shooting photos for special online Labor Night at the Nats photo album. "Plus, bring along a new toy,...    more...  
• Jul 9, 2010 UFCW 400 Feeds Daycon Struggle As their strike stretched into its 11 week and temperatures soared, striking Daycon workers got some relief on Thursday when UFCW Local 400 President Tom McNutt sent over lunch and cold drinks. "We've got to help them keep their struggle alive," said UFCW Local 400 Director of Strategic Growth...    more...  
• Jul 9, 2010 NPO Musicians Ink New Contract National Philharmonic Orchestra musicians finalized a new contract on June 28 that provides for wage increases, annual bonuses and increased pension payouts over the life of the three-year contract. AFM Local 161-710 President John Cusick praised the local's NPO bargaining committee "for...    more...  
• Jul 9, 2010 Local Union Member Stands In For America's Laid-Off Workers "From the Panera bakery in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, Carlita Guzman can gaze across the street at Lee Plaza, the 10-storey art deco building where she used to clean office suites every evening," wrote James Politi in the July 2 edition of The Financial Times. Guzman, an SEIU 32BJ...    more...  
• Jul 8, 2010 "Scabs Go Home" Say MCGEO Workers Responding to recent attempts to raid UFCW 1994 MCGEO  members by “decertified scab unions,” dozens of Montgomery County government workers hand-billed outside the Gaithersburg Holiday Inn during rush hour Wednesday afternoon. The presence of a giant inflatable rat on loan from the...    more...  
• Jul 8, 2010 Restaurateur Hamdan Targeted For Failure To Pay Wages Moe Hamdan owes his workers more than $10,000. The owner of The Reserve restaurant is the target of a DC Jobs with Justice campaign to win back wages for DC workers. Hamdan has refused to meet with ex-workers who charge that he never paid them and D.C. Jobs with Justice delegation members, as...    more...  
• Jul 8, 2010 MD General Assembly Questionnaires Posted Online Responses to the Metro Council's questionnaire by candidates running for office in the Maryland General Assembly have been posted online. This expands the existing candidate questionnaire postings, which now include DC City Council, Prince George's County Council and County Executive, Charles,...    more...  
• Jul 8, 2010 School Helps Union Women Learn History, Leadership Skills Union women will learn how to "Run for Office, Not for Coffee" at this year's Southern School for Union Women, set for August 19-22 at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring. The school was created by and for union and community activists who support women’s advancement in the...    more...  
• Jul 7, 2010 Janitor Battle Splashes Onto Business Press “Is Lee Development Group’s Cleaning Contractor BREAKING THE LAW?” blares the banner ad running atop Gazette.net’s  business page. SEIU 32BJ is running the ad for a full month to expose Lee’s hiring of contractor Beltway Cleaning Services “which unjustly refused to hire all...    more...  
• Jul 7, 2010 Labor On The Move: Saunders Elected AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders  (r) was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) last Friday at the 1.6 million-member union’s 39th International Convention, held in Boston, MA. Saunders bested Danny Donohue in the contested election,...    more...  
• Jul 7, 2010 Streetheat Works, Says IPS “The street heat generated by Jobs with Justice, the AFL-CIO, SEIU, and other groups” strengthened the financial reform bill now before the Senate Sarah Anderson told attendees at the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit last month. “The Wall Street ‘showdowns’ they organized in Chicago, in...    more...  
• Jul 7, 2010 Why The Mona Lisa Doesn't Talk To Grand Juries The latest social justice calendar from labor artist Ricardo Levins Morales is now available for free download . In addition to significant historical labor events and actions, the July calendar features an image of the Mona Lisa dressed as a worker, mysteriously saying "I don't talk...    more...  
• Jul 7, 2010 Labor Profile: Jobs with Justice Intern Anthony Ferguson Most youth dream of changing the world and making a difference. Anthony Ferguson (l), a rising junior at Bell Multicultural High School in Columbia Heights NW DC, chose to put his dream into action by signing up for DC Jobs with Justice in a summer internship. "I wanted to help with workers'...    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 NLRB Charges Daycon Violated Law Strikers at Daycon won a victory last Friday when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided to charge the local cleaning products company with significant violations of federal labor law. After conducting a major investigation for several months, the NLRB is issuing formal charges...    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 Opera Management, Union Members Singing Off Same Page Labor and management are in harmony at the Washington National Opera. Again. Workers and management at the 54-year-old local musical institution settled a new contract in less than 48 hours last month, reports Eleni Kallas, National Director of Organizing and Training at the American Guild of...    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 Mott's Strikers Take A Stand For American Blue-Collar Workers by Chris Garlock They'd rather be making applesauce. Instead, the workers at Mott's have been on strike in upstate New York since May 23, in what they say is the latest battle against unchecked corporate greed. On Friday, while visiting my parents in nearby Rochester for the holiday weekend,...    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 Excluded Workers Organize For Rights Fifty one local activists traveled to Detroit recently, chartering a bus to attend the U.S. Social Forum held June 22 - 26th. The group included students, union members, members of DC Jobs with Justice and Empower DC, Wings strikers, and Union de Trabajadores members. In Detroit they joined up...    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 New York Group Trying To Raid UFCW In Montgomery County An out-of-town labor group with a “checkered past” is raiding Montgomery County government workers, reports UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO. The National Corrections Employees Union (NCEU) from Massachusetts and the New York-based United Public Service Employees Union (UPSEU) are soliciting the Local...    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 Labor Photo: Founding Fathers Crash Corporate Fundraisers    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 Last & Final Chance For Nats Tix It’s the bottom of the 9th, two outs and two strikes for Labor Night at the Nats tickets. “Today’s your last chance to buy tickets for next week’s annual Labor Night at the Nats,” reports Community Services Agency Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy. “Final ticket purchases must...    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 Area Workers Support Mott's Strike Local grocery workers are supporting a month-old strike in upstate New York. Three hundred workers at Mott’s were forced out on strike last month when the company slashed wages, benefits and undercut retirement security. UFCW Local 400  is supporting their fellow members at UFCW Local...    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 Labor On The Move: Heintzman Succeeds George As ATU President Ronald J. Heintzman (r), executive vice president of the Amalgamated Transit Union for the past year, and a union vice president for seven years before that, took over as ATU’s international president on July 1. The union’s executive board appointed him to succeed Warren S. George, who...    more...  
• Jul 6, 2010 DC's Labor History Explored When labor activists took a walk through downtown Washington recently, it was, unusually, as tourists, not demonstrators. The group of 18 labor lawyers – in town for the annual meeting of the Lawyers Coordinating Committee -- participated in the first-ever DC Labor History Tour, led by Metro...    more...  
• Jul 1, 2010 Nurses Join Teamsters On Daycon Picketline "We're here today out of solidarity, pure and simple," DC Nurses Association Executive Director Herman Brown, Jr. said yesterday morning as he and other DCNA members walked the picket line at Daycon. "We don't like management treating people wrong, whether it's Teamsters or nurses." Blowing...    more...  
• Jul 1, 2010 DC Workers Fight For Jobs At City Hearing Workers battled business lobbyists in a major throw-down over jobs at DC City Council yesterday. "City Council needs to get serious about enforcing legislation that provides DC residents with jobs and training," challenged Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO Executive Board member and DC...    more...  
• Jul 1, 2010 Inspiring & Mobilizing DC Nurses Area nurses were "inspired and mobilized" by a labor relations seminar conducted last week by the DC Nurses Association. Thirty DCNA local leaders gathered for the annual training session led by Edward J. Smith, the union's staff attorney. "It was our most active labor relations seminar in...    more...  
• Jun 30, 2010 Local Transit Union President Says Safety For Workers, Riders Within Reach The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, beleaguered by deadly accidents in recent years, can be transformed into a safely run system, says the head of the Metro worker’s union. “Effective oversight, dedicated funding and institutional accountability will restore the confidence...    more...  
• Jun 30, 2010 Workers To Battle Trade Lobby Goliath At Today's Council Hearing District residents and workers will take on the Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC), the anti-union trade lobby group, at a special City Council hearing  on DC’s Employment and Trade Stimulus Amendment Act today at 10A. The bill would provide much-needed jobs and training...    more...  
• Jun 30, 2010 Friday Deadline For Nats Tix Time is running out to get your tickets for this year’s Labor Night at the Nats! “The deadline is fast approaching,” warns Community Services Agency (CSA) Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy, noting that ticket purchases must be finalized by this Friday, July 2 at 12P. The family...    more...  
• Jun 30, 2010 June Council Minutes Now Online Draft minutes from the June Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO Executive Board and Delegate meetings are now available for download  on the Metro Council’s website. Mark your calendars for next month’s meeting when Delegates will hold a special session on Monday, July 16 at...    more...  
• Jun 29, 2010 Washington Hospital Nurses Reject Contract Nurses at Washington Hospital Center overwhelmingly rejected management's proposed contract last weekend. The 987-21 vote -- the largest turnout in the union's history -- sent "a strong message to WHC management that we will not accept continued staffing shortages or reductions in benefits and...    more...  
• Jun 29, 2010 DC Failing Own Workers Jobless DC residents are being victimized by high unemployment and their own government’s failure to enforce basic laws specifically designed to help them. DC’s 4-year-old living wage law has yet to be implemented, and the District’s “first source” law is largely being ignored,...    more...  
• Jun 29, 2010 Labor On The Move: Reggie Cole Retires From AFL-CIO "After more than 31 years of service, Reggie Cole is retiring and will be missed immensely!" reports the AFL-CIO.  Cole (r) has filled several critical roles at the AFL-CIO, including nearly a decade as the Broadcast Manager. A celebration to honor her is being held on Wednesday, June 30...    more...  
• Jun 29, 2010 Labor Profile: Union Summer Site Coordinator Jennifer Tate “I was born in solidarity,” says Jennifer Tate (r), site coordinator for the DC Union Summer intern program. The Michigan State graduate (’08) knew early on that she wanted to be a union member as well as an activist, growing up in a household fully engaged in the battle for workers...    more...  
• Jun 28, 2010 Capitol Tour Staff Lead Way To Union Tour staff at the U.S. Capitol know a lot about the building's history. Friday they added their own chapter to that history, filing for a union recognition election. The filing came after a brief 3-week campaign initiated by the workers themselves, reports Carl Goldman, Executive Director of...    more...  
• Jun 28, 2010 Working To Get Off The Bench Ironworker Willie Williams (r) isn’t used to being laid off.  “I refuse to sit on the bench,” he says. Right now, though, Williams – whose goals is to “be an iron worker for the next twenty years” -- is out of work, unwillingly benched. Williams, a DC resident, apprenticed...    more...  
• Jun 28, 2010 Labor Profile: Union Summer Intern Lizet Ramirez Legendary farm workers organizer Cesar Chavez is not just a hero to Union Summer intern Lizet Ramirez (r), he was a co-worker and close friend of her father, Agustin Ramirez, who’s also one of her biggest heroes and a longtime union activist, first with the United Farm Workers, and later...    more...  
• Jun 25, 2010 Cement Masons Seal Big Concrete Deal At New Coast Guard HQ Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ Local 891 is “One of the first labor unions" to land a contract on the St Elizabeth's project in Southeast DC, reports  Business Manager Keith Hickman. The union recently locked down a federal contract to work on the new Coast Guard headquarters...    more...  
• Jun 25, 2010 Strasburg Set To Pitch At Labor Night At The Nats Now there are two reasons to catch the July 9 Nationals-Giants game: tickets to the fourth annual Labor Night at the Nats benefit the Community Services Agency and pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg (r) is currently scheduled to start that night. “It’s going to be a great night at the...    more...  
• Jun 25, 2010 DC Resident Wants To Help Rebuild His Community Larae King-Day is a construction worker, a father, a musician and a lifelong DC resident. He’s also been out of work for two long years. King-Day trained as a construction worker through the GSA Building Futures Project but has had no luck finding steady work. “I thought being a Ward 8...    more...  
• Jun 25, 2010 Labor Profile: Union Summer Intern Jack Arlook Inspired by his urge to make a positive impact on people’s lives in his hometown, Washingtonian Jack Arlook is one of this year’s Union Summer interns at the Metro Washington Council. After graduating from Eckerd College in St Petersburg, FL in 2007 – where he earned a double major in...    more...  
• Jun 24, 2010 "Contract Or Leave!" Demand Hilton Workers Charging that the Hilton Crystal City is “violating workers’ rights,” dozens of hotel workers rallied in Northern Virginia Wednesday afternoon demanding that hotel owner Columbia Sussex “sign a fair contract or get out of town.” The workers have been without a contract since October...    more...  
• Jun 24, 2010 SEIU 32BJ Hosts Open House At New HQ Saturday SEIU 32BJ "has consolidated its Silver Spring and DC offices to bring our organizing department, health care fund and training funds together under one roof," says District Chair and Area Director Jaime Contreras. "This will provide our members with better access to their union!" The local is...    more...  
• Jun 24, 2010 Online Council Directory Updated AFGE Local 2978 – which represents workers at the DC Department of Health – has new contact information, updated in the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO’s online directory of local affiliates. Click here  now to search for local 2978’s new address and phone number and...    more...  
• Jun 24, 2010 Labor Profile: Union Summer Intern Boaz Young-El Boaz Young-El’s interest in activism began as a minority student at Hampden-Sydney College in Farmville Virginia. “There was not much diversity at Hampden-Sydney,” says Young-El (l), so he joined the Minority Student Union (MSU), a social equality advocacy group on campus. “MSU was one...    more...  
• Jun 23, 2010 Political Action Dominates June Council Meeting Political action dominated the agenda at Monday’s Metro Council Executive Board and delegate meetings. After spirited discussion of the candidate endorsement recommendations by the DC, Prince George’s and Tri-County COPE committees, both bodies voted to meet again in special session on...    more...  
• Jun 23, 2010 Hilton Workers To Rally Against Union-Busting Today Workers at the Hilton Crystal City in Northern Virginia continue their two-and-a-half-year struggle at 4:30P today . The hotel workers have been fighting to maintain decent wages, benefits and workplace rights and will rally to stop hotel owner Columbia Sussex Corporation's union-busting...    more...  
• Jun 23, 2010 Area Broadcast Workers Pull Off Double-Play Workers at Montgomery Community Television - members of NABET Local 31 - overwhelmingly ratified a 3-year contract earlier this month; the vote was 13-0. NABET 31 also just negotiated a “ground breaking agreement” with ABC that will add over 3,700 “man days” for local union members....    more...  
• Jun 23, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": 2010 Labor On The Bimah Jews United For Justice's annual Labor on the Bimah  program is back, focusing this year on restaurant worker justice. Part of the Interfaith Worker Justice's Labor in the Pulpit/Bimah/Minbar, the program weaves together labor issues, social justice, and Judaism in an effort to bring...    more...  
• Jun 22, 2010 Bad Blood At The Red Cross Bad blood is more than a metaphor at the American Red Cross. Hundreds of workers demonstrated outside national Red Cross headquarters under the blistering afternoon sun yesterday to expose the aid agency's poor treatment of both its workers and the nation's blood supply. The Red Cross has been...    more...  
• Jun 22, 2010 Nats Stadium Workers Ink New Contract With a hot new pitcher on the mound and a freshly-approved contract in hand, members of UNITE HERE Local 25 are enthusiastically cheering on the Nationals. Workers at the Nationals Stadium - members of Local 25 - overwhelmingly approved a new agreement Monday afternoon. "It's a great...    more...  
• Jun 22, 2010 MontCo Tenant Group To Call For Rent Stabilization, Improved Renter Laws Rent stabilization and improved renter laws in Montgomery County are among the recommendations the Montgomery County Tenants Work Group  will make to the Montgomery County Council today. "Right now there's very little to protect renters in Montgomery County against out-of-control rent...    more...  
• Jun 22, 2010 Labor Profile: Union Summer Intern Essie Ablavsky Inspired by anarchist Emma Goldman and folksinger Utah Phillips, Union Summer intern Essie Ablavsky (r) is back for her second summer of union activism. “They addressed issues of inequality and referenced the labor movement” says Ablavsky, “it really captured my interest.” The New...    more...  
• Jun 22, 2010 Teamsters Blow Whistle On Daycon At UMD College Park Striking Teamsters literally blew their whistles on Daycon during a picket at the University of Maryland’s College Park campus Friday after discovering that the school was using a Daycon truck as an on-site supply drop for cleaning supplies. The strike against Daycon - a local cleaning...    more...  
• Jun 21, 2010 On The Line Today Join hundreds of OPEIU members, the DC Union Summer interns and two giant inflatable rats at the 1p Red Cross picket line  today and then catch up on all the latest local labor news - including reports on the 8-week Teamsters strike against Daycon and contract negotiations at the...    more...  
• Jun 21, 2010 Nurses Urged To Vote Down Contract Amid Leadership Crisis At Washington Hospital Center Nurses at Washington Hospital Center are being urged to vote down "insulting contract proposals" after 13 weeks of fruitless negotiations. Meanwhile, as contract talks collapsed last Thursday, the hospital announced that interim president Harry Rider is leaving office early and senior vice...    more...  
