 Service workers at National Airport, including cleaners, security officers and baggage handlers, walked off their jobs Wednesday night, in a demand for better wages and union rights. "We do our best to keep airports safe and running smoothly," said Samrawit Seifu who works two jobs for ATS and Eulen at National Airport. "We are always at risk and at least need the peace of mind that comes with livable wages and better treatment." The 24-hour strike had been planned at several major U.S. airports last week, but was postponed after the Brussels terrorist attacks. The strike targets eight airports including Washington’s National Airport, Chicago’s O’Hare, New Jersey’s Newark Liberty, and New York’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. In addition to better pay, the workers want paid sick leave and vacation, as well as adequate training for security officers.
NOTE: National Airport Worker’s Day of Action is set for Thu, March 31, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm At Gravelly Point/Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary; George Washington Memorial Parkway – Arlington - includes reporting from The Washington Post  Giant Food employees joined with local elected officials and community leaders last week to launch a campaign to save six stores in the Fredericksburg region, along with two others in southern Maryland. The supermarkets are threatened by the merger of Ahold and Delhaize, the parent companies of local grocery chains Giant Food, Food Lion, and Martin’s. Robyn Wheeler’s family has 96 years with Giant. Wheeler, a UFCW 400 member who works at the store where the March 24 #SaveMyStore press conference was held, has 36 years with the company, her father worked for Giant for nearly 38 years and her daughter and son-in-law also work there. “We just want to keep our jobs and our customers,” she said. The workers were joined by community leaders, including Fredericksburg mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Vernon Green Jr., Vice President of the Stafford Branch of the NAACP; Rev. Hashmel Turner, a former city councilman; and Luis Aguilar, Advocacy and Elections Specialist for CASA.
To stay in the loop as this campaign develops, sign up for mobile text alerts: Text SAVEMYSTORE to 698329 or go to SaveMyStore.org photos courtesy UFCW 400  OPEIU Local 2 Social Justice Committee Chair Bruce Wolf reports:
1) Workers Vigil to End War(DCLPJ) took place Sat March 19 (right). Responses from people on the street were universally in agreement with our message. A physician who had worked with amputees at Walter Reed said, "One of the young men I treated looked just like my son." 2) Global Zero, an anti-nuclear weapons org. will be holding arally at noon on Friday, April 1stat McPherson Square to remind world leaders meeting in DC to discuss "Nuclear Security" that elimination of nuclear weapons should be on their agenda. The rally will include a 50-foot inflated "nuclear missile". Use your lunch hour to oppose atomic annihilation. 3) A group of rank and file workers from various unions, including ATU 689, OPEIU Local 2, CWA, and the IWW, are currently planning for May Day activities in Malcolm X Park. The next planning meeting will take place on Tuesday March 29th 6PM, location TBA; for info contact Jason Roe (OPEIU Local 2) at [email protected] 4) Democracy Spring participants will be marching from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to DC, arriving the evening of April 10th. Sit-ins will begin on Monday April 11th and continue through the 16th. They welcome those passionate for democracy to join them. They are calling on Congress to stop holding up bills that would restore and extend voting rights, and calling for a constitutional amendment overturning the Citizens United decision (granting corporations, in effect, more 1st amendment rights than many ordinary citizens have, especially people of color). photo by Bruce Wolf  The OSHA Severe Injury Reporting rule, passed in 2014, requires employers to report severe work-related injuries. How many work-related injurieswere reported in 2015, the first full year of the federal reporting requirement? 2,420; 5,273; 8,213; 10,388. Click here and you could be next week's winner!
Previous Quiz: The Collar Laundry Union, the first sustained union of women workers, led by Kate Mullany, was formed in Troy in 1864. Congrats to Brenda Jones of OPEIU Local 2, Washington, DC, this week's quiz winner! |