The Metro Washington Council will be accepting applicants for the new position of Executive Director until August 15. The full-time Executive Director will serve under the supervision and direction of the Council’s President -- which will be a volunteer position as of 2016 -- and the Council’s Executive Board. One of the largest and most active area labor councils in the country, the Metro Washington Council is made up of 175 local union affiliates with 150,000 union members and covers the District of Columbia and Montgomery, Prince George’s, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties in the Maryland suburbs. Submit resumes to Search Committee, Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, 888 16th Street NW, Suite 520, Washington, DC 20006 or email [email protected]
Tens of thousands of Verizon workers are ready to strike. At a rally Saturday in New York City with thousands of workers and supporters, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) announced that 86% of Verizon workers have voted to authorize a strike if necessary. The contract expires at 12 midnight this Saturday, August 1 and covers 39,000 CWA and IBEW represented telephone workers from Massachusetts to Virginia. “Verizon doesn't want to share their profits with the workers whose labor actually creates those profits,” says CWA Local 2108 president Marilyn Irwin. “They are willing to pay nearly $95k for a full-page ad in the Washington Post and other papers to tout what a wonderful employer they are, but they fail to mention that their bargaining demands would strip most of the benefits listed from their employees and retirees!” Click below to read more. The region’s commercial office cleaners have ratified a new contract covering 10,500 workers that will provide a $2.00 hourly pay increase over the life of the four-year deal with the Washington Service Contractors Association, which represents the area's major commercial cleaning companies. "We got a really great contract that's going to change people's lives," said Viridiana Queensbury, a cleaner who works and lives in Northern Virginia. The wage increases included in the contract amount to over $68 million in additional wage income over four years for low-wage workers, their families and their communities in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Montgomery County and Northern Virginia. “Our region’s cleaners are fighting and winning better jobs," said 32BJ SEIU Vice President, Jaime Contreras. “The men and women who clean our offices have won a great contract that will help them better support their families and our economy.” Click below to read more. photo: In June, janitors marched through downtown D.C. during rush hour, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Justice for Janitors Day. Photos by Chris Garlock/Union City |