• Jun 21, 2010 Striking Iron Workers Take Battle To Next Level Striking iron workers took their 8-month battle for justice to La Plata on Friday. Accompanied by representatives of DC Jobs with Justice and six Union Summer interns, the iron workers - who have been on strike against Wings Construction since October 2009 -- demanded to speak to the owner of...    more...  
• Jun 21, 2010 Carpenter Trainees Build Relationships After three months of carpentry, math and job readiness training, seven DC residents graduated last Thursday from the DC DOES-funded Carpenters Employment Training Program at Phelps High School in the District’s Northeast. The graduates learned about the tools of the trade and safely used...    more...  
• Jun 21, 2010 Learning About U.S. Labor Through The National Pastime A group of Russian labor professionals will be among the crowd at the July 9 Labor Night at the Nats . The Russians will be here "to meet with their counterparts and learn more about labor relations," says Michael Ginsberg of the Center for International Programs, who calls the labor...    more...  
• Jun 21, 2010 Labor Profile: Union Summer Intern Joseph Daniels It’s no surprise that DC native Joe Daniels (r) is fascinated by politics. After following the 2004 election, Daniels – one of seven Union Summer interns at the Metro Council -- was hooked and wanted to “learn more about how our government ticks and how it affects the people.” ...    more...  
• Jun 21, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz "Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." Which coach said it? Phil Jackson, Vince Lombardi, Pat Summit or John Wooden? Click here  to vote now and you could be a winner! LAST WEEK'S QUIZ: Robert...    more...  
• Jun 18, 2010 MontCo Workers Fight Furloughs With Youtube Montgomery County workers, frustrated at being targeted for layoffs and furloughs, are striking back creatively. "Make a video-serious or funny, in verse or in song-rap, parody, satire or comedy," urges their union, UFCW Local 1994, Municipal & County Government Employees Organization...    more...  
• Jun 18, 2010 Mirant Workers OK 5-Year Contract IBEW Local 1900  members have okayed a new 5-year contract at the Mirant power company. "There were a lot of good things in the contract," says Karl Furbush, Local 1900 business representative. While the Mirant workers won six weeks of vacation after 30 years of service and an additional...    more...  
• Jun 18, 2010 Aid Workers See Red Red Cross workers and their supporters are bringing their battle for justice to the aid agency's national headquarters on Monday at 1P . Following up on a three-day strike by Red Cross workers in six states in early June, hundreds of delegates to the Office and Professional Employees...    more...  
• Jun 18, 2010 Labor Profile: Union Summer Intern Jasmine Butler Eighteen-year-old Jasmine Butler (r) wants to educate you about the labor movement. Just a week into her Union Summer internship at the Metro Washington Council, the Bowie State sophomore already knows that "when you are at a job and employers aren't treating you right," you have a right to...    more...  
• Jun 17, 2010 CWA District 2 Moves To Block Corporate Tax-Dodgers CWA District 2 activists recently "played a huge role" in winning support from a key U.S. Senator to stop corporate tax-dodgers. Legislation to close a major tax loophole is before the Senate this week, and CWA members last month won support from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), a key member...    more...  
• Jun 17, 2010 Airline Workers Skeptical Of United-Continental Merger Area airline workers were among those keeping a close eye on Congressional hearings that began yesterday on the proposed merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines. "The IAM is concerned that the new entity may be too big to succeed," International Association of Machinists and...    more...  
• Jun 17, 2010 3 Union Employers Make 2010 "Best Places To Work" List Three local union employers have made the Washington Business Journal's " 2010 Best Places to Work ." Workers at the Omni Shoreham - the union hotel where the Metro Council holds the annual Evening With Labor - are members of UNITE HERE Local 25 and IUOE Local 99, while HITT Contracting...    more...  
• Jun 17, 2010 Labor Profile: Union Summer Intern Ryan Carty North Carolina native Ryan Carty “didn’t really know much about the labor movement,” but says he’s already gained “excellent hands-on experience” since being hired as part of the AFL-CIO’s Union Summer internship program at the Metro Washington Council. “In North Carolina there...    more...  
• Jun 16, 2010 Nurses Cast "No Confidence" Vote At Washington Hospital Center “Come back with some good results!” called out the nurse. “We’re working on it,” replied OR nurse Valerie Braden (at left), a shop steward for Nurses United at the Washington Hospital Center. Braden was one of two dozen union nurses clad in purple shirts emblazoned with “Nurses...    more...  
• Jun 16, 2010 DC JwJ Organizes Bus To Social Forum Seats are going fast on DC Jobs with Justice’s bus  to the second US Social Forum June 22-26 in Detroit, MI. “Join tens of thousands of activists as we gather in Detroit under the banner, ‘Another World is Possible, Another U.S. is Necessary,’" says DC JWJ Executive Director...    more...  
• Jun 16, 2010 Union Plus Ups AT&T Discount To 15% Just in time for the new iPhone 4 release, Union Plus has increased union members' AT&T Discount  to 15% from 10%. “Now is a great time to tell your members to switch their wireless service to AT&T to get savings, service and solidarity with the only completely unionized...    more...  
• Jun 15, 2010 Young Workers Support Local Hotel Workers More than 200 young workers from across the country braved sweltering DC heat and rush hour crowds last Friday to demonstrate their solidarity with local hotel workers. As part of the AFL-CIO's “Next Up” Young Worker Summit, participants organized an action in solidarity with a local...    more...  
• Jun 15, 2010 MD/DC State Fed Honors Lautar, Cefalu & Moore At “Salute To Leadership” The contributions of Jim Lautar (r), Buddy Cefalu and Bob Moore to the labor movement will be honored at the Maryland State and District of Columbia’s “ Salute to Leadership " this Friday. Lautar is the former coordinator of the IAM National Pension Fund, Cefalu is the President of the...    more...  
• Jun 15, 2010 Writing Locally  “Continue hounding unions for news items,” wrote one Union City reader in our recent bi-annual reader survey. “We don't always remember to share our struggles and victories.” The daily publication – “useful info, easy to read, colorful and attractive!” according to one...    more...  
• Jun 14, 2010 Building Good Relationships Fifteen students from the GSA Building Futures Project got an up-close and personal site tour of the St. Elizabeth's West Campus redevelopment project with Clark Construction last Thursday. "It was my first time on a construction site," said student Kevin Ball, "I learned the ins and outs of...    more...  
• Jun 14, 2010 Montgomery County Candidate Questionnaires Posted Online Responses to the Metro Council's questionnaire by candidates in Montgomery County have just been posted online , where you can browse complete responses by 16 candidates. This expands the existing candidate questionnaire postings, which include DC City Council, Council Chair and Prince...    more...  
• Jun 14, 2010 DC JwJ Fundraiser "Vote Of Confidence" Last Thursday's "I'll Be There Awards" raised more than $24,000 for DC Jobs with Justice, "and sponsorships are still coming in!" says JwJ's Ruth Castel-Branco. The response to the community-labor group's 8th annual fundraiser "was our best-ever and a real vote of confidence in the work we've...    more...  
• Jun 14, 2010 Young Workers, "Next Up" To Lead Labor Movement, Support Local Hotel Workers More than 200 young workers from across the country braved sweltering DC heat and rush hour crowds last Friday to demonstrate their solidarity with local hotel workers. As part of the AFL-CIO's first-ever "Next Up" Young Worker Summit, participants organized an action in solidarity with the...    more...  
• Jun 11, 2010 Making Solidarity Real "Without your help we would not have advanced as far as we have," striking ironworker Cristian Vazquez said at last night's DC Jobs With Justice "I'll Be There" awards. "We are like a tree that's planted by the river and we will continue our struggle to the end. Gracias!" The striking Wings...    more...  
• Jun 11, 2010 Students Get Their Hands On Future Jobs At Plumber's Open House Hands-on welding and a controlled fire exercise were among the highlights of Tuesday's UA Mechanical Trades' Open House for students in the Community Service Agency's GSA Building Futures Project. As part of their pre-apprenticeship curriculum, the students visited the Plumbers and...    more...  
• Jun 11, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz "A year ago, we were being told, you have to deregulate more. Now, we are going to have to save capitalism from the capitalists." Who said it? Senator Al Franken, Congressman Barney Frank, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or Congressman Dennis Kucinich? Click here  to vote and you could be a...    more...  
• Jun 10, 2010 "Don't Check In, Check Out!" Say Sheraton Workers Dozens of hotel workers rallied for almost two hours outside the Sheraton Crystal City in Arlington Wednesday afternoon, thumping drums, brandishing signs reading “Boycott this hotel!” and chanting “Don’t check in, check out!” The workers have been struggling for over a year to...    more...  
• Jun 10, 2010 Focusing On Solidarity And Youth Solidarity and youth are the focus tonight in two separate events in the District. Beginning at 5:30P at the AFL-CIO, DC Jobs with Justice will host their 8th annual "I'll Be There" awards honoring individuals and organizations for "exceptional solidarity work in the Metro DC area." Tonight's...    more...  
• Jun 10, 2010 Great Labor Arts Exchange Goes West For the first time in 32 years, the Great Labor Art Exchange  (GLAE) will not be held at the National Labor College. Instead, the annual labor creativity gathering - scheduled for June 18-21 -- will take place in Detroit, MI. The three-day festival of concerts and performances, workshops...    more...  
• Jun 9, 2010 Shameful Business The "shameful" actions of corporate America will come under fire today with two separate events in the metro area. Hotel workers from the Sheraton Crystal City will rally at 4:30P  to protest the company's union-busting tactics during the workers' attempts to unionize, and are calling...    more...  
• Jun 9, 2010 Passing The Hat For Striking Daycon Workers Leaders and staff of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO and the Community Services Agency personally donated $400 this past week to help striking Daycon workers during their ongoing struggle, which is now in its seventh week. "Thanks very much to everyone who has contributed," says...    more...  
• Jun 9, 2010 Largest DC Government Union Endorses Gray For DC Mayor The largest union representing District government employees "enthusiastically" endorsed  DC Council Chair Vincent Gray (center) for mayor last Friday. The 8,000-member District Council 20 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) called for "grown folks...    more...  
• Jun 9, 2010 Labor Passages: APALA National President John Delloro Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) National President John Delloro (r) passed away recently from a heart attack.  Elected in 2009 as one of the youngest leaders to this position, Delloro also served as Executive Director of the Dolores Huerta Labor Institute where he was a...    more...  
• Jun 8, 2010 Capitol Tour Staff Begin Historic Push To Unionize For the first time in the 134 years since Congress’ Capitol Guide Service was created, Congressional tour guides and visitor assistants “began efforts last week to form a union, citing concerns over the management practices at the Capitol Visitor Center,” reports Roll Call. “Eighteen...    more...  
• Jun 8, 2010 Sheraton Workers To Picket Wednesday Northern Virginia hotel workers – who have been organizing for over a year – will rally outside the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington this Wednesday at 4:30P. “After a year of struggle including intimidation, supply shortages, protests, and the firing of a union supporter, the...    more...  
• Jun 8, 2010 Lilo Gonzalez To Headline "I'll Be There Awards" Singer-songwriter Lilo Gonzalez (r) and DC hip-hop artist Head-Roc will provide the entertainment at DC Jobs with Justice’s “I’ll Be There Awards” this Thursday. “Lilo has been composing and singing for over 20 years,” says DC JwJ Organizer Ruth Castel-Branco. “Among his many...    more...  
• Jun 7, 2010 Daycon Strikers' Message Takes Flight Tourists flocking to the Smithsonian got a taste of American labor history in the making on Friday morning, as striking Daycon workers handed out flyers - which doubled as paper helicopters - about their 6-week struggle with the local cleaning supplies giant. The workers, members of Teamsters...    more...  
• Jun 7, 2010 "Go For It!" Say Job Training Grads “The program was a blast and I got a job out of it!” said newly-minted job training graduate David McRae Thursday at the graduation ceremonies for the Prince George's Community College/UCAP Team Builders Green Industry Certification Program. “I like working with my hands,” added fellow...    more...  
• Jun 7, 2010 DC Unemployed Workers Win New Benefits And Favorable Changes To UI Regulations Unemployed workers in the District will see favorable modifications to existing unemployment insurance benefits regulations beginning July 22, thanks to a new Unemployment Insurance (UI) bill recently passed by the DC City Council. The new changes include: a dependent allowance of $15 per...    more...  
• Jun 4, 2010 Daycon Strike Takes Wing Striking Daycon workers are getting creative in their struggle to win their 6-week-old strike against the local cleaning products company. Today at 10a  at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum they'll pass out free paper helicopters that double as leaflets about their strike, noting...    more...  
• Jun 4, 2010 Tri-County Candidate Questionnaires Posted Online Responses to the Metro Council's questionnaire by candidates in Charles, St Mary's and Calvert Counties have just been posted online , where you can browse the candidate's complete responses. This expands the candidate questionnaire postings, which already include DC City Council, Council...    more...  
• Jun 4, 2010 Last Call For "I'll Be There" Sponsors "We're almost there!" says DC Jobs with Justice Executive Director Mackenzie Baris. With less than a week to go to JwJ's annual "I'll Be There" Awards , the labor-community coalition is just $1,800 from their $20,000 goal. "DC Jobs with Justice has really expanded its impact over the last...    more...  
• Jun 4, 2010 Worker Issues On The Air Make sure worker issues get covered on WPFW 89.3  by attending the community-based radio station's Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, June 5. The town hall - which runs from 1-3:30p at All Souls Church, 2835 16th Street, NW -- is an opportunity for listeners and community members to share...    more...  
• Jun 4, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz An impressive 96% of you knew that it was recently-retired SEIU - and Change To Win founder - Andy Stern who said "We are not trying to divide the labor movement, we are trying to rebuild it." Jesse Powell is this week's Quiz winner, selected at random from those answering correctly. THIS...    more...  
• Jun 3, 2010 Local Activist Takes Top Honor At CBTU Conference Local labor activist Jessie Ball (r) took top honors at the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists' Annual Convention in Detroit last week, winning the Addie Wyatt Award - established by the CBTU National Women's Committee - for "demonstrating leadership skills and using her experience to inspire...    more...  
• Jun 3, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": Before Arizona, Prince Williams County Long before Arizona, Virginia's Prince William County became ground zero in America's explosive battle over immigration policy when it started requiring police to question anyone they had "probable cause" to suspect of being an undocumented immigrant. The acclaimed film, 9500 Liberty...    more...  
• Jun 2, 2010 Injury Doesn't Sideline Edwards' Solidarity With Daycon Strikers Being hobbled with an injured leg did not stop Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D, MD - at right) from walking the picketline Monday as the Teamsters 639 strike at Daycon entered its sixth week. Edwards has called and written Daycon to urge them to return to the bargaining table, "But there's been...    more...  
• Jun 2, 2010 Labor On The Move: Schniderman Reelected As LOC Guild Prez; Dobson Named NCRP Field Director Schniderman Reelected As LOC Guild Prez: Long-time labor activist Saul Schniderman (r) overwhelmingly won re-election as President of the Library of Congress Professional Guild (AFSCME 2910), taking over 78% of the vote in a two-way race with Sandra Ware. Schniderman's goals for 2010 include...    more...  
• Jun 2, 2010 Free June Calendar Download The June calendar from activist artist Ricardo Levins Morales is available now for free download . Check out Morales’ site  for his other artwork, including posters and cards.    more...  
• Jun 1, 2010 Daycon Strikers Vindicated By NLRB Decision As the semi-trailer jostled its way across the picket line early Friday morning, dozens of striking Daycon workers furiously bellowed “Scab!” at the driver. While the Teamsters Local 639 members – who have been on strike since April 26 – are frustrated with the company’s decision to...    more...  
• Jun 1, 2010 DC Nurses/Public Safety Unions Endorse Vince Gray For Mayor The District of Columbia Nurses Association (DCNA) announced late last week that the union – which represents about 2000 metro-area registered nurses and other health care professionals – has endorsed the Mayoral candidacy of DC Council Chairman Vince Gray (r). “Vincent Gray has a track...    more...  
• May 28, 2010 WHC Nurses Enter Third Short-Term Contract Extension Negotiations are “still bogged down” for the 1,600 registered nurses fighting for a new contract at the Washington Hospital Center, Stephen Frum of Nurses United of the National Capital Area said Wednesday. “While our nurses are on their third short-term contract extension, Nurses United...    more...  
• May 28, 2010 Labor On The Move: Teresa Ball Retires From Working America “After more than 13 years of service, Teresa Ball is retiring!” reports the AFL-CIO. A longtime activist for working men and women, Ball (right, with AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka) has served as the Assistant Director of the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate Working America since July 2004...    more...  
• May 28, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz "We are not trying to divide the labor movement, we are trying to rebuild it." Who said it? Former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, Walter Reuther or former SEIU President Andy Stern? Click here  to vote and you could be next week’s winner! Lucille Dula is this week’s winner,...    more...  
• May 27, 2010 "I'll Be There Awards" Ad Deadline Extended The deadline to submit ads in this year’s “I’ll Be There Awards” program book has been extended to June 1. Proceeds from the annual awards ceremony – now in its eighth year – benefit DC Jobs with Justice (DC JwJ), a coalition of 40 local labor, community, faith and student...    more...  
