Discussions about how labor needs to stand with immigrant workers and against the criminalization of minorities were the highlights of Tuesday night’s DC COPE meeting and this month’s edition of the DC LaborFest’s Bread and Roses. At the COPE meeting at IATSE Local 22 in Northeast DC, workers and union activists agreed to stand together, to speak out, and to attend the Metro Council’s upcoming March 10 training on immigrant rights. A few miles away, more than 50 union members and community allies gathered at the Takoma Park Busboys and Poets to watch the new documentary “13th,” Ava DuVernay’s searing exploration of the "intersection of race, justice and mass incarceration in the United States." The DC COPE attendees also discussed dangerous changes to DC Workers Comp and regulating short term rentals (like AirBnB) so that workers and communities are not hurt, while the Bread and Roses audience considered ways to spread the word about “13th” and other powerful films. photo: Walter Carroll (IBEW Local 26/DC APRI) makes a point at the DC COPE mtg (photo by Korey Hartwich) by Clara Mejia “What are you fighting for?” That was the question from the stage in front of the White House on February 16, where thousands of immigrants and their supporters had gathered to protest the Trump administration's attacks on immigrant workers. As people took the mic on this "Day Without Immigrants" to speak out, I turned the question on myself, an undocumented student at Georgetown University, an immigrant from Mexico. What do I fight for? Like many in this struggle, I fight for justice and I fight for civil rights. I fight for the rights of undocumented students like me to an education. I fight not to be reduced to a statistic, not to have our stories criminalized. I fight to remind my fellow Americans that what makes this nation great are the hopes and dreams, the blood, sweat and tears shed by millions upon millions of immigrants just like me, just like them. I fight to show that our struggles matter. Our existence matters. What do you fight for? Clara Mejia is an intern at the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO Is it possible that you or someone you know may be owed a pension benefit without knowing it? If you worked for a company in the past that went out of business or ended its defined benefit pension plan, you may be entitled to pension money. Click here now for details. |