Building on district-wide momentum, nearly 300 part-time faculty at Trinity Washington University have voted to unionize, joining SEIU Local 500. Trinity Washington will be the ninth university in the DC area to organize adjunct faculty with the SEIU local. One of the most contingent jobs in a university’s workforce, adjunct professors are rehired every semester on a per-course basis, and many part-time professors are also never offered a path to tenure. The vote to unionize the adjuncts “gives us a unified voice and clear channel for us to be heard,” said Mitch Tropin, adjunct professor of communications at Trinity, “I know from experience this will have a positive effect on the important educational mission of the University.”
On today’s labor calendar, CASA of Maryland is celebrating their 30th anniversary and 3rd annual Justice Awards tonight from 6 to 8pm; Congressman Chris Van Hollen keynotes. Complete details at dclabor.org; click on calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1894, representatives from the American Federation of Labor, the Knights of Labor, populists, railroad brotherhoods and other trade unions held a unity conference in St. Louis but failed to overcome their differences. In 1913, police shot at maritime workers striking the United Fruit Company in New Orleans; one worker was killed and two were wounded. And in 1969, John L. Lewis died. A legendary figure, he was president of the United Mine Workers from 1920 to 1960 and a driving force behind the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO. The “L” stood for “Llewellyn,” by the way. Today’s labor quote is by John L. Lewis: “It is a sad commentary upon our form of government when every decision of the Supreme Court seems designed to fatten capital and starve and destroy labor.” John L. Lewis, who said “The future of labor is the future of America.”
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