• May 27, 2010 Labor On The Move: Barbara Kraft Named FLRA Regional Director Barbara Kraft (r) – who with her firm has been AFSCME Council 26’s attorney for many years – was recently appointed Regional Director of the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s  (FLRA) Washington Region. “Barbara has been a tireless worker advocate and provided invaluable...    more...  
• May 27, 2010 Tweeting The Path To Solidarity Don’t be the last to hear about area labor job postings and events! Join over 350 activists who get the very latest local labor updates by following dclabor on Twitter. Got labor news? Tweet us! Click here  to sign up free today! To get the tweets as text messages, make sure you set...    more...  
• May 26, 2010 Labor Film Poster Exhibit Now At National Labor College The terrific "Working Class Heroes" exhibit of labor film posters and stills originally at the AFL-CIO has been acquired by the DC Labor FilmFest - thanks to a generous contribution by labor attorney Jules Bernstein - and is now on view at the National Labor College's Lane Kirkland Center. The...    more...  
• May 26, 2010 Getting Workers' Views & Voices On The Air If there are worker or union issues you’d like to see covered on WPFW, plan to attend the community-based radio station’s upcoming Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, June 5. The town hall – which runs from 1-3:30p at All Souls Church, 2835 16th Street, NW -- is an opportunity for listeners...    more...  
• May 25, 2010 MontCo School Employees Dodge Furloughs Employees of Montgomery County’s Public Schools (MCPS) can breathe easy after last Wednesday’s announcement that an agreement has been made with the County Executive and County Council to avoid furloughs in the 2010-11 school year budget. "As difficult as this budget crisis is, it appears...    more...  
• May 25, 2010 "Raise Taxes, Save The Safety Net" Say District Activists As the DC City Council meets over the coming days to reconcile the District’s budget, community activists are calling on people to act urgently  to save “safety net” social services from being cut. "The reality is we can't save these public services and jobs without generating new...    more...  
• May 25, 2010 Coffee-Drinkers Of The World, Unite! If you want to cut down on mistakes by workers, some researchers are suggesting it couldn’t hurt to supply free coffee – especially for night time or “shift’ workers. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine found that workers who consumed caffeine had better...    more...  
• May 24, 2010 "I'll Be There Awards" Honorees Announced Former American Rights at Work Director Mary Beth Maxwell, ACLU Executive Director Johnny Barnes, The Justice at Wings Campaign and Fair Budget Coalition's Kristi Matthews will be this year's awardees for the 2010 DC Jobs with Justice "I’ll Be There Awards." The annual awards ceremony - set...    more...  
• May 24, 2010 District Government Urged To "Stop Wasting Tax Dollars On Law-Breaking Contractors" Charging that Mayor Fenty and the DC City Council "have paid millions of tax dollars to law-breaking security contractors that violate federal labor laws," local unions – spearheaded by SEIU Local 32BJ – are calling for people to send a message  to the Mayor and the Council telling...    more...  
• May 24, 2010 Daycon Strikers Garner Support From Nurses United Prez The President of Nurses United, Dottie Hararas (center), walked the picket line with striking Daycon workers last Monday, encouraging the Teamsters 639 members to "stay strong, be patient and hang in there for just one day longer than management." Hararas made a personal contribution of $500...    more...  
• May 24, 2010 May Council Minutes Now Online Draft minutes from the May Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO Executive Board and Delegate meetings are now available for download on the Metro Council's website . Mark your calendars for next month's meeting  on Monday, June 21 at 6:30P; watch Union City for further details.    more...  
• May 24, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz "The best social program is a good job." Who said it? Bill Clinton, Eugene V. Debs, or former AFL-CIO President John Sweeney? Click here  to vote now and you could be next week’s winner. The Labor Quote Quiz is a Union City- Union Communication Services  collaboration.    more...  
• May 21, 2010 2010 Political Endorsements Timeline Updated & Online The timeline for the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO’s 2010 DC and Maryland political endorsement process has been updated and is now available online. Click here  to view the complete schedule, including questionnaires, interviews and endorsement votes. For more information, or to...    more...  
• May 21, 2010 Setting The Stage For US Social Forum In preparation for this year’s US Social Forum  – set for June 22 through 26 – over 120 labor activists, organizers and community leaders gathered last weekend at the Greater DC People’s Assembly to “develop a people’s agenda for a more just Metropolitan area,” reports DC...    more...  
• May 21, 2010 Nats Tickets Still Available Don’t miss out on this year’s annual Labor Night at the Nats, scheduled for Friday, July 9. “Tickets are still available, however they’re going fast!” reports Community Services Agency Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy. The family event benefits the CSA’s Emergency Assistance...    more...  
• May 21, 2010 AFL-CIO "Next Up" Young Workers Summit Fast Approaching In less than three weeks, hundreds of young labor activists and union workers are coming to Washington for the first national “Next Up” Young Workers Summit hosted by the AFL-CIO. Scheduled for June 10 through 13, young labor leaders and activists will have an opportunity to “share...    more...  
• May 21, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz Tim Fitzgerald is this week’s Labor Quote Quiz winner; Tim knew that it was American philosopher and educator John Dewey (r) who said "No system has ever existed which did not in some form involve the exploitation of some human beings for the advantage of others.” - photo courtesy...    more...  
• May 20, 2010 Mexican Prez Gets Chilly Reception At Mineworker Protest At the White House, preparations were underway to host a gilt-edged state dinner for Mexican President Felipe Calderon. A few blocks away, over a hundred union members and labor rights activists rallied in front of the Mexican Embassy, condemning Calderon's repression of labor unions in...    more...  
• May 20, 2010 Area Residents Rebuild Their Communities Larae King-Day’s message to his fellow graduates of the Building Futures Program was simple, direct and powerful: “Get out, give back and rebuild our communities.” King-Day, a lifelong Ward 8 resident, was the valedictorian for Tuesday’s class of 25 graduates of the General Services...    more...  
• May 20, 2010 Labor Photo: Transit Workers Support Daycon Strikers    more...  
• May 19, 2010 Solidarity Highlights May Council Meeting Monday night’s May Metro Council Delegate’s Meeting featured first-hand reports from the striking Teamsters at Daycon and the nurses negotiating for a fair contract at the Washington Hospital Center. The nurses – members of Nurses United of the National Capital Area – demonstrated...    more...  
• May 19, 2010 Recruiting Union Retirees Union retirees are one of the metro area’s greatest assets, with commitment to our movement bred in careers battling for justice and a level of activism that belies their age. The National Capital Area Union Retiree Club (NCAURC) is a great way for any area union retiree to stay active and...    more...  
• May 19, 2010 Labor Photo: March On Massey Calls For Blankenship To Go    more...  
• May 18, 2010 Bank Demo Shuts Down K Street Chanting "This is what democracy looks like," several thousand demonstrators shut down K Street Monday shortly after noon at the “K Street Showdown.” Fending off a persistent cold drizzle and impatient cops, the crowd rallied around a 40-foot bank lobbyist puppet and a huge banner reading...    more...  
• May 18, 2010 Metro Council Endorses Gray For DC Mayor Calling him “A leader of, by and for the people," the Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO last night unanimously voted to endorse DC City Council Chairman Vince Gray’s candidacy for the mayor of the District of Columbia. "In the challenging times that lie ahead, Vince's broad vision and deep...    more...  
• May 18, 2010 Rallying To Save DC's Safety Net Activists will rally tomorrow morning  at 8:30a at DC City Hall to protect city services from threatened budget cuts. Despite recent moves away from Mayor Fenty's proposals to cut services and impose fees, "there are still huge cuts to essential services like job training, disability...    more...  
• May 18, 2010 Insulators 24 Re-Launches Website Insulators Local 24 has re-launched the local's website  with a spiffed-up and easy-to-use look and feel. From upcoming events and trainings to green contractors, current and past editions of the local's newsletter and photo galleries, members and non-members alike will find something...    more...  
• May 17, 2010 Showdown On K Street Today! They just don’t get it. Banks and their lobbyists pocketed hundreds of billions in taxpayer funds and promptly turned around and spent millions lobbying against solutions to the crisis they created. Join us today at the "Showdown on K Street"  (11:45a at MacPherson Square, Vermont...    more...  
• May 17, 2010 Yes You "Can" At Metro Council Delegate Meeting Please bring a canned good or other non-perishable food item for the Daycon strikers to tonight’s Metropolitan Washington Council delegate meeting , where we’ll have updates on the ongoing Teamsters strike at Daycon, the nurse's contract negotiations at Washington Hospital Center, a vote...    more...  
• May 17, 2010 JUFJ's Thinking Jewishly: Time for Bold Leadership in DC At last month’s Labor Seder, DC Council Chairman Vincent Gray (r) pledged to help preserve the city’s safety net. Now it's time for him to deliver on his promises! Chairman Gray has a long history of supporting DC's safety net and we’re working to convince him – and other key...    more...  
• May 17, 2010 Food Drive Nets A Billion Pounds The National Association of Letter Carriers announced last week that preliminary reports on this year’s national “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive May 8 – supported by metro-area NALC branches -- have pushed total donations to more than one billion pounds since the drive began 18 years...    more...  
• May 17, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz "No system has ever existed which did not in some form involve the exploitation of some human beings for the advantage of others.” Who said it? Samuel Gompers, John Dewey, Frederick Douglass or Helen Keller? Click here  to vote now and you could be a winner!    more...  
• May 14, 2010 From Wall Street To K Street Following on the heels of the massive April 29 mobilization  on Wall Street, thousands of union and community activists are expected for Monday’s "Showdown on K Street"  targeting banks and their lobbyists. "The fat cats on K Street have been skulking in the shadows for too...    more...  
• May 14, 2010 Saturday Gathering To Develop "People's Agenda" “One of the things that has to be faced is the process of waiting to change the system, how much we have got to do to find out who we are, where we have come from and where we are going.”  Community organizer and civil rights leader Ella Baker’s words ring true for the hundred of...    more...  
• May 14, 2010 MontCo Residents And Workers Oppose Cuts Cards from nearly 5,000 Montgomery County residents demanding “Save Our Services” were presented to County Council President Nancy Floreen and Councilmember Valerie Ervin yesterday. “I work overnight in the schools,” said Montgomery County public schools maintenance employee Hasty...    more...  
• May 14, 2010 Metro Council Delegate Meeting Monday Don’t miss Monday’s Metropolitan Washington Council delegate meeting , jam-packed with the latest updates on the local labor movement. Reports on the ongoing Teamsters strike at Daycon (please bring non-perishable food items to the meeting and we'll get them to the strikers!), contract...    more...  
• May 14, 2010 Free Seats Available For Massey Protest There are still free seats available for Tuesday’s bus to Richmond to protest Massey Energy’s shareholder meeting . Email ammorris@aflcio.org or call 202-637-5355. Massey owns the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia where an April 5 explosion killed 29 coal miners. The bus will leave...    more...  
• May 14, 2010 Advocates Say Council Balancing Budget "On The Backs Of Injured Workers" The workers’ compensation program for DC government employees has been fraught with problems for decades, often driving middle-class injured workers into poverty. But in recent years, injured government workers have made some significant gains, due largely to the work of the Injured Workers...    more...  
• May 14, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz Cindy Boccucci is this week’s Labor Quote Quiz winner; she knew that it was prize-winning author and radio broadcast personality Studs Terkel (r) who said that “The key issue is jobs. You can’t get away from it: jobs. Having a buck or two in your pocket and feeling like somebody.” And...    more...  
• May 13, 2010 Nurses Rally On Capitol Hill For Patient Safety Laws To the trumpet blare of "When The Saints Go Marching In," a thousand-strong sea of red-shirted nurses converged on Capitol Hill yesterday morning to press Congress for landmark patient safety legislation. Wearing t-shirts proclaiming "Save one life you're a hero - save a hundred lives and...    more...  
• May 13, 2010 "Showdown On K Street" Set For Monday Thousands of union members and area activists plan to converge on K street in downtown DC on Monday for a “Showdown on K Street” organized by the AFL-CIO, National People’s Action, Jobs with Justice and SEIU. “The big banks and other reckless corporations have hijacked our democracy,...    more...  
• May 13, 2010 Feeding Solidarity At Daycon Strike With the strike at Daycon now in its third week, solidarity on the picketline remains strong even as economic hard times take their toll. “You’ve got to take a stand somewhere,” Victor Scurry said Tuesday as gray skies threatened the Teamsters 639 picketline circling under the watchful...    more...  
• May 12, 2010 Nurses Unite For Contract At Washington Hospital Center Chanting "Nurses united will never be defeated," nearly 2,000 registered nurses and their supporters massed in front of the Washington Hospital Center last night in an impressive show of strength and solidarity. The ranks of the members of Nurses United of the National Capital Area -- the...    more...  
• May 12, 2010 Pastors Urge Daycon To Return To Table A trio of local pastors met with Daycon management Tuesday to urge a speedy return to the bargaining table to resolve the 2-week-old strike against the local cleaning supplies company. After meeting - and praying (r) - with the striking members of Teamsters 639 picketing outside the company's...    more...  
• May 12, 2010 On The Road To Richmond For Workers Rights Charging that mining company Massey Energy - which owns the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia where an April 5 explosion killed 29 coal miners - needs to be held accountable, the AFL-CIO is providing a bus for local labor activists to protest the company's shareholder meeting in Richmond,...    more...  
• May 12, 2010 Setting A "People's Agenda" For DC Hundreds of area social justice activists and leaders will gather on Saturday May 15th for the Greater DC People's Assembly. The Assembly, which will feature MWC President Jos Williams and ACLU-DC Director Johnny Barnes among others, is an opportunity to connect with people from across the...    more...  
• May 11, 2010 Teamsters, Whistleblowers & Nurses Tripleheader Today Area labor activists are set to heat things up today with three separate events across metro Washington. Start the day with an ecumenical prayer service at Daycon at 10A  as local faith leaders call on the cleaning supplies firm to return to the bargaining table with Teamsters Local 639...    more...  
• May 11, 2010 Union Summer Returns Attention students with a strong commitment to social and economic justice: the AFL-CIO’s Union Summer internship program  is returning for 2010! The ten-week educational internship introduces participants to the labor movement and runs from June 7th through August 13th in five...    more...  
• May 11, 2010 Teacher Fired For Organizing Donates Settlement To DC JwJ Last month David Krakow (r), a former history teacher at the Cesar Chavez charter school, reached a settlement with his former employer, which fired him last year shortly after he began organizing with his co-workers ( Teacher Exposes Union-Busting at Cesar Chavez HS  4/15 UC ). Krakow...    more...  
• May 10, 2010 From DC To Minnesota, Nurses Picket, Rally And Threaten Walk-Out National Nurses Week kicks off with an informational picket tomorrow at 5p by nurses at the Washington Hospital Center, whose contract expires at midnight tonight. The nurses - represented by Nurses United of the National Capital Area -- are protesting to demand better staffing levels and...    more...  
• May 10, 2010 Faith Leaders To Weigh In On Daycon Strike Area religious leaders will conduct an ecumenical prayer service at Daycon on Tuesday morning to call on the cleaning supplies firm to return to the bargaining table with Teamsters Local 639 "and bargain in good faith with the more than 50 company employees that were forced out on...    more...  
• May 10, 2010 Timely Forum On Whistleblowers With the news dominated by recent workplace accidents in Montcoal, West Virginia, the Tesaro Refinery explosion in Washington State and BP's Deepwater oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, it's a good time to examine the role of whistleblowers on the job. At a special forum hosted by Professionals...    more...  
• May 7, 2010 Candidate Questionnaires Posted Labor questionnaires completed by candidates for DC City Council, DC Council Chair and Prince George’s County Council are now available online for review. Click here  and check the links below 2010 Candidate Questionnaires.    more...  
• May 7, 2010 Food Drive Tomorrow Remember to leave your non-perishable donations next to your mailbox tomorrow as metro-area letter carriers conduct their annual food drive. The food drive to “stamp out hunger” is held in over 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam....    more...  
• May 7, 2010 Daycon Strike Enters Twelfth Day As the strike by 55 Teamsters entered its 12th day today, area activists are planning to show their solidarity by walking the picket line with the Daycon workers over the weekend and into next week. Click here  for more information, including location details and the best times to walk...    more...  
• May 7, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": Responding To The BP Oil Spill In The Gulf Though our work focuses on the DC area, our thoughts are with the people of the Gulf Coast, many of whom are still rebuilding from the Hurricane Katrina disaster. If you're looking for a way to help the communities where livelihoods are threatened by the BP oil spill, we encourage you to...    more...  
• May 7, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz "The key issue is jobs. You can't get away from it: jobs. Having a buck or two in your pocket and feeling like somebody." Who said it? George Meany, Edward Kennedy or Studs Terkel? Click here  to vote and you could be next week's winner! Cecily Patterson is this week's winner, correctly...    more...  
