Joined in solidarity by union pilots on the line and blaring horns from Machinists passing by, dozens of flight attendants walked picket lines outside the United check-in desks at Dulles Airport last Thursday.
The members of the Association of Flight Attendants have worked for more than five years without a contract. AFA has been staging Third Thursday actions at United hubs around the world since last fall. “We are hearing our efforts are being recognized at the bargaining table as talks have resumed,” said AFA Council 21 President Todd Failla, who urged travelers to "show solidarity in this fight while in an airport or flying United by thanking the union sisters and brothers who are wearing their red AFA lapel pins." For the latest local labor activities, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1932, the Norris-La Guardia Act restricted injunctions against unions and banned yellow dog contracts, which required newly-hired workers to declare they are not union members and will not join one. In 1970, five days into the Post Office’s first mass work stoppage in 195 years, President Richard Nixon declared a national emergency and ordered 30,000 troops to New York City to break the strike. The troops didn’t have a clue how to sort and deliver mail, and a settlement came a few days later. In 1974, the Coalition of Labor Union Women was founded in Chicago by some 3,000 delegates from 58 unions and other organizations. And in 2005, fifteen workers died and another 170 were injured when a series of explosions ripped through BP’s Texas City refinery. Investigators blamed a poor safety culture at the plant and found BP management gave priority to cost savings over worker safety. Today’s labor quote is by Yasmine Green “It helps us when we can go back and say, 'Well this was done by a woman and that was done by a woman, so women, we can do this!'” Yasmine Green is a member of the Machinists union and was a delegate to the 2014 Coalition of Labor Union Women’s conference.
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Jackie Jeter has been a pioneer at Transit Workers Local 689 and last night she blazed a new trail when she was elected president of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, becoming the first woman to head the DC labor organization.
Tefere Gebre, Executive Vice-President of the AFL-CIO, praised Jeter’s election as a signal that organized labor leaders are becoming more reflective of the workers they represent. “Jackie Jeter is well known as a fearless and determined leader who keeps the interests of working people uppermost in all she does,” Gebre said. Jeter, elected unanimously at the Metro Council along with a 25-member Executive Board, said that “Our board represents the best of two worlds: battle-tested veterans and new leaders eager to take up the fight. Together, we can make a real difference for working people in our region.” The Metro Council includes nearly 200 affiliated local unions representing a broad cross-section of 150,000 area workers, from athletes to writers, government workers to the construction trades in the metro Washington area. On today's labor calendar, CWA 2108 is holding a "Verizon has Labor Pains" picket today starting at 8am in front of Verizon at 13100 Columbia Pike in Silver Spring. Then at 11am, catch a free performance of “We Were There” featuring a cast of local women leaders and activists at the AFL-CIO. For complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1886, Mark Twain, a lifelong member of the International Typographical Union – which is now part of CWA -- spoke in Hartford, Connecticut, extolling the Knights of Labor’s commitment to fair treatment of all workers, regardless of race or gender. In 1990, a 32-day lockout of major league baseball players ended with an agreement to raise the minimum league salary from $68,000 to $100,000 and to study revenue-sharing between owners and players, And in 1998, a bitter six-and-a-half-year UAW strike at Caterpillar ended. The strike and settlement, which included a two-tier wage system and other concessions, deeply divided the union. Today’s labor quote is by Mark Twain “It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.” When William Ivey says, “We try to give back to the community,” he’s not kidding. A UFCW 400 member working as a sanitation specialist at Boar’s Head in Jarratt, Virginia, for the past 12 years, Ivey goes far above and beyond the call of duty to support not only his brothers and sisters at UFCW Local 400, but his neighbors, too.
Together with his colleagues Emerson Tennessee and Andrew Blunt, his brother Leon and other friends, Ivey founded the Community Fellowship of Men, an organization that has “adopted” the second grade class at Capron Elementary School in Capron, Virginia, as their own. For 10 years, the Community Fellowship has hosted an annual cookout every October, raising funds to provide every second grader with a backpack filled with school supplies. “It’s great being a Local 400 member,” says Ivey, whose leadership and activism reflect the values of his union. “It helps me on the job having my union standing behind me. And that enables me—and many of my Local 400 brothers and sisters—to do what we can for our community.” On today's labor calendar, Get the latest local labor news and updates at the Metro Washington Council Delegate Meeting tonight at 6:30pm at the AFL-CIO. Then at 7pm, catch the DC Musicians Jazz Jam Session at Guapo's Tenleytown Restaurant. For complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1853, the American Labor Union was founded. A socialist labor organization whose membership was largely confined to the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming, the ALU later took part in the creation of the Industrial Workers of the World. Today’s labor quote is by Thomas J. Hagerty "The Ballot Box is simply a capitalist concession. Dropping pieces of paper into a hole in a box never did achieve emancipation of the working class, and in my opinion it never will." Thomas J. Hagerty was an American Roman Catholic priest and trade union activist. He edited the Voice of Labor, the American Labor Union’s newspaper, and was one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World. Chanting "They care about their bonuses more than their workers," and “Up up with the workers, down down with the bosses,” dozens of Unite Here Local 23 members and their supporters picketed IL Creations in front of the USDA on Wednesday. Local 23 has represented workers at cafeterias in federal buildings for decades, and subcontractor IL Creations is one of the main providers of food for federal employees in the DC region.
“IL Creations is trying to force us to accept an unjust contract,” said Rita Langley, Local 23 Shop Steward at the State Department cafeteria. “We have to support our brothers and sisters,” said AFSCME Council 26 president Seth Cousler as he walked the picket line, “we’ve got to show solidarity and help each other.” On today's labor calendar, There will be a discussion of Thomas Frank’s new book “Listen, Liberal Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?” today at noon at the AFL-CIO. Tomorrow, CWA 2336 will picket the F Street Verizon Wireless store at 10a to protest 8 months without a contract, then at noon tomorrow, catch the Workers Vigil to End War on the National Mall, 3rd St between Madison and Jefferson. For complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1970, the Post Office’s first mass work stoppage in 195 years began in Brooklyn and Manhattan and spread to 210,000 of the nation’s 750,000 postal employees. Mail service was virtually paralyzed in several cities, and President Nixon declared a state of emergency. A settlement was reached after two weeks. In 1997, the Los Angeles City Council passed the first living wage ordinance in California. In 2005, Walmart agreed to pay a record $11 million to settle a civil immigration case for using undocumented immigrants to do overnight cleaning at stores in 21 states. And in 2010, as the Great Recession continued, President Obama signed a $17.6 billion job-creation measure a day after it was passed by Congress. Today’s labor quote is by Moe Biller: “It is time that the US Postal Service realized that the American Postal Workers Union is a stand-up union. We will not back away from our determination to achieve justice and dignity for all the postal workers we represent.” Moe Biller was president of the Manhattan-Bronx Postal Union, which sparked the 1970 postal strike. Biller – who went on to lead the American Postal Workers Union from 1980 to 2001, described Manhattan post offices as "dungeons," that were “dirty, stifling, too hot in summer, and too cold in winter.” |
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