Earlier this month, the Catholic Labor Network supported janitors in Northern Virginia fighting to get their jobs back. While SEIU Local 32BJ represents more than 90% of commercial building janitors in markets such as Boston, New York, and Washington, DC, much of the workforce in adjoining suburbs such as Northern Virginia remains unorganized, where union contractors face heavy pressure from low-wage nonunion competitors. That’s exactly what happened at an office building on Old Gallows Road in Vienna, Virginia recently when nonunion contractor K&S – which has a history of labor problems -- took over the cleaning contract from a union firm and immediately fired the existing cleaning staff. During a rally in early January, union members demanded that K&S reinstate the fired workers and join the union’s master contract. After picketing the building, activists went to the K&S offices to deliver a petition but were blocked from meeting with management. The local plans to continue pressing the company to improve the treatment of their employees.
- Adapted from a report on The Catholic Labor Network website

With the pandemic continuing to rage across the country and around the world, the Metro Washington Council’s Evening with Labor has been rescheduled for Friday, November 12. “We had very much hoped to be able to gather in solidarity and celebration in April,” said EWL Chair George Farenthold. “We have a great deal of confidence in the Biden/Harris administration’s plans to vaccinate millions of Americans in the next few months, but we want to be absolutely sure that such a large gathering will be safe for us all, so we’ll look forward to seeing everyone in November.”