• May 6, 2010 5 Councilmembers Join Opposition To Fenty Budget Cuts Five DC Councilmembers yesterday added their voices to those of demonstrators opposing Mayor Fenty’s DC budget cuts. Councilmembers Michael Brown (at left), Kwame Brown, Harry Thomas (at right), Jim Graham (center) and Tommy Wells spoke at Wednesday’s rally outside the DC City...    more...  
• May 6, 2010 DC Council Unites Against Arizona-Like Program Saying that DC’s “Secure Communities” program actually “makes the public less safe by creating fear and mistrust of the police and undermining community policing,” DC Councilmember Phil Mendelson on Tuesday introduced legislation to prohibit DC police from sharing arrest and booking...    more...  
• May 6, 2010 Metro Council Suspends Montgomery County Candidate Interviews After the Montgomery County Council on Tuesday unanimously declared its intent to break the County’s contracts with public employee unions, freeze pay and end benefits, Metro Washington Council President Jos Williams yesterday suspended the Council’s Montgomery County candidate endorsement...    more...  
• May 6, 2010 Daycon Customers Urged To Support Strikers The campaign to support striking Daycon workers ratcheted up several notches yesterday as the Metro Washington Council called on major customers to “ask Daycon to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair settlement in good faith with its workers.” Meanwhile, Council President...    more...  
• May 6, 2010 Washington Hospital Center Nurses Protecting Patient Care Weeks of bargaining between Nurses United of the National Capital Area and the Washington Hospital Center have failed to remedy staffing and other concerns that staff nurses cite as critical to quality patient care. “Under the Washington Hospital Center's new management team, there seems to...    more...  
• May 6, 2010 Food Drive This Saturday Metro-area letter carriers will join the nations largest food drive to “stamp out hunger” this Saturday, May 8. Non-perishable donations will be collected from homes by letter carriers as they deliver mail along their postal routes on Saturday. “Food banks, pantries and shelters need our...    more...  
• May 5, 2010 UFCW 400 Walks The Line With Daycon Strikers Their brilliant gold union shirts glowing in the afternoon sunshine, dozens of UFCW Local 400 leaders and staff -- led by new President Tom McNutt Jr. -- joined the Teamsters picketline at Daycon in Upper Marlboro yesterday. "This is what we do for each other," McNutt -- flanked by Local 400...    more...  
• May 5, 2010 Barnes To Sing At Night At The Nats Again “Labor's Diva” Renee Barnes is back by popular demand. The OPEIU Local 2 member who works at AFSCME International will once again perform the National Anthem at the 4th annual Labor Night At The Nats  on July 9. Tickets are just $10 each, with proceeds benefiting CSA's emergency...    more...  
• May 5, 2010 May Social History Calendar Available This month’s social justice calendar from Ricardo Levins Morales is now available for download  and focuses on the effects of misguided budget priorities. As usual, the calendar also includes important dates in movement history.    more...  
• May 4, 2010 McKirchy & Felder Honored By DC CLUW The DC Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) honored Kathleen McKirchy (r) and Tamika Felder for their "outstanding contributions to women and labor" Sunday at the annual Gloria Johnson awards luncheon at the AFL-CIO. McKirchy was recognized for her work as the Executive...    more...  
• May 4, 2010 Letter Carriers Set To "Stamp Out Hunger" Donations from this year’s National Association of Letter Carriers annual food drive – which is set for Saturday, May 8 – are expected to push the overall total since the drive began 18 years ago to over 1 billion pounds. “On that day, letter carriers will collect non-perishable...    more...  
• May 4, 2010 Labor On The Move: Obama Names Two Union Specialists To Job Safety Panel Democratic President Barack Obama named two union job safety and health specialists to a Labor Department committee on workplace safety. The unionists on the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health are Peg Seminario (r), longtime director of the AFL-CIO's Occupational...    more...  
• May 3, 2010 NBC-Universal "Unfair To Labor" As elected officials and the “who’s who” of political commentators drove through the gates of NBC-Universal (NBCU/WRC-TV4) to appear on “Meet The Press” at sunrise yesterday, dozens of members and staff of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET-CWA)...    more...  
• May 3, 2010 Walking The Line At Daycon The strike by 55 Teamsters at Daycon entered its fifth day on Friday with a show of solidarity from area labor, including UFCW Local 400, the Washington Building and Construction Trades Council, the Newspaper Guild, the Bricklayers, OPEIU, American Income Life, and the Community Services...    more...  
• May 3, 2010 State Fed Endorses O'Malley, Edwards, Franchot & Gansler Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and District 4 Congresswoman Donna Edwards were among those endorsed Saturday at the State AFL-CIO’s May Day Labor 2010 Kick Off at the National Labor College. Also receiving the State Fed’s nod were Comptroller Peter Franchot and Attorney General Doug...    more...  
• May 3, 2010 Local UFCW Members Support Strikers In Massachusetts Workers at area Shoppers Food & Pharmacy stores are supporting a strike by fellow union members in Methuen, Massachusetts. Three hundred members of UFCW Local 791 who work at the Supervalu-owned Shaw's Distribution Center in Methuen were forced to strike on March 7 to protect their jobs...    more...  
• Apr 30, 2010 Striking Ironworkers Highlight Workers Memorial Day Observance "One day longer, we will be there one day longer, till victory come," Metro Washington Council president Jos Williams vowed to a packed room at Wednesday Morning’s Labor Council for Latin American Advancement's (LCLAA) Workers Memorial Day commemoration. “A victory for the strikers at...    more...  
• Apr 30, 2010 Support Striking Daycon Workers Today! Walk the line with striking Daycon workers this morning!  The workers - members of Teamsters 639 - have been on strike against the local cleaning supplies company since Monday, with no end in sight. "We're fighting for equal pay for equal work," says Daycon driver Eugene Brown. Daycon's...    more...  
• Apr 30, 2010 MD/DC AFL-CIO May Day Labor 2010 Kick Off Labor leaders, elected officials and endorsed candidates will gather tomorrow at the National Labor College for the Maryland State and District of Columbia AFL-CIO Labor 2010 Kick Off  at 12 noon. “Bring your family, friends and children and just make it an afternoon of fun!” says...    more...  
• Apr 30, 2010 Political Endorsements Timeline Now Online From questionnaires to interviews and endorsement votes, the complete schedule for the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO's 2010 DC and Maryland endorsement process is now available online . To get involved with the Metro Council's Committee on Political Education (COPE), please email...    more...  
• Apr 30, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": Protest! In that great Jewish and Labor tradition: protest! Two important rallies are coming up. First, if your Shabbat observance permits it, join the May 1st rally on Saturday for immigration reform, at 2p in front of the White House. Help us bring the American dream to all families! Then, on...    more...  
• Apr 29, 2010 On The Road At The Daycon Strike When the strikebreaker pulls the Daycon truck into WaWa's to ask for directions, Eugene Brown shakes his head in disgust. "He's lost," Brown says. "Doesn't know where he's going," agrees Howard Robinson. The two Teamsters are tracking the truck for an ambulatory picket in Local 639's strike...    more...  
• Apr 29, 2010 Remembering Fallen Workers The clear, lonely toll of the bell rang out across the newly-laid sod at the National Worker’s Memorial Wednesday afternoon as the names of 187 workers killed on the job rang out. Josh Osbourne…Andrew Reed…Curtis Fowler, Debbie Byrd, Ray Gonzalez. “We just come to work here, we don’t...    more...  
• Apr 29, 2010 Deadline Looms For Labor FilmFest Earlybird Discount Reserve your ad in the popular FilmFest Program Guide by May 1 and get a 20% Earlybird Discount AND a free 2009 FilmFest t-shirt, a collector’s item not available for sale. Help celebrate the 10th annual DC Labor FilmFest and save money! Click here  to download the FilmFest Rate Sheet.    more...  
• Apr 28, 2010 On The Line At The Daycon Strike “Truck!” comes the call. “Truck coming through!” A dozen striking Teamsters converge as the Daycon truck reluctantly slows and stops at the entrance to company’s Upper Marlboro plant. While a couple of the strikers taunt the driver inside, the others note the truck’s number, which...    more...  
• Apr 28, 2010 "No More Arizonas" Say DC Rights Activists Condemning Arizona’s passage last week of the “Secure Communities” program as “racist and perverse,” dozens of labor, community and immigrant rights activists spoke out forcefully yesterday about the dangers of collaboration between local police and Immigration and Customs...    more...  
• Apr 28, 2010 Transit Workers Call On Congress For Increased Funding Hundreds of transit workers massed on Capitol Hill yesterday to demand federal help for cash-starved transit systems across the country. The members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) came from as near Washington and Baltimore and as far away as Boston, Chicago, New York City and Atlanta...    more...  
• Apr 28, 2010 Workers' Memorial Day: National Labor College Honors Fallen Workers The National Labor College will observe Workers’ Memorial Day today  by honoring the victims of the mining tragedy in Montcoal, West Virginia and the Tesaro Refinery explosion in Washington State, along with hundreds of other workers who have lost their lives on the job. The ceremony...    more...  
• Apr 28, 2010 Free Tickets For "Casino Jack" Premiere Thursday Although Jack Abramoff is the focus of CASINO JACK and the United States of Money, the corruptive role of money in politics is the real subject of filmmaker Alex Gibney’s new film. The DC Labor FilmFest has a limited number of passes to Casino Jack’s premiere this Thursday, April 29: email...    more...  
• Apr 27, 2010 Daycon Workers Strike Fifty-five workers struck Daycon Products Monday morning after contract talks with the cleaning and maintenance supplies company broke down last Thursday. "The company basically told us to take it or leave it," said Teamsters Business Agent Doug Webber, "and then they went ahead and...    more...  
• Apr 27, 2010 Striking Iron Workers Honored Strikers at Wings Enterprises will be the focus of a Workers' Memorial Day commemoration Wednesday morning . The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LACLAA) will honor striking iron workers who walked out six months ago. “Iron reinforcement is heavy, dangerous work,” says...    more...  
• Apr 27, 2010 Food Drive "Critical" For Struggling Families “Food banks, pantries and shelters need our help more than ever this year,” says National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando, noting that the NALC’s annual food drive to “stamp out hunger”– which is set for Saturday, May 8 – is fast approaching. “Millions...    more...  
• Apr 26, 2010 Acuff Hits Road For "Getting America Back To Work" If you didn’t know he has a new job, you’d think Stewart Acuff (r) was still out on the labor hustings, exhorting organizers to give their all. Not quite.  Instead, the longtime AFL-CIO Director of Organizing – and former President of the Atlanta Labor Council -- now the chief of...    more...  
• Apr 26, 2010 Shuler To Honor Fallen Workers On Workers Memorial Day AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Liz Shuler will join workers, union leaders and elected officials to commemorate Workers Memorial Day this Wednesday  at a ceremony hosted by the National Labor College. The ceremony will “honor victims of the mining tragedy in Montcoal, West Virginia and...    more...  
• Apr 26, 2010 Acuff Hits Road For "Getting America Back To Work" If you didn’t know he has a new job, you’d think Stewart Acuff (r) was still out on the labor hustings, exhorting organizers to give their all. Not quite.  Instead, the longtime AFL-CIO Director of Organizing – and former President of the Atlanta Labor Council -- now the chief of...    more...  
• Apr 23, 2010 April Council Minutes Now Online Draft minutes from the April Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO Executive Board and Delegate meetings are now available for download on the Metro Council's website . Mark your calendars for next month's meeting on Monday, May 17 at 6:30P;  watch Union City for further...    more...  
• Apr 23, 2010 Labor Ministers Trade Job-Creation Ideas, But No Enforcement Labor ministers from the world's 20 largest economies sent five principles for creating jobs and re-crafting the world economy to their nations' presidents and prime ministers.  But those ideas won't be considered by the top brass for another two months -- and there's no way to enforce...    more...  
• Apr 23, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": 7 Weeks For Reflection & Action The omer is the seven-week period of time between Passover and Shavuot, when Jews celebrate the giving of the Torah, the books of Jewish scriptures and other sacred Jewish writings. There is a custom of counting each of these 49 days, and of using the entire period for spiritual reflection....    more...  
• Apr 23, 2010 Labor Profile: Sandra Falwell, DCNA/NNU Sandra Falwell (r), National Nurses United Vice President, past President and Vice- President at the DC Nurses Association (DCNA) and a member of the Metro Council's Executive Board -- knew from a young age that nursing was her calling. "When I was growing up, there were really only two...    more...  
• Apr 22, 2010 Teamsters May Strike Daycon With negotiations bogged down after more than four months at the table – and two months after their previous contract expired -- workers at Daycon Products may walk off the job if there’s no significant movement soon. The workers, members of Teamsters Local 639, “have drawn a line,”...    more...  
• Apr 22, 2010 Transit Workers See Red Resplendent in their bright red union t-shirts, “plenty of ATU members” turned out at Tuesday night’s “Rally To Resurrect Mass Transit” along with a strong showing by members of the Partnership for Renewal In Southern & Central Maryland (PRISCM) and joined by transit advocacy...    more...  
• Apr 22, 2010 More On Shift Break & Anti-Slapp Labor Wins For an excellent report on two key labor bills -- shift break and anti-SLAPP laws -- passed at this year’s Maryland General Assembly, check out UFCW Local 400’s website . “The shift break bill is one of many examples of how the labor movement works to protect all workers’ rights,...    more...  
• Apr 22, 2010 Labor On The Move: Masciolas AFTRA-Bound Amy and Robert Masciola are taking positions with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) in early May. Amy, who’s currently International Campaigns Coordinator at the AFL-CIO’s Organizing Department, will be AFTRA’s Strategic Campaigns Coordinator, while Robert...    more...  
• Apr 22, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz "Centrism is bogus" Who said it? Quiz favorite Gene Debs probably said something like that, but wouldn’t have used the word “bogus,” so was it David Bonior, Robert Reich, Frank Zappa or Cesar Chavez? Click here  to vote: Winners will be chosen at random from those answering...    more...  
• Apr 21, 2010 Workers Picket Labor Dept. Chanting "Si se puede, restore the core!" 50 Department of Labor employees - members of AFGE Local 12 - demonstrated outside a high-level meeting of foreign labor ministers at the DOL at noon on Tuesday, calling on Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to implement a more family-friendly "core hour"...    more...  
• Apr 21, 2010 Workers' Memorial Dedication Set For 4/28 The National Labor College will observe Workers' Memorial Day on April 28th by honoring victims of the mining tragedy in Montcoal, West Virginia and the Tesaro Refinery explosion in Washington State, along with hundreds of other workers who have lost their lives on the job. The ceremony - set...    more...  
• Apr 21, 2010 Young Trade Unionists Plan First Networking/Career Fair Young metro-area unionists are putting together their first-ever Young Trade Unionists' Networking and Career Fair. The May 1 Fair is being billed as an opportunity for young local labor and community activists to meet with union leaders, elected officials and each other. "Participants will...    more...  
• Apr 21, 2010 Council Meeting Highlights “With many of our affiliates battling the effects of budget cuts on their members, it was good to have such a great turnout at Monday night’s meeting to hear reports on these ongoing struggles,” reports Metro Council President Jos Williams. Whether it’s county workers and school...    more...  
• Apr 21, 2010 Labor Passages: Dan Duncan's Father-in-Law Passes The NOVA Labor Federation “with great sadness” last night announced the death of NOVA President Dan Duncan’s father-in-law. Karen Duncan's father, Irving Fernand, 97, passed away in his sleep April 20 in Ft Lauderdale, FL. Graveside services will be held Friday, April 23 at Beth David...    more...  
• Apr 20, 2010 Council Takes "No Position" In PG County Exec Race The Metro Washington Council voted last night to take “no position” in the Prince George’s County Executive Race after neither leading candidate – Rushern Baker and Michael Jackson --garnered the two-thirds majority necessary to win endorsement. “This vote leaves our affiliates free...    more...  
• Apr 20, 2010 Union Profile: IUOE 99 Members In Action Chaun Coleman and Mark Wiehoff are among the engineering staff currently working on renovations at the Madison Hotel on 15th Street in the District’s Northwest. Coleman - a General Maintenance Mechanic and member of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99 since 2001 -...    more...  
• Apr 20, 2010 Labor On The Move: Obama To Tap CWA's Boarman For Public Printer Post President Obama has announced his intention to nominate CWA’s William J. Boarman (r) to be the 26th Public Printer of the United States. Boarman is a vice president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and president of the union’s Printing, Publishing & Media Workers...    more...  
• Apr 19, 2010 DOL Workers To Picket G20 Labor Minister's Meeting Frustrated Department of Labor employees will conduct an informational picket  Tuesday, April 20 outside the G-20 labor minister's meeting at the DOL. "We're extremely disappointed that Secretary Solis has failed to follow through on President Obama's vision of implementing...    more...  
• Apr 19, 2010 Discounted Space Available In Labor FilmFest Guide Help celebrate the 10th annual DC Labor FilmFest and save money by reserving space now in the popular FilmFest Program Guide now. Reserve your ad by May 1 and get a 20% Earlybird Discount AND a free 2009 FilmFest t-shirt, a collector’s item not available for sale. Since 2001 the DC Labor...    more...  
