UFCW Local 400 members don’t just sell the food we eat; they also make it. At the Smithfield plant in Newport News, VA, the Tyson plant in Glen Allen, VA., and Boar’s Head plants in Jarratt and Petersburg, VA, Local 400 members prepare, process and package everything from lunch meat to bacon to chicken. It’s important work, but it’s also difficult and dangerous. Every day, workers are at risk of cuts, repetitive motion injuries, back problems, exposure to toxic chemicals, deadly microbes, and other hazards. That’s why Local 400 makes safety and health a top priority in collective bargaining... photo: UFCW 400 President Mark Federici (second from left), touring the Smithfield plant earlier this year To get the inside scoop on all things union in our nation’s capital, check out the brand-new Washington DC edition of Labor 411. The print and online directory boasts more than 8,500 union listings, including hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and a vast array of consumer products whose producers treat their workers well with fair wages, good benefits and safe working conditions... click below to read more. Less than half of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture is visible from street level (the rest is underground). Exhibits include an 80-foot Pullman Company train car and a 20-foot high guard tower from the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary known as Angola. These are just a few of the fascinating facts about the new museum now under construction in the latest edition of “In Charge,” IBEW Local 26’s quarterly magazine. Many DC trades members have worked on the museum, located near the Washington Monument, and slated to open next year. Catch the final preview of the “Your Rights At Work” live call-in radio show from 9-10a this morning on WPFW 89.3 FM, as Chris Garlock guest-hosts for Bill Fletcher's "Arise" show. Area workers who want to find out more about their rights on the job can call in – 202-588-0893 – and talk to labor lawyer Ed Smith. Garlock, whose brief Union City Radio segments are heard weekdays at 7:15am, will host the new weekly show, which officially launches Thursday, September 3, from 1-2p. Other regulars will be the Employment Justice Center’s Hannah Kane and Amy Gellatly. Guests on today’s show include ATU’s Elana Kessler on how local transit workers won enforcement of DC’s paid sick days law and forced their employer to re-hire unjustly fired workers, and the EJC’s Emma Cleveland, on the upcoming Community Speak-Out about Unjust Firing. Click here for an archive of previous “Your Rights At Work” preview shows. |