Brandishing umbrellas against the soggy weather and bright signs asking “Are You With Us?” dozens of areaactivists crowded the sidewalk outside the H Street Walmart Thursday afternoon to say that “If you’re shopping here, you’re paying towards greed,” as Rev. Graylan Hagler put it. “I’m here to fight” for justice for underpaid Walmart workers, said Isaiah, himself a former Walmart worker. UFCW’s Dave Young reported that a Pennsylvania Walmart just yesterday morning had unfairly and illegally fired a worker after he started speaking out in support of rights at work. “The fight for Walmart workers continues across the country.” AFL-CIO Deputy Organizing Director Christian Sweeney added that “This isn’t just about low wages for Walmart workers, it’s about low wages for the entire economy.” Walmart shoppers and passersby alike eagerly grabbed flyers from the activists, with some stopping to find out more about how the big-box giant treats its workers. -report/photo by Chris Garlock Union members across the metro Washington area are digging deep this holiday season to help their neighbors in need. Whether it’s the Elevator Constructors Local 10 collecting food, OPEIU members at the Amalgamated Transit Union collecting food and clothing, Howard University Hospital workers (AFSCME 2094) collecting food, DC fire fighters (IAFF 36) conducting winter coat and toy drives, or the Building Trades, CHOICE and Helmets to Hardhats giving gifts to families of DC veterans, workers' generosity and solidarity is the driving force. Click here for our album of photos (the first person to tell us who's under that Santa Claus beard wins a prize!). If your local participated in similar holiday drives, please let us know -- email reports and photos to [email protected] -- and we'll add you to this report! Six union leaders from Africa shared tactics to empower workers at a panel discussion in recent days at the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C. Addressing unemployment and underemployment, especially for young workers, is the most pressing issue for trade unions across Africa, according to the union leaders who traveled from Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and South Africa. The group, part of a Solidarity Center Exchange Program with support from the State Department, met with community and trade union organizers across the southern United States in a "South-South" labor leaders' exchange. Read more at the Solidarity Center website. photo: Solidarity Center/Carolyn Butler Richard Lanigan, an Office and Professional Employees regional vice president and Secretary-Treasurer -- chief operating officer -- of its largest local succeeded Mike Goodwin as union president on Dec. 15. Goodwin, 73, who has been president for 21 years and an OPEIU member and activist for 55 years, took Lanigan’s board seat and will also be business manager of OPEIU’s largest local, 153, which covers New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Goodwin is in good health, but voluntarily stepped down because “the burdens and challenges of the office of international president are considerable, so he thought it was time to turn it over to someone new,” an OPEIU spokeswoman said. Goodwin said Lanigan “will do a great job for the members of the union.” Read more here. - PAI |