• Apr 19, 2010 Lobbyist Gets The Picture UFCW 1994 Political Director Bob Stewart shows off the photo he presented to lobbyist Gary Alexander at the lobbyist’s end-of-session reception last week. The photo is of the March 9 library worker’s rally outside Alexander’s Annapolis office. The lobbyist – on behalf of the Maryland...    more...  
• Apr 16, 2010 MD Family Child Care Providers Win Collective Bargaining Legislation Child care providers in Maryland were granted collective bargaining rights by the Maryland General Assembly on Monday. The new law codifies Governor Martin O’Malley’s 2007 Executive Order under which child care providers joined SEIU Local 500, negotiated and ratified a historic first...    more...  
• Apr 16, 2010 Free* Shopping At Costco Maryland and D.C. AFL-CIO members, their families and friends can shop at COSTCO Wholesale this Saturday without having to pay the usual membership fee. Click here  to download the One-Day Shopping Pass; participants will also be eligible to receive up to $25 in Costco Cash Cards. The...    more...  
• Apr 16, 2010 Labor In The News: Zinn Carries on Family Activism Last week’s victory by University of Wisconsin students over Nike’s sweatshop practices in Honduras has a strong local connection. Wisconsin sophomore Jonah Zinn, part of the student campaign  urging the school to cancel the contract, is the 19-year-old son of Roxie Herbekian and Ken...    more...  
• Apr 16, 2010 Community Rallying To Support Mass Transit Next Tuesday's transit rally  is drawing strong community support. The Partnership for Renewal In Southern & Central Maryland (PRISCM) "stands in solidarity" with the hundreds of transit workers whose jobs are at stake, says PRISCM's Rev. Turner. "These Metro employees pray at our...    more...  
• Apr 16, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz "The strike is a weapon of the oppressed, of men capable of appreciating justice and having the courage to resist wrong and contend for principle.” Who said it? Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Eugene V. Debs or Mary “Mother” Jones? Click here  to submit your answer. Winners will be...    more...  
• Apr 16, 2010 Labor Photo: 27 Ways To Pay Lower Taxes    more...  
• Apr 15, 2010 PG COPE Makes No Recommendation On County Exec Race After interviewing five candidates for Prince George’s County Executive yesterday, the PG COPE was unable to make a recommendation to the Metro Council’s Executive Board, which will vote on an endorsement at next Monday’s April meeting. Former Delegate Rushern Baker and Prince George’s...    more...  
• Apr 15, 2010 Labor Rights "Fundamental" To Iraqi Democracy Charging that the Iraqi government is using the same laws that Saddam Hussein used to “attack workers and prevent trade union organization,” dozens of labor rights activists rallied outside the Iraqi Consulate in Dupont Circle at noon yesterday demanding an end to the “systematic...    more...  
• Apr 15, 2010 Defending Patient Care Against External Pressures "The people that have the best handle on healthcare are the people on the ground, not our senators or insurance executives," says Paul E. Almeida, President of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE). "What we really need is the people on the ground to be a more influential...    more...  
• Apr 15, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": Teacher Exposes Union-Busting at Cesar Chavez HS Local activist and JUFJ Jeremiah Fellow  David Krakow has won an important victory for teachers at the Cesar Chavez charter school, including a pledge that the school will not interfere with union organizing. A history teacher at Chavez, Krakow was fired after heading up efforts by...    more...  
• Apr 14, 2010 Rallying For Iraqi Workers Who Can't Area labor activists will gather at lunchtime today to do something their colleagues can’t do in Iraq. “Punishing workers for organizing and holding peaceful demonstrations to advocate for their interests is an unfortunately common practice in Iraq,” says Solidarity Center Interim...    more...  
• Apr 14, 2010 Lose Money, Live Worse With Wal-Mart Charging that retail giant Wal-Mart is costing the community millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, members, staff and supporters of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 will distribute pamphlets to downtown Metro commuters tomorrow morning highlighting how the mega-retailer dodges...    more...  
• Apr 14, 2010 Council Directory Updates SEIU 32BJ has moved! To search for the local's new address - and to find the latest contact information for almost 200 area unions - be sure to check out the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO's online Affiliate Directory . Representing security officers, doormen, porters, maintenance...    more...  
• Apr 13, 2010 Safety-Net Activists Urge Council To "Be Heroes" Draped in red capes and super-hero masks, dozens of community activists called on the DC City Council to "stand up, be heroes and save our safety net" yesterday as Mayor Fenty tried to justify his proposed budget cuts, which activists say will disproportionately affect social services in the...    more...  
• Apr 13, 2010 WMATA's Million-Dollar "Shame" Calling WMATA "shameful, litigious and extravagant," ATU 689 President Jackie Jeter last Friday said "The report that WMATA has spent $1 million to deny benefits to Metro workers is an indictment of the Authority's anemic concern for workers and public safety." Jeter called WMATA's million...    more...  
• Apr 13, 2010 Defending Patient Care Against External Pressures "The people that have the best handle on healthcare are the people on the ground, not our senators or insurance executives," says Paul E. Almeida, President of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE). "What we really need is the people on the ground to be a more influential part...    more...  
• Apr 13, 2010 Quote Quiz Winner It was American socialist newspaper editor, politician, Marxist theoretician, and trade union organizer Daniel De Leon (1852-1914, at right) who said "The capitalist class is interested in keeping the workingmen divided among themselves. Hence it foments race and religious animosities that...    more...  
• Apr 12, 2010 Labor Seder's Impact Grows At just nine years old, the Labor Seder came of age last night. Since 2002 the annual event, organized by Jews United for Justice (JUFJ), has brought together religious, community and labor activists to celebrate and renew the local struggle for justice via the vehicle of the Passover seder,...    more...  
• Apr 12, 2010 This Week's Labor Calendar - MONDAY: Citizen Activism And Hope: Hear from Paul Loeb - author of the best-selling books on citizen involvement “Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in Challenging Times” and “The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear” – who...    more...  
• Apr 12, 2010 Intern Project Expands Labor FilmFest, Union City A lifetime battling in the legal trenches for worker rights has given DC labor lawyer Jules Bernstein (l) a keen appreciation for what works. And Bernstein thinks Union City and the DC Labor FilmFest work. "The DC Labor Filmfest is very exciting and plays a very important role in the...    more...  
• Apr 9, 2010 Labor Helps Boost Census Response In an effort to boost response to the ongoing 2010 Census, the DC chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) invites area labor activists to join community organizations Saturday to canvass low-response neighborhoods. Following their regular monthly meeting at IBEW 26 (4371 Parliament...    more...  
• Apr 9, 2010 What Makes A Great Labor Video? The scathingly funny What Have The Unions Ever Done For Us?  was the winner of the recent LabourStart Labour Video Contest, which drew nearly 3,000 votes and over 200 entries. Click here  to see results for all six finalists. And to see what the contest judges - who included...    more...  
• Apr 9, 2010 Reader Survey Deadline Extended "As many action pictures as possible"."more profiles of people in the local area"." follow-up items on stories previously covered"." This is the BEST labor info tool anyplace." Response to our Union City Reader Survey  has been so strong - and the suggestions for ways to improve so...    more...  
• Apr 9, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz "The capitalist class is interested in keeping the workingmen divided among themselves.  Hence it foments race and religious animosities that come down from the past." Who said it? Daniel DeLeon, Karl Marx or Ralph Nader? Click here  to submit your answer. Winners will be chosen...    more...  
• Apr 8, 2010 D.C. Teachers Win Tentative Agreement The one thing everyone agreed on was that it had been a long, bumpy and often contentious road to the tentative contract agreement for Washington teachers. But on Wednesday, it was congratulatory handshakes and broad smiles all around as DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, Washington Teachers’ Union...    more...  
• Apr 8, 2010 Space At The Seder There's still time to register for Sunday's Labor Seder .  Jews United For Justice's annual celebration will  weave together the Passover freedom story with the struggles of working families in the Washington area. "As leaders across the region face significant budget...    more...  
• Apr 8, 2010 Building Futures Graduates Third Class The GSA Building Futures Program graduated its third class Tuesday, presenting the 29 graduates with certificates. "These graduates have OSHA 10  and CPR/First Aid certifications and have learned blueprint reading, construction math, tool identification and lots of soft skills needed to...    more...  
• Apr 7, 2010 MontCo Budget Cuts Impact Detailed It's just an hour. Among the savings in the proposed Montgomery County budget is reducing school health aide's hours from seven to six a day. "But that leaves no one there when a kid bumps his head on the way out of school," 20-year veteran aide Susan Rhoderick told Union City at last night's...    more...  
• Apr 7, 2010 G'Town Panelists Assess State Of Labor In Obama Era Dozens of students, district workers and labor activists met to discuss how the labor movement can grow and engage with a progressive movement “that speaks to the Obama era” at last night’s panel discussion with labor leaders and political commentators at Georgetown University. ...    more...  
• Apr 7, 2010 Linking History, Songs And Activism Catch up on your labor history and discover the important role that historians play in the lives of working-class men and women this Friday at the Organization of American Historians convention. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt-Baker will kick things off at 12:30P  with a...    more...  
• Apr 7, 2010 The Plumber Said It We were only able to fool 12% of you into thinking Cesar Chavez said "Labor never quits. We never give up the fight - no matter how tough the odds, no matter how long it takes," while 24% voted for John L. Lewis; 65% of you knew it was the indomitable George Meany, the plumber who rose to head...    more...  
• Apr 6, 2010 Labor, The Left And Progressives In The Obama Era Activist and author Barbara Ehrenreich, Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson, Georgetown history professor Michael Kazin and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler discuss Labor, The Left And Progressives In The Obama Era  with other panelists tonight at Georgetown. Topics include...    more...  
• Apr 6, 2010 Guild Leads Charge Against Exec Bonuses At Bankrupt Trib In an unusual development, the union representing 230 Baltimore Sun workers entangled in the Tribune Company’s bankruptcy case led the charge against $20 million in corporate bonuses -- and won. The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA Local 32035, which represents the Sun workers,...    more...  
• Apr 5, 2010 Last Chance To Weigh In On Metro Cuts Maryland elected officials have joined the chorus of individuals and organizations -- including the Metro Washington Council -- calling on Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley to fund a "Fair Share for Metro."  In separate letters, the Prince George's County Council, 21 Montgomery state...    more...  
• Apr 5, 2010 Montco Cuts Hit Women & Minorities Montgomery County's proposed budget disproportionately affects women and minorities, as well as slashing funds for workers and county programs, says UFCW/MCGEO 1994, which is organizing a major demonstration tomorrow night  at the County Council meeting. "These workers are the backbone...    more...  
• Apr 5, 2010 Drink With Labor Benefits Area Seniors "Thanks to all those who came out to the Big Hunt!" says Cathy Meals from We Are Family , a local non-profit organization that benefited from Drink With Labor's Spring happy hour. "Drink With Labor raised $315, which will support WAF's important senior services and grassroots advocacy work...    more...  
• Apr 5, 2010 Power Of Organizing The "superpower" of organizers is featured in the April calendar from Ricardo Levins Morales, now available for download . This month's featured artist in Morales' newsletter  is Antonio Frasconi, who "played a major role in popularizing the woodcut in the United States" and whose...    more...  
• Apr 5, 2010 County Workers Rally Against MontCo Budget Cuts Uniting behind the slogan “Don't Californicate Montgomery County,” a coalition of labor, business and community organizations will rally tonight against budget cuts. UFCW Local 1994, which represents thousands of county workers, says that while Montgomery County once led the state in job...    more...  
• Apr 2, 2010 Phone Workers Say "No Sale!" To Verizon “No sale! No sale! No sale!” chanted an angry sea of red-shirted CWA members Thursday afternoon outside Federal Communications Commission (FCC) headquarters in southwest DC. Hundreds of metro area communication workers were joined by a busload of  CWA members from West Virginia, who...    more...  
• Apr 2, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": DC residents interrupt Mayor Fenty A diverse group of District residents wrapped themselves in a “safety net” to protest budget cuts at yesterday’s press conference by DC Mayor Adrian Fenty announcing his 2011 city budget proposal. "Our city needs a strong safety net!" declared members of the citizens' group, called...    more...  
• Apr 2, 2010 "Don't Californicate Montgomery County" County workers plan to rally  behind the slogan “Don't Californicate Montgomery County” at next Tuesday’s Montgomery County Council meeting. UFCW Local 1994, which represents thousands of county workers, says that while Montgomery County once led the state in job creation, it’s...    more...  
• Apr 2, 2010 Labor In The News: White House Seeks Input On Roles Of Private Contractors, Federal Workers; Bridging A Class Divide, One English Lesson At A Time White House Seeks Input On Roles Of Private Contractors, Federal Workers: The Obama administration began seeking formal input from stakeholders on which kind of tasks should be performed by federal workers and which by contractors, reported Ed O’Keefe in Wednesday’s Washington Post....    more...  
• Apr 1, 2010 Fed Up DOL Employees "Ready To March" Saying that “Secretary Solis carries on the hostile workplace environment created by Secretary Chao,” workers at the Department of Labor - who are represented by the American Federation of Government Employees Local 12 - expressed their outrage at yesterday's union town hall meeting over...    more...  
• Apr 1, 2010 Vilsack Gives Union Its Due Just in case any of the assembled USDA workers had any lingering doubts about whose side he was on, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (r) played his trump card at yesterday’s Employee Listening Session. “I just want all the AFSCME members here to know that I’m a lifetime AFSCME...    more...  
• Apr 1, 2010 Labor In The News: Washington Post Calls For Fair Share For Metro; Augusta Thomas, 87, Sets The Pace At AFGE Washington Post Calls For Fair Share For Metro: The Washington Post yesterday in an editorial called on local jurisdictions to fund Metro adequately to prevent service reductions. Calling service cuts "dangerous,” the Post said that Metro is “the region's vital strategic linchpin....    more...  
• Mar 31, 2010 Telecom Workers, Supporters To Rally At FCC Against Proposed Sale Of Verizon Landlines Nearly 50 CWA members from West Virginia concerned about the potential sale of their telephone lines by Verizon to much smaller Frontier Communications are traveling all day for a short rally at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) tomorrow at 1:30P . Local labor and community...    more...  
• Mar 31, 2010 Click Here! Fake Union Advertising Scams Flourish Online UnitedWorkForce.org  might sound like a good source for learning about or advocating for unions. But in reality, it is a wacky mix of overt pitches for Christianity, tacky patriotic messages and the logos of major unions, including the UFCW, Steelworkers and AFSCME. A button for...    more...  
• Mar 30, 2010 Labor Night At The Nats Set For July 9 Mark your calendars for the fourth annual Labor Night at the Nats, scheduled for Friday, July 9 at 7P. The family event benefits the Community Services Agency's Emergency Assistance Fund, which helps area families in crisis. This year the Nationals will play the San Francisco Giants. Tickets...    more...  
• Mar 30, 2010 U-Liners Celebrate Merle Haggard's Working-Class Songbook Catch the Working Man Blues this Saturday  at the U-Liner’s Merle Haggard tribute at the IOTA Club . A Working' Man Can't Get Nowhere Today, White Line Fever, Working Man Blues and The Way I Am are just a few of Merle Haggard’s working class repertoire and U-Liners frontman Joe...    more...  
• Mar 30, 2010 When DCLabor Tweets, 300 Follow Over 300 area activists are now the first to hear about job postings, labor events and updates in the DC area via the Metropolitan Washington Council's Twitter account! Got labor news? Tweet us! Click here  to sign up free today. To get the tweets as text messages on your phone,...    more...  
• Mar 29, 2010 Bricklayer's "Speedbowlers" Collect Most Bowling Pledges The members of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Speedbowlers team have won the prize for the most pledges collected for the annual Bowling For Gold tournament, held last January to benefit the Community Services Emergency Assistance Fund. The Speedbowlers raised $1,710 for the Fund,...    more...  
• Mar 29, 2010 Last Chance To Vote For Labor Video Of The Year Wednesday’s the deadline to vote in the first-ever global Labour Video of the Year . “Watching these very short videos will make you laugh and they will make you think,” says LabourStart’s Eric Lee. “And they will remind us why we are trade unionists.” Lee promises that “you...    more...  
• Mar 29, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": Gray Confirmed for Seder DC City Council Chairman Vincent Gray (r) has agreed to speak at this year's Labor Seder, making this an important opportunity to weigh in with a key decision-maker about the importance of preserving the safety net in DC's budget. There’s still time to reserve your space at the Seder,...    more...  
• Mar 29, 2010 Healthcare Workers The Heart Of Baltimore "Local healthcare workers launched an intensive ad campaign Friday spotlighting Baltimore caregivers who are paid so little they can't afford health insurance for their own children," reports 1199SEIU. "The radio, billboard, bus shelter and direct mail ads are part of the Heart of Baltimore...    more...  
• Mar 26, 2010 Westin Boycott Launched "All workers must have the right to organize," declared DC Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who then led a chant of "Boycott! Boycott!" at last night's hotel worker demonstration outside the Westin City Center. "A decent hotel must treat its workers decently," Mendelson (top, right) said,...    more...  
