Calling it “a big step in the right direction,” UFCW Local 400 on Tuesday hailed DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s announcement that the District is expanding the criteria for COVID-19 testing to include critical infrastructure workers with a history of exposure to a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patient.
This includes grocery store workers, essential government employees, and other workers who continue to report to work in the District.
“Our hard-working union members in grocery stores interact with hundreds of customers per day and thousands in a week,” said Local 400 Director of Political and Community Affairs Dyana Forester. “Every day, they come to work knowing they are putting themselves and their families at risk in order to keep District residents fed. It is critical that they have access to testing to ensure the safety of our grocery stores and food supply chains. We support any effort to increase the availability of free testing as we work toward our goal to provide access to free testing for 100% of grocery workers.”

For the latest local labor events, almost all of which are taking place online, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 2012, the Obama Administration’s National Labor Relations Board implemented new rules to speed up unionization elections. The new rules were largely seen as a counter to employer manipulation of the law to prevent workers from unionizing, and were subsequently undone under the Trump administration in December 2019.  

Today’s labor quote is by Barack Obama, who said
“When you make sure everybody gets a fair shot and a fair shake, and you're fighting for decent wages for workers, and making sure they've got decent benefits, when you reward people who are playing by the rules — that's how everybody does better.”

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

The Metro Washington Council’s Health Committee on Monday called on the DC Department of Health to intensify contact tracing for frontline healthcare workers who have been exposed to COVID-19.
“If the District of Columbia is going to ‘flatten the curve,’ we must put in place a robust process of notifying potential asymptomatic carriers of the virus,” said committee Chair Djawa Hall of 1199 SEIU United Heathcare Workers East.
In a letter to the DC Department of Health, the Metro Council’s committee demanded new guidelines for hospitals, community-based health organizations, and long term care facilities, which would