• Mar 26, 2010 Local Corporation Running For Congress Murray Hill Inc. wants your vote for Congress. "We're a corporation running for Congress to cut out the middleman," says Eric Hensal, the designated human spokesman for Murray Hill. "Why should a corporation pay a congressperson to vote their way when they can now just run themselves?"...    more...  
• Mar 26, 2010 "Forgotten" In Detroit Tonight If you're in Detroit tonight, you'll want to be sure to catch the performance of Forgotten: The Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant . The jazz/blues opera was composed by DC's own Steve Jones and the Detroit performance is directed by National Labor College teacher - and Detroit native --...    more...  
• Mar 25, 2010 Hotel Workers Bring Their Fight To DC Hundreds of hotel workers, labor and community activists are expected to turn out at today's 5P demonstration targeting the Westin City Center, where the workers will officially launch their boycott of the Columbia Sussex-owned hotel. Responding to years of union-busting and mistreatment,...    more...  
• Mar 25, 2010 March Council Minutes Now Online Draft minutes from the March Metro Washington Council Executive Board and Delegate meetings are now available for download on the Metro Council’s website . Mark your calendars for next month’s meeting on Monday, April 19 at 6:30P ; watch Union City for further details.    more...  
• Mar 25, 2010 Labor On The Move: Shierholz & Lindsley Join EJC Board The DC Employment Justice Center has added two new members to the EJC Board, Heidi Shierholz (r) and Lisa Lindsley. Shierholz is a labor economist with the Economic Policy Institute.  Her areas of research include trends in employment, unemployment, and compensation, income and...    more...  
• Mar 24, 2010 AG Dept Workers Win New Contract Demonstrating real labor-management cooperation, the members of AFSCME 3870 and their management at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have negotiated a new contract two months ahead of the May expiration of the previous contract. "This was a great victory for both sides," said Local 3870...    more...  
• Mar 24, 2010 Metro Holds Hearings This Week On Proposed Cuts Proposals to drastically reduce WMATA bus and rail service are scheduled for public hearings this week . Proposed reductions include fewer rail cars in the peak period, longer waiting times of up to 30 minutes, elimination of off-peak service on much of the Yellow Line, later opening and...    more...  
• Mar 24, 2010 Labor Quote Quiz Returns! Our popular Labor Quote Quiz is back! Each week we'll publish a labor quote and give you a chance to guess who said it. Winners will be chosen at random from those answering correctly and every month a grand prize-winner will be chosen from the weekly winners. The Quiz is another collaboration...    more...  
• Mar 23, 2010 Brother Can You Spare A Million? “Can you spare a few million for our bonuses?” pleaded “bankers” holding out their tophats outside Bank of America at 18th and K Streets yesterday at noon. “Take an investment banker to lunch?” asked another, as noontime passersby laughed and took flyers at the Big Banks Panhandle...    more...  
• Mar 23, 2010 Labor Shows Support For Thomas DC Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. expressed deep appreciation to the Metro Washington Council and all his labor allies at Friday's Labor Breakfast fundraiser. Washington Building Trades Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Vance Ayers noted that Thomas "has been on labor's side of every issue...    more...  
• Mar 23, 2010 "Tell The Mayor To Save Our Safety Net" As DC Mayor Adrian Fenty prepares to release this year’s budget proposal – which local activists expect will slash funding for basic safety net services – the Save Our Safety Net campaign is urging people to sign a petition asking the Mayor to “strengthen our safety net, not target...    more...  
• Mar 23, 2010 Drink With Labor Benefits "We Are Family" Tomorrow night's Drink With Labor  benefits We Are Family," a local organization that serves seniors in the Shaw, North Capitol Street, Adams-Morgan, Petworth, and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. "They bring advocacy, services, organizing, and companionship into the homes of the elderly,...    more...  
• Mar 23, 2010 Labor Photo: Songs of Solidarity in Charm City    more...  
• Mar 23, 2010 Metro Holds Hearings This Week On Proposed Cuts Proposals to drastically reduce WMATA bus and rail service are scheduled for public hearings this week (SEE BELOW).  Proposed reductions include fewer rail cars in the peak period, longer waiting times of up to 30 minutes, elimination of off-peak service on much of the Yellow Line, later...    more...  
• Mar 22, 2010 Hotel Boycott Spreads To DC Westin The hotel workers’ battle with Columbia Sussex is coming to the District. On March 25 UNITE HERE is expanding its boycott to Columbia Sussex’s Westin City Center hotel at 14th & M with a 5P demo. “What this company has been doing is union-busting, pure and simple,” UNITE HERE’s...    more...  
• Mar 22, 2010 Washington Hospital Center Suspends More Snow-Bound Workers Washington Hospital Center is at it again. After making front-page news a few weeks ago for summarily firing more than a dozen nurses for failing to make it to work during last month’s record-breaking blizzards, the hospital has suspended or disciplined about 80 other hospital workers who...    more...  
• Mar 22, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": Safety Net Seder The bad news keeps coming -- this week we read in the Washington Post  that residents and workers in both Montgomery and Prince George's counties will be facing deep cuts in safety-net programs.  Virginia is cutting core services such as education and public safety. There’s a $500...    more...  
• Mar 19, 2010 DC Streets Heating Up Springtime in the nation’s capital and demonstrations are popping up all over town. Here’s a quick rundown of the next week: - Saturday: "Bring All The Troops And Tax Dollars Home" , 11A, AFL-CIO: Join District workers, labor leaders and anti-war activists for a march and rally to...    more...  
• Mar 19, 2010 Abigail Chibebe Continues The Struggle For Human Rights In Zimbabwe Abigail Chibebe (r), wife of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions' Secretary General Wellington Chibebe, spoke movingly with local trade unionists last Friday about her struggles as a union leader's wife and the attacks on her family as they struggle to gain political freedom in Zimbabwe. Mrs....    more...  
• Mar 19, 2010 Labor In The News: Raising the Profile of Wage Theft Struggle The local battle against wage theft got front-page coverage in Wednesday’s Washington Post when Post reporter N.C. Aizenman covered last Saturday’s effort by day laborers to track down a contractor who’d cheated them. “He'd hired them to remodel a wine shop in the Northwest...    more...  
• Mar 19, 2010 More Evening With Labor Photos Now Online A complete selection of photos from last Saturday’s Evening With Labor awards dinner is now available online. Click here  now to see photos of this year’s award winners, special guests and attendees. Email streetheat@dclabor.org for name corrections.    more...  
• Mar 18, 2010 Big Banks To Panhandle For Jobs Top-hatted Big Bankers will panhandle for more bailouts next Monday at noon  to save their bonuses and the jobs of their butlers and chauffeurs. Part of the AFL-CIO's national Jobs Campaign, this event is part of a two-week campaign of actions targeting banks across the country. Click...    more...  
• Mar 18, 2010 Labor Joining March To "Bring All The Troops And Tax Dollars Home" Metro-area workers and labor leaders are planning to join anti-war activists for a march and rally  Saturday to "bring our troops and dollars home, invest in healthcare not warfare, build schools not bombs, and create jobs at living wages for everyone who needs one," says event...    more...  
• Mar 18, 2010 Why Jill And Isabella Are Marching For Immigration Reform Jill from Sioux City, IA is marching for immigration reform this Sunday because her fiancé "works 10 hours a day for minimal pay because of his status. He has so much potential and could do so much better but is stuck at the same dead-end job because of his status." Isabella, an immigrant who...    more...  
• Mar 17, 2010 Council Meeting Highlights Solidarity and struggle were the watchwords at Monday night’s meeting of the Metro Washington Council. CASA de Maryland Executive Director Gustavo Torres reported that over 100,000 people from 42 states are expected to demonstrate for immigrant worker rights and economic justice for all this...    more...  
• Mar 17, 2010 ADA & ILCA Added To Council Directory The Metro Council has added two new allies to its Directory, Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and the International Labor Communications Association (ILCA). “In light of the ADA’s long history of working in support of worker’s rights we’re delighted to officially add the ADA as...    more...  
• Mar 16, 2010 NPR Attempts To "Divide And Conquer" Broadcast Employees Gusting winds and drizzling rain failed to dampen the spirits of dozens of broadcast technicians and audio engineers at National Public Radio who walked the picket line at noon yesterday chanting “Hey hey, ho ho, union busting has got to go” in front of NPR’s Massachusetts Avenue...    more...  
• Mar 16, 2010 Local AFGE Steward "Speaks Truth To Power" At DOL AFGE Local 12 Steward David Richardson (r, at last night's Council meeting) drew kudos from the local’s members and leaders last week when he challenged Labor Secretary Hilda Solis on working conditions at the Department of Labor. Local 12 President Alex Bastani applauded Richardson’s...    more...  
• Mar 16, 2010 Evening With Labor Award Winner Photos Now Online Photos of award-winners at Saturday’s 33rd Annual Evening With Labor are now available for viewing online. Click here ; watch Union City for more photos later this week. - Bill Grooms from IUOE 77 is presented with the Tri-County COPE Award at Saturday's Evening With Labor; photo by Bill...    more...  
• Mar 16, 2010 Union Voice: Readers Write: Re-energizing and Inspiring “I am new to your website  and just wanted to let you know that I think it is great,” writes Lillian Covarrubias, President  of TNG-CWA 34043 in from Toledo, OH. “The stories at your site re-energize me and make me hopeful. The pictures and stories of workers' fight for...    more...  
• Mar 15, 2010 DC Labor Movement Lauded At Evening With Labor "DC shows the rest of America what being a Union City is all about," AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Liz Shuler (r, with Metro Council President Jos Williams) told the nearly 1,000 labor leaders, activists and politicians gathered Saturday night for the 33rd annual Evening With Labor. "Unity,...    more...  
• Mar 15, 2010 Broadcast Techs To Protest At NPR Broadcast technical professionals at National Public Radio (NPR) will protest NPR’s demands for concessions and givebacks at a noontime demo  today outside NPR. “The 65 members of NABET-CWA each took wage/benefits cuts of $17,000 in crisis bargaining to help NPR during the uncertain...    more...  
• Mar 15, 2010 Metro Council Meeting Today Don't miss tonight's Metro Washington Council delegate meeting , jam-packed with the latest updates on the local labor movement. Reports on the Community Services Agency, Union City, Evening with Labor, COPE updates, and the 2010 DC Labor FilmFest highlight Monday's meeting. Also, hear from...    more...  
• Mar 15, 2010 Big Insurance Rally Photos Now Online A selection of photos from last Tuesday's march and rally to stop big insurance ("Blocking Healthcare Reform Is A Crime!",  Union City 3/10/2010) is now available online. Click here to go there now, and click here  to view video footage of the rally on the AFL-CIO's Now blog....    more...  
• Mar 15, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": Labor Seder Focuses on Safety Net As the economic crisis drags on and local budgets are slashed, the ax is falling disproportionately on the working families and low-income folks who need services the most. The upcoming annual Labor Seder on April 11 will be the largest event to highlight this issue this spring, bringing...    more...  
• Mar 15, 2010 UFCW 400 Follows Through On Girl Scout Cookie Pledge Fulfilling a pledge made when they learned that Ahold/Martin’s banned Richmond-area Girl Scout troops from selling cookies in front of Ukrop’s stores, members of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 purchased the first 100 boxes of Girl Scout cookies sold in front of a...    more...  
• Mar 12, 2010 Faith Jones Trade Unionist Of The Year Faith Jones (l), ACE/AFSCME Local 2250, winner of the JC Turner Award for Outstanding Trade Unionist of the Year, has been a stellar, visible representative of organized labor in Prince George’s County and in the state of Maryland. Jones and the rest of the 2009 award-winners will be honored...    more...  
• Mar 12, 2010 Broadcast Techs To Protest At NPR Broadcast technical professionals at National Public Radio (NPR) - who are represented by the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, CWA - will protest NPR’s demands for concessions and givebacks at a noontime demo  Monday, March 15 outside NPR. The current...    more...  
• Mar 12, 2010 Metro Council Delegate Meeting Monday Don’t miss Monday’s Metropolitan Washington Council delegate meeting , jam-packed with the latest updates on the local labor movement. Reports on the Community Services Agency, Union City, Evening with Labor, COPE updates, the 2010 DC Labor FilmFest, and next Sunday’s rally for...    more...  
• Mar 12, 2010 Vote Now For Labor Video Of The Year Last week, Hollywood had its Oscars. “Now it's our turn,” says LabourStart’s Eric Lee, announcing that voting has begun to choose the first-ever global Labour Video of the Year . “Our distinguished panel of judges has selected a shortlist of six films out of more than 200...    more...  
• Mar 12, 2010 UFCW 400 Follows Through On Girl Scout Cookie Pledge Fulfilling a pledge made when they learned that Ahold/Martin’s banned Richmond-area Girl Scout troops from selling cookies in front of Ukrop’s stores, members of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 purchased the first 100 boxes of Girl Scout cookies sold in front of a...    more...  
• Mar 11, 2010 Transit Workers Urge Action To Oppose Cutbacks In Metro Service With WMATA proposing drastic reductions in Metrorail and Metrobus service, a broad coalition has formed to urge area jurisdictions to provide more funding to keep Metro running. ATU Local 689 has joined with transit, environmental and community groups to wage a "Fair Share for Metro" campaign...    more...  
• Mar 11, 2010 Elbridge James This Year's "Outstanding Citizen" Elbridge James (l) - this year’s Evening With Labor Wilhelmina Rolark Outstanding Citizen award-winner - has a stellar public interest record.  For years he’s been a community leader, a state vice-president for the NAACP, a vice-president for the Montgomery County NAACP, and a...    more...  
• Mar 11, 2010 Employment Justice Center Releases '09 Impact Report The DC Employment Justice Center's 2009 Annual Impact Report  is now available on the EJC’s website. “Thanks to you, we celebrated many victories on behalf of low-wage workers in 2009,” reports Executive Director Melvina Ford. “We returned over $580,000 [in stolen wages] to...    more...  
• Mar 10, 2010 Maryland Public Library Employees Fight For Choice For A Voice Library workers from across Maryland went to Annapolis Tuesday, March 9 to protest the hiring of "union avoidance" and lobby firm of Alexander & Cleaver by several Maryland counties to oppose legislation granting collective bargaining rights to county library systems. The librarians,...    more...  
• Mar 10, 2010 "Blocking Healthcare Reform Is A Crime!" As health insurance lobbyists holed up in the Ritz-Carlton behind dozens of police in riot gear, thousands of healthcare activists surrounded the downtown DC hotel yesterday in a peaceful but pointed demonstration of anger and support for healthcare reform, sponsored by Health Care for America...    more...  
• Mar 10, 2010 Maryland Public Library Employees Fight For Choice For A Voice Library workers from across Maryland went to Annapolis yesterday to protest the hiring of "union avoidance" and lobby firm of Alexander & Cleaver by several Maryland counties to oppose legislation granting collective bargaining rights to county library systems. The librarians, represented...    more...  
• Mar 10, 2010 Mike Murphy '09 Community Services Awardee Mike Murphy, Business Manager for IUOE Local 99 is the 2009 Thomas M. Bradley Community Services Award winner. “A long-time board member of the Community Services Agency, Mike is always there for us,” says CSA Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy. “He and his local support all our...    more...  
• Mar 10, 2010 Feaster Funeral Arrangements Set Funeral service arrangements for Phil Feaster  have been finalized: viewing hours are set for this Thursday, March 11, 6-8p at the George P. Kalas Funeral Home, 6160 Oxon Hill Road, Oxon Hill, MD and Friday, March 12, 8:30-10a (prior to funeral service). The funeral service will be held...    more...  
• Mar 10, 2010 CLUW's First Annual Working Women's Award Celebration Set In honor of Women's History Month, the Coalition of Labor Union Women will present CLUW's First Annual Working Women's Award Celebration  on Thursday, March 18th, from 5-7:30p. “Join us in honoring eleven extraordinary women leaders, whose achievements have inspired us all to strive...    more...  
• Mar 9, 2010 Stopping Health Insurance "Crime" Labor, community, health care and religious activists will surround the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown DC with bright yellow tape at noon today, declaring the area a crime scene as big insurance’s lobbying arm (AHIP) comes to town for an anti-health reform conference. Two labor feeder...    more...  
• Mar 9, 2010 AFGE TSO Organizing Campaign Seeks Blitz Volunteers This Week AFGE is looking for volunteers for a blitz at area airports this week in support of the organizing campaign by Transportation Security Officers ( "Union Time" For Transportation Security Officers , 2/24/2010 Union City) : Tuesday, March 9th - National Airport, 10a-2p &...    more...  
• Mar 9, 2010 '09 DC & MD COPE Award Winners Johnnie Walker and Bill Grooms are this year’s COPE Award winners, and will be recognized at the 33rd annual Evening With Labor  this Saturday. Email kmckirch@dclabor.org to reserve tickets. A longtime outspoken union leader and activist, AFGE 383’s Johnnie Walker was personally...    more...  
• Mar 9, 2010 Labor Passages: Teamster's 639's Phil Feaster Dies Phil Feaster, former President of Teamsters Local 639, died Sunday at 70. After retirement, and despite a series of health problems in recent years, Feaster had continued to be an active member of the local labor community. Last year he spoke out about how the “donut hole” coverage gap...    more...  
• Mar 8, 2010 Reuters Reporters "Betrayed & Disrespected" Facing massive cutbacks and "unconscionable" slashes in compensation, Reuters reporters took to the streets at noon in downtown DC Friday determined to win their fight for a fair contract. "We are facing very tense negotiations right now, which have been ongoing for over a year and a half"...    more...  
• Mar 8, 2010 Healthcare Demo Gains Momentum "When the heads of the nation's insurance companies come to Washington, D.C., this week to plot strategies for killing real health care reform, they'll be greeted by thousands of union members, community, health care and religious activists with one message: Stop," reports James Parks on the...    more...  
• Mar 8, 2010 '09 Organizing & Golden Picket Winners The local labor community will gather this Saturday to honor area labor leaders, activists and friends at the 33rd annual Evening With Labor . Tickets are still available: email kmckirch@dclabor.org This week Union City will highlight this year's award winners. Today, we feature...    more...  
• Mar 8, 2010 Labor Passages: Magda Lynn Seymour Passes Union communications professional Magda Lynn Seymour (r) passed away Tuesday, February 23. Formerly the Communications Director at AFGE and the Field Communications Director at SEIU, she also worked in the AFL-CIO Information Department. Seymour was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis several...    more...  
• Mar 8, 2010 Union Voice: Readers Write: Bowling Photos? "What became of the bowling for gold photos?" Myron wonders. "Did I miss the email?" See our February 2 story Online Photo Archive Updated  or click here  for our online photo archive which features photos of all this year’s bowling teams as well as previous years, golf tourney...    more...  
• Mar 5, 2010 Reuters Reporters Win Skirmish, Take Battle Back To Streets Reuters reporters will be back out in the street today at noon  after winning a key ruling Tuesday in their fight for a new contract ( Reuters Reporters Make News , 3/1/2010 Union City). A federal judge ruled on March 2 that Thomson Reuters, which had unilaterally declared an...    more...  
• Mar 5, 2010 Immigrant Rights Highlight Indie Film Festival The struggles and day-to-day barriers faced by immigrants is a focus of this year's DC Independent Film Festival . Featured films include Saturday's screening of "Immigrant Nation!: The Battle for the Dream" and "The Mills." Immigrant Nation tells the story of the modern immigrant rights...    more...  
• Mar 5, 2010 Charm City Labor Chorus' Debut Concert Saturday The Charm City Labor Chorus' (r) debut concert -- "Step by Step: Songs for Peace, Jobs, and Justice"  - is this Saturday in Baltimore with singer Joe Jencks. Formed last year, the Labor Chorus focuses on songs that come out of union organizing campaigns and victories, as well as...    more...  
• Mar 5, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": We Were Strangers, Too Jews United for Justice is proud to support the immigrant rights march on Sunday, March 21 at 2pm at the Lincoln Memorial. We invite our friends to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) Bagel Brunch to make posters and learn about the "We Were Strangers, Too" Jewish Campaign for Immigration...    more...  
• Mar 5, 2010 March Calendar Download Click here  to download the free March calendar from Ricardo Levins Morales Art Studio. "The image speaks in the voice of the ancestors, urging the youth to carry on their struggle," says Morales.    more...  
• Mar 4, 2010 Nurses Prepared For Battle At Washington Hospital Center Washington Hospital Center is at it again. On Tuesday, the hospital fired three more nurses for missing work during last month’s record-breaking snowstorms, bringing the total number of fired workers to 14. “I think this is an attempt to weaken or destroy the union,” says Stephen Frum,...    more...  
• Mar 4, 2010 Clark Construction Turns Away Wings Delegation After agreeing to meet with striking workers at Wings Enterprises Inc., Clark Construction Group – the general contractor who hired Wings employees to work on a major project in Foggy Bottom – has done a backflip and reneged on their promise. “Despite repeated requests from Wings...    more...  
• Mar 4, 2010 Major Demo Targets Health Insurance Lobby Several thousand activists are expected to turn out for next Tuesday's noontime health care demo at the annual meeting of the healthcare insurance lobby (AHIP). Two large labor marches -- including one led by AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka -- will join a big contingent of health care activists...    more...  
• Mar 4, 2010 Looking For Young Area Labor Leaders & Activists Area union leaders, activists, or staff -- organizers, reps, etc -- ages 35 and under are invited to join AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Liz Shuler at a Futures Forum on Thursday, March 11th. The local Forum is being held in preparation for a larger national summit being organized for early...    more...  
• Mar 4, 2010 UDC Students Learning To Organize “What better place than Washington to have a formal structure for learning about community organizing?” says Sylvia Benotti, a professor who’s teaching a class on organizing at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) this semester. Principles & Practices of Organizing in...    more...  
• Mar 3, 2010 No Guantanamo In DC "We don't want a Guantanamo in the Nation's Capital" said Johnny Barnes (r), Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, before a packed audience during yesterday's community dialogue at the University of the District of Columbia on the Secure...    more...  
• Mar 3, 2010 Honoring Local "Working Class Heroes" Tickets to this year's Evening With Labor are going fast! Email kmckirch@dclabor.org to get yours. The 33rd annual labor dinner - Saturday, March 13, 6:30P at the Omni  -- honors area labor leaders and activists. This year's honorees include: Organizing Award- IUOE Local 99; Golden...    more...  
• Mar 3, 2010 AFSCME 2910 Chief Steward To Receive Workplace Safety Award "Every union local has someone who dedicates themselves to the health and safety of their coworkers," says AFSCME Local 2910 President Saul Schniderman. "Nan Thompson Ernst's work exemplifies this." Ernst (r), Local 2910's chief steward, is to be honored today with the "Advocate of Workplace...    more...  
• Mar 3, 2010 Federal Prevailing Wages For Highway Construction Workers Updated In Maryland U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley last week announced "a significant victory for fair pay and fair wages" for highway construction workers in Maryland. The U. S. Department of Labor (DoL) has agreed to use the findings of a survey commissioned by...    more...  
• Mar 3, 2010 No Guantanamo In DC "We don't want a Guantanamo in the Nation's Capital" said Johnny Barnes (r), Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, before a packed audience during yesterday's community dialogue at the University of the District of Columbia on the Secure...    more...  
• Mar 2, 2010 Metro Council Endorses Thomas & Mendelson "I am honored that I have earned the continued respect and support of the working men and women of the District of Columbia,” said Ward 5 DC Council member Harry Thomas (above, center) upon hearing that the Metro Washington Council had made an early endorsement of him and Phil...    more...  
• Mar 2, 2010 Labor Cranks Up The Heat In March With over a dozen actions and events planned (and counting!), March is shaping up to be a busy month jam-packed with activism. Highlights include DC Jobs With Justice's "This Is America: Films On Immigration" Fundraiser  and the Charm City Labor Chorus Debut Concert , both on...    more...  
• Mar 1, 2010 AFGE Law-Enforcement Members, Fed Up, Take Evidence Of Bad Conditions Public Fed up with inaction from the Democratic Obama administration about bad working conditions inside the nation’s federal prisons and in other federal law enforcement occupations, AFGE members are going public. “We have 210,000 inmates in the federal prison system and we don’t have the...    more...  
• Mar 1, 2010 Obama Names Seven Union Leaders To Labor-Management Council President Barack Obama named seven union leaders to the National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations, an advisory committee that investigates and makes recommendations to the feds about issues affecting the government’s 2.2 million workers. Named February 25 were AFGE President...    more...  
• Mar 1, 2010 Labor On The Move: Boland Succeeds Flynn As Bricklayers President; AFSCME’S Lucy To Retire Boland Succeeds Flynn As Bricklayers President:  By voice vote, the Bricklayers board agreed on February 22 to immediately elevate union Secretary-Treasurer James Boland (r) to the presidency, succeeding John J. Flynn, who retired that day. Boland, a Bricklayer since 1977, has been...    more...  
• Mar 1, 2010 Latest Council Directory Updates Where can you get the new address for the Association of Supervisory and Administrative School Personnel and AFSCME Local 2797's correct email address? The Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO's online Affiliate Directory!   Containing the latest contact information for unions in...    more...  
• Mar 1, 2010 Union Voice: Readers Write: Both Local And Universal, UC Helps Find Dream Job “Greetings from Boise, Idaho,” writes Karen Newman, President and B.A. for ATU Local 398. “I subscribed to Union City last summer at the Great Labor Arts Exchange and I read it every day.  At first,” Newman says, “I didn't think that the CLC news from DC would have an impact on...    more...  
• Feb 26, 2010 Union-To-Union Relief Effort Supports Haitian Workers Haitian workers “still lack basic shelter, food, water, and medicine,” reports Cathy Feingold, the Solidarity Center’s country program director for the Dominican Republic and Haiti. “The majority of union leaders and members are sleeping outside their homes because many completely...    more...  
• Feb 26, 2010 Fed Up Sheraton Crystal City Hotel Workers Ready To Boycott Own Hotel After a year of struggle, hotel workers at the HEI Sheraton Crystal City have had enough. They’ll call for a boycott of their own hotel if their boss doesn’t accept their demand for a fair democratic process to decide whether to form a union by this Saturday, when they’ll rally in...    more...  
• Feb 26, 2010 JUFJ’s "Thinking Jewishly": 2010 Seder Set Each year, Jews United For Justice’s Labor Seder highlights a current workers’ rights struggle and brings together the Jewish and labor communities in a shared commitment to social and economic justice. This year's seder – set for Sunday, April 11 -- will focus on our region’s social...    more...  
• Feb 26, 2010 February Minutes Now Online Draft minutes from the February Metro Washington Council Executive Board and Delegate meetings are now available for download on the Metro Council's website . Mark your calendars for next month's meeting  on Monday, March 15 at 6:30P; watch Union City for further details.    more...  
• Feb 25, 2010 Healthcare Activists Hold Sidewalk Summit While President Obama and Congressional leaders gather at Blair House for their invitation-only healthcare meeting today, labor and healthcare activists from across the country will hold a sidewalk summit at 9A at H St and Vermont St NW .  A single-payer, improved Medicare for all...    more...  
• Feb 25, 2010 UFCW 400 Strongly Endorses MD Legislation To Stop Corporate Tax Evasion, Help Solve State Budget Crisis Calling it an essential tool to stop corporate tax evasion, restore tax fairness and solve the Maryland budget crisis, UFCW Local 400 endorsed the Combined Reporting Act (SB 354/HB 584) on Tuesday. The legislation would end the growing practice of corporations transferring profits to...    more...  
• Feb 25, 2010 NoVA Hotel Workers Link Struggles This Saturday, hotel workers in Northern Virginia will march from the Hilton Crystal City, the first hotel to win the union in Northern Virginia to the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, where workers are struggling for a fair and democratic process to decide on unionization without intimidation....    more...  
• Feb 25, 2010 2010 DC Labor FilmFest Search Underway Seen – or heard about -- a great labor film lately? Tell the DC Labor FilmFest! Planning is underway for the 10th annual FilmFest this Fall and submissions are welcome. The popular weeklong festival screens films about work and workers from around the world. Send your suggestions --...    more...  
• Feb 24, 2010 "Union Time" For Transportation Security Officers "The threat that air travelers face is from terrorists, not labor unions," said Representative Nita Lowey (D, NY) at yesterday's rally supporting efforts by Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to form a union. "The time for change is now and we're going to win!" added Kimberly Kraynak,...    more...  
• Feb 24, 2010 International Solidarity Highlights Council Meeting International solidarity was a major theme of Monday night's Metro Council Delegate meeting. Nigerian trade unionists Siekegba Paul Kpokporo and Tamunokworo Fubara Dappu, members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) spoke movingly about their...    more...  
• Feb 24, 2010 Bricklayers Local 1 Joins Council "The more we're involved with the Metro Washington Council -- and the more we act -- the more we can accomplish," says Francis Jacobberger (r, being sworn in  Monday as a delegate to the Metro Council), Director of Marketing and Development for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers...    more...  
• Feb 23, 2010 Demanding Rights For Our Defenders Hundreds from across the labor movement will rally downtown today to demand a voice at work for the men and women who guard our skies. The 11:30a rally  is at the AFL-CIO. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) on Monday filed a petition with the Federal Labor Relations...    more...  
• Feb 23, 2010 UFCW 400 Averts Cookie Crisis UFCW 400 averted a cookie crisis in Richmond last week when they welcomed Girl Scouts to sell cookies at Kroger supermarkets after Netherland-based grocery giant Ahold/Martin’s banned the Scouts from Ukrop’s. "The Girl Scouts are a great American institution and buying Girl Scout cookies...    more...  
• Feb 23, 2010 Transit Worker Protection Bill Advances In V.A. A bill strongly supported by ATU Local 689 that would increase penalties for assaulting transit workers passed the Virginia State Senate February 15 by a margin of 31-9. SB 588, sponsored by newly-elected state senator Dave Marsden, would create a new law prohibiting conduct that “obstructs,...    more...  
• Feb 22, 2010 MontCo Union Declares Impasse, Invokes Mediation UFCW/MCGEO Local 1994, which represents 8,000 Montgomery County workers, has declared an impasse and invoked mediation in their efforts to bargain a new contract with the county. "Given the continued recession, this round of negotiations quickly centered on protecting our jobs," declared Gino...    more...  
• Feb 22, 2010 February Council Meeting Tonight Don’t miss Monday’s Metropolitan Washington Council delegate meeting, jam-packed with the latest updates on the local labor movement. Reports on the Community Services Agency, Union City, Evening with Labor, COPE updates and Tuesday’s rally for Transportation Security Administration...    more...  
• Feb 22, 2010 Rhee Recognizes "Heroic Work" Of DC School Custodians DC school custodian – and Teamsters Local 639 member -- Mark Cullar was featured in Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s February 17 newsletter. Cullar, maintenance foreman at Luke C. Moore Academy, “was snowed in at the school on Feb. 10 and spent the night there,” Rhee reported. “The next...    more...  
• Feb 22, 2010 NLRB Chair Liebman: 'Political Paralysis' Sours Hopes For Labor Law Reform “Political paralysis” in Washington, exemplified by the Senate filibuster that killed an Obama administration nomination to the National Labor Relations Board “makes it hard to be hopeful” about the prospects for overall labor law reform, NLRB Chair Wilma Liebman (r) says....    more...  
• Feb 19, 2010 In Praise Of Labor's Snow Heroes "If you're looking for heroes, those men and women are the heroes of that blizzard," said Geo T. Johnson, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 20, referring to the hundreds of union workers who fought their way to work during the storm. "They were relentless in their efforts to bring some...    more...  
• Feb 19, 2010 Metro Council Meeting Monday Don’t miss Monday’s Metropolitan Washington Council delegate meeting , jam-packed with the latest updates on the local labor movement. Reports on the Community Services Agency, Union City, Evening with Labor, COPE updates and Tuesday’s rally for Transportation Security Administration...    more...  
• Feb 19, 2010 TSO Rally For Recognition Relocated Next Tuesday’s rally supporting Transportation Security Administration officers (TSO) - who are fighting to win union recognition - has been relocated to the AFL-CIO headquarters, 815 16th Street NW. Click here  for an event flyer, or contact Courtney Pecquex at pecquc@afge.org or...    more...  
• Feb 19, 2010 Singing & Dancing Against Job Cuts At Fiat/Chrysler The auto industry has long used music and dance to sell cars but on January 30, auto fans at the glitzy Washington Auto Show got a different kind of performance when consumers and union members performed a flash mob dance to protest Fiat/Chrysler's broken promises. This week’s UCS Labor...    more...  
• Feb 19, 2010 NLRB Chair Liebman: 'Political Paralysis' Sours Hopes For Labor Law Reform By Mark Gruenberg, PAI Staff Writer             “Political paralysis” in Washington, exemplified by the Senate filibuster that killed an Obama administration nomination to the National Labor Relations Board “makes it hard to be...    more...  
• Feb 18, 2010 "Stand With Us And Fight" Say Fired Ironworkers Chants for justice rang out in both Spanish and English on the George Washington University campus last night, rising above the sounds of rush hour traffic crawling home through snow-clogged DC streets. Protesters gathered at the Square 54 residential/commercial jobsite to call on Wings...    more...  
• Feb 18, 2010 Workers' Rights Board Hearing Tonight On Wage Theft Issue The common issue of wage theft will bring together day laborers and security officers, restaurant workers and ironworkers, economists and organizers at tonight's Workers' Rights Board hearing . The illegal underpayment or non-payment of workers' wages, wage theft includes violations of...    more...  
• Feb 18, 2010 At IBEW 26 Training Center, Obama Pushes High-Skill Jobs President Barack Obama toured IBEW Local 26’s training facility in Lanham, MD Tuesday, where he announced $8.33 billion in federal loan guarantees to build two new nuclear power reactors in Georgia to help create and sustain high-skill jobs. Obama called Local 26’s training center “an...    more...  
• Feb 18, 2010 Labor Urges Obama To Appoint Becker & Pearce To NLRB The AFL-CIO is leading a full-court press to get President Obama to appoint two highly respected labor lawyers to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Republicans are blocking Obama’s nominees and the AFL-CIO is urging supporters to call the White House at 800-705-7083 to tell Obama to...    more...  
• Feb 17, 2010 As GW Administration Turns A "Blind Eye" To Abuse, Students, Community Fight Back George Washington University markets itself as a place of opportunity and integrity. But ironworkers building the state-of-the-art retail, residential and office project at Square 54 say the university has instead become a site of abuse and intimidation, and the Justice at Wings campaign has...    more...  
• Feb 17, 2010 Local Plumbers Urge Support For CT Explosion Victims DC area United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters locals are rallying behind fellow union members killed in a February 7 explosion in Connecticut. Ronald J. Crabb, Raymond Dobratz, and Peter Chepulis of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 777 were killed in an explosion  at the Kleen...    more...  
• Feb 17, 2010 Evening With Labor Tickets Going Fast Tickets are still available for the Metropolitan Washington Council's Evening With Labor Awards Dinner-Dance  - now in its 33rd year - which is set for Saturday, March 13 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. "People are still welcome to place ads in the program book," says Community Services...    more...  
• Feb 16, 2010 Labor College Weathers Storm To Stay Open Despite last week's record-breaking blizzard, staff and students at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring kept the ball rolling thanks to efforts by union workers, who worked diligently to ensure the campus remained open and accessible all week. "We had union workers in the...    more...  
• Feb 16, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": Understanding The Purple Line On Wednesday, Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) is organizing a unique opportunity to help community members understand the sometimes-complicated issues surrounding the Purple Line and associated redevelopment in Langley Park - once a predominantly Jewish area. "Have you heard about the Purple...    more...  
• Feb 16, 2010 In Praise Of Public Workers It is a commonplace attitude among what is called "the chattering class" -- not to mention many politicians, especially Republicans.  They hate public workers, especially if they're unionized. "Incompetent," the politicians and pundits say.   "Overpaid." ...    more...  
• Feb 12, 2010 Workers' Rights Board To Examine "Wage Theft" For some bosses, low wages and long hours are not profitable enough. So they simply steal from their workers. With the growth of wage theft as a national and local phenomenon, the DC Workers' Rights Board is turning the spotlight on the issue next week. On February 18th, The Board will hold a...    more...  
• Feb 12, 2010 Labor Video Contest Deadline Extended The deadline for LabourStart's  first-ever Labour Video of the Year  competition has been extended. Over 100 videos have already been submitted in the contest, developed by the online global labor news website in collaboration with the DC Labor FilmFest. The contest is open to...    more...  
• Feb 12, 2010 Cure For The Uncommon Cold With the AFL-CIO open for the first time this snowy week -- and another storm coming Monday -- it's a good time to stop by The Union Shop and bundle up with cozy, union-made fleece and more. Now available: Special limited edition AFL-CIO shiver-proof varsity jacket with wool body and leather...    more...  
• Feb 12, 2010 Washington Window: In praise of public workers By Mark Gruenberg It is a commonplace attitude among what is called "the chattering class" -- not to mention many politicians, especially Republicans.  They hate public workers, especially if they're unionized. "Incompetent," the politicians and pundits say.  ...    more...  
• Feb 11, 2010 Even In Snowstorms, Mail Carriers Manage To Deliver “Postal carriers continued their daily slog Tuesday through the deepening slush and mountainous piles of dirty snow, keeping one eye on the darkening sky and handling some problems rarely encountered in the Washington area,” reported Tom Jackman in Wednesday’s Washington Post ....    more...  
• Feb 11, 2010 Engineers Win Contract At Geological Survey After nearly a year of struggle, workers at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have finally won a union contract. The workers, who are represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99 , are employed by USGS subcontractor Complete Building Services (CBS),...    more...  
• Feb 11, 2010 Zinn Celebrations Set For Monday Amy Goodman, Bernice Johnson Reagon and Ralph Nader are among those confirmed for Monday’s Busboys & Poets  celebration of “people’s” labor historian Howard Zinn (r), who died in late January. B&P is hosting Zinn celebrations at both DC locations on February 15, screening...    more...  
• Feb 11, 2010 2010 Council Directory Available For Download The recently-published 2010 Metropolitan Washington Council Directory of Affiliates is now available as a downloadable PDF . Updated with the latest information on the Council's affiliated locals, councils, constituency groups and allies, the Directory is also accessible via an easy-to-use...    more...  
• Feb 10, 2010 NoVA Tasting Postponed Thursday’s NoVA Labor food tasting has been postponed due to weather conditions. A new date for the tasting, by AFSCME members and caterer Food 4 The Soul, “will be announced for a new warmer date soon,” says NoVA Labor Federation President Dan Duncan.    more...  
• Feb 10, 2010 Many Workers Find A Way To Get To The Job, Even In A Blizzard “Being snowbound was not an option for the army of service workers who staff the area's restaurants and hotels, guard its offices and government buildings, restock grocery shelves and clean houses. Many went to extraordinary lengths to get to work during and after the storm, driven by...    more...  
• Feb 9, 2010 Union Workers Lead In Storm Recovery With metro Washington paralyzed over the last few days by the record-breaking snowstorm, union workers once again led the way. The partial honor roll call includes city and county workers who worked to keep roads passable, emergency service workers in the city, counties and federal government,...    more...  
• Feb 9, 2010 Library Workers Support Area Needy The community service drive sponsored by AFSCME locals 2910 and 2477 during December “inspired many people to donate and was a remarkable success,” reports Library of Congress Professional Guild  Executive Board Member Jacqueline Coleburn. By the end of January, members and staff of...    more...  
• Feb 9, 2010 Ellsberg Film Up For Oscar The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers   – which screened at last year’s DC Labor FilmFest has been nominated for an Academy Award. The film, which was introduced by Ellsberg at the FilmFest screening, was part of the FilmFest’s Whistleblower...    more...  
• Feb 8, 2010 AFGE Launches Online Petition Supporting Security Officers AFGE is petitioning DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to grant collective bargaining rights to Transportation Security Officers (TSOs). TSO’s “have worked diligently to keep the more than 600 million people who fly each year -- and hundreds of millions of other Americans – safe,” says...    more...  
• Feb 8, 2010 First Labour Video Contest Launched LabourStart – the online global labor news website – has launched their first-ever Labour Video of the Year  competition. Developed in collaboration with the DC Labor FilmFest, the contest is open to trade unionists and film-makers from around the world. Anyone can nominate videos,...    more...  
• Feb 8, 2010 JUFJ’s “Thinking Jewishly”: Labor Seder Each year, JUFJ's Labor Seder highlights a current workers’ rights struggle and brings together the Jewish and labor communities in a shared commitment to social and economic justice.  This year's seder will take place in mid-March, before Passover.  Join the planning team...    more...  
• Feb 8, 2010 Labor Passages: Beth Shulman “America’s workers, particularly those who labor at wages too low to support their families, lost a great champion with Friday’s untimely death of noted author and labor attorney Beth Shulman (r),” reports the National Employment Law Project. “Over a career spanning more than 30...    more...  
• Feb 8, 2010 Following DCLabor Don’t be the last to hear about area labor job postings and events! Join almost 300 activists who get the very latest local labor updates by following dclabor  on Twitter. Got labor news? Tweet us! Click here  to sign up free today! To get the tweets as text messages, make sure...    more...  
• Feb 5, 2010 DC Nurses See Power In New National Union The recent formation of the largest nurses’ union in the country has local nurses enthusiastic about the potential for big changes here and across the nation. The California Nurses Association, the United American Nurses, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association merged in December to form...    more...  
• Feb 5, 2010 Labor Film, Festival Databases In The Spotlight The DC Labor FilmFest’s Online Labor Film Database  is this week’s Labor Website of the Week  at Union Communications Services, which says “This is an incredibly comprehensive listing of labor films.  If you're into movies that depict the lives of working people,...    more...  
• Feb 5, 2010 New Union Radio Program Launched Solidarity News - a weekly labor news program presenting a half hour audiocast of international union news - was launched this week on RadioLabour's website . The new program will post up-to-date news every Monday and include "reports on workers' issues and events from around the world, with...    more...  
• Feb 4, 2010 Healthcare Workers Oppose Free Speech Limits SEIU1199 DC - this year's Golden Picket award-winners - will testify at the DC City Council today against proposed legislation that would ban residential picketing. Members of the union picketed the northwest DC home of boss Solanges Vivens several times last year. "Workers at two of her...    more...  
• Feb 4, 2010 Online Photo Archive Updated Team photos from the 2010 CSA Bowling for Gold Tournament are now available for viewing and download on the Metropolitan Washington Council's online photo archive! Click on the photo gallery link under the "DC Labor News Archives" tab to view slideshows and download photos from previous...    more...  
• Feb 4, 2010 DC Employment Stimulus Bill Introduced "We're tryin' to get a project labor agreement for everything being built with DC money to try to get some of the DC residents to work," Elevator Constructors (IUEC) Local 10 Business Manager Jim Lowery told Workers Independent News  (WIN). "There's large unemployment in Washington,"...    more...  
• Feb 3, 2010 Everyone Counts The District’s 2010 U.S. Census Campaign kicks off this morning at an 11a rally and press conference. “Everyone counts,” says Metro Council President Jos Williams. With $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments at stake, labor, political, community and...    more...  
• Feb 3, 2010 MD Legislative Strategy Sessions Kick-Off The Metro Council's Maryland legislative strategy meetings kicked off last Monday. The weekly meetings in Annapolis are aimed at coordinating labor's efforts to pass pro-worker legislation in the Maryland State Assembly. At Monday's meeting, participants got a sense of their local's proposed...    more...  
• Feb 3, 2010 AFSCME 26 Stewards Energized Forty stewards from eight AFSCME Council 26 locals met at AFSCME for a Basic Stewards Training last Saturday. “Their length of time as stewards ranged from as short as several weeks to as long as 30 years,” reports Council 26. “By the end of the two days they had learned their roles...    more...  
• Feb 3, 2010 Free Calendars Return Ricardo Levins Morales' colorful union-themed posters from the now-defunct Northland Poster Collective are back! Click here to subscribe to Levins Morales' new art newsletter, RLM Arts, and receive a free monthly printable calendar featuring his work and dates important to labor and social...    more...  
• Feb 3, 2010 CSA's "News You Can Use": Free Tax Prep For Low-Income Residents The DC Earned Income Tax Credit Campaign is offering free tax preparation services to low-income District residents. “Last year, our volunteer tax preparers filed more than 6,000 returns, helping low-income residents claim over $9 million in credits and refunds,” says Adam Perry at...    more...  
• Feb 3, 2010 "People's Historian" Howard Zinn Dies At 87 Historian Howard Zinn – who championed the central role of the people in shaping American history -- died late last week at 87. “Dr. Zinn’s best-known book, ‘A People’s History of the United States’ (1980), had for its heroes not the Founding Fathers…but rather the farmers of...    more...  
• Feb 2, 2010 Trades Urge Support For DC Employment Act Supporters of pro local-worker legislation are urging trades workers and their supporters to turn out for this morning's introduction of the bill in the DC City Council. The bill would require that a substantial percentage of workers on District government-assisted projects be District...    more...  
• Feb 2, 2010 MD Library Workers Speak Out For Voice At Work Legislation that would provide organizing and collective bargaining rights to Maryland's library workers has been introduced at the Maryland General Assembly. Led by UFCW 1994 MCGEO, the bill would allow library workers to fight for better pay and working conditions. "Collective bargaining...    more...  
• Feb 2, 2010 Printcraft "Strike Force" Wins Bowling Tourney The Printcraft locals almost made a clean sweep of the prizes at Sunday's CSA bowling tournament, with the "Strike Force" team (r) claiming top team honors at 3,172 points and the "Printcrafts" winning second place at 3,109 points. Tony Buemi of the "Printcrafts" took first place in the...    more...  
• Feb 2, 2010 Union Voice: Readers Write: We Make The Changes "Today's history article ( Sitting Down To Stand Up: Remembering Greensboro 1960 , 2/1 UC) is great!" writes Korey Hartwich. "It reminds each of us how much things have changed, and how each of us can make the changes our society still needs." Stories That Inspire: "I love reading...    more...  
• Feb 1, 2010 Bowling Tourney Heats Up Chilly Sunday Everyone was a winner at yesterday’s 18th annual CSA Bowling for Gold bowling tournament, but Phil Feaster (above, at right) and Tony Buemi (below) were particularly happy. Feaster, retired President of Teamsters Local 639, was the winner of the 50/50 raffle, collecting a cool $1,000, while...    more...  
• Feb 1, 2010 Reuters Reporters Make News At a noontime demonstration outside the DC Thomson Reuters H Street offices Friday, journalists were making the news instead of covering it. "Impasse, my ass!" some three dozen Reuters reporters and their supporters chanted as they circled the sidewalk, their breaths visible in the...    more...  
• Feb 1, 2010 January Minutes Now Online Draft minutes from the January Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO Executive Board and Delegate meetings are now available for download on the Metro Council's updated and easy-to-use website . To view minutes dating back to January 2006, scroll over the drop-down box under the Official...    more...  
• Feb 1, 2010 MD Assembly Labor Strategy Sessions Begin Today The weekly Maryland General Assembly labor strategy sessions begin today in Annapolis, reports Metro Washington Council Political/Legislative Coordinator Rick Powell. "Every Monday during this session we'll meet to brief each other on our bills and any assistance you may need," says Powell. "We...    more...  
• Feb 1, 2010 Sitting Down To Stand Up: Remembering Greensboro 1960 February 1, 1960, began as a crisp winter’s day half a century ago. But by the end of the day, U.S. race relations would be changed forever. On that day, four neatly-dressed African-Americans students quietly took their seats at a Woolworth’s lunch counter and asked to be served. Such an...    more...  
• Jan 29, 2010 Focus on: Design & Construction Focus on: Design & Construction D.C. officials hope locals will get St. Elizabeths construction jobs by Jonathan O'Connell, Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal   D.C. will need more people like Bernard Johnson if the District is to take full advantage of the jobs being...    more...  
• Jan 29, 2010 Building Futures Program Rolling Along Laborers' Apprenticeship Program Director Lou De Graff hosted the Community Services Agency's "Building Futures" program yesterday, where 28 students spent the day at the training school learning how to build scaffolding, identify basic tools and follow safety standards as part of their 6-week...    more...  
• Jan 29, 2010 Evening With Labor Awardees Announced The 2009 Evening With Labor award-winners have been announced. “These are our very best and brightest, the cream of the year’s crop” said Metro Council President Jos Williams. “Each individual and organization demonstrated their deep commitment to our local labor community by their...    more...  
• Jan 29, 2010 JUFJ's "Thinking Jewishly": New Year for Trees On the Jewish calendar, the 15th of the month of Shevat - tomorrow, January 30 on the Gregorian calendar this year -- is a holiday called Tu Bishvat. Tu Bishvat is considered to be a "New Year" for trees, just like we celebrate January 1 as a New Year for people. Because of its connection to...    more...  
• Jan 29, 2010 Labour Films Down Under On a recent trip to Australia, DC Labor FilmFest Director Chris Garlock (at right) met with John Ryan (at left), Community Campaign Coordinator for the Australian Council of Trade Unions  to discuss a possible Australian Labour FilmFest. “Australia’s strong and active labor...    more...  
• Jan 29, 2010 Union Voice: Readers Write: Clarifying The Demands at the Sheraton Crystal City “Thank you very much for your coverage of our January 18th picket line at the Sheraton Crystal City and for bringing attention to the important struggle of hotel workers for the right to organize without fear of intimidation or retaliation from their employers,” writes UNITE HERE organizer...    more...  
• Jan 28, 2010 Auto Workers Try To Slam The Brakes On Toyota Plant Closures Charging that Toyota is "betraying American auto workers" by attempting to close plants across America, members of the United Auto Workers union leafleted outside the Washington Convention Center at noon yesterday to garner community support and pressure the company into reversing the...    more...  
• Jan 28, 2010 Last Call For Bowling Registrations With the Community Services Agency’s 18th Annual Bowling for Gold Tournament  set for this Sunday, January 31, “there is little time left to register your team” says CSA Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy. Team registration forms  should be completed no later than 3P this...    more...  
• Jan 28, 2010 Register For Catholic Labor Network Gathering If you’re interested in hearing Paul Booth of AFSCME and John Carr of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops discuss labor organizing and Catholic hospitals, or Fr. Tom Reese, SJ, of Georgetown University explain the significance of Pope Benedict XVI's Social Encyclical "Caritas in Veritate"...    more...  
• Jan 28, 2010 Guild Rallies Against Reuters Friday News service Reuters is the target of a demonstration by the Newspaper Guild Friday at noon . Members and staff of the New York Newspaper Guild – supported by their colleagues in the Washington-Baltimore Guild -- are calling on local labor and community activists for support as they rally...    more...  
• Jan 28, 2010 Labor On The Move: Peinovich Appointed Interim President At Labor College The National Labor College yesterday announced the appointment of Dr. Paula Peinovich (r) as the College’s Interim President following the retirement of President William Scheuerman (l). “Bill Scheuerman did an outstanding job as NLC’s president helping to streamline existing...    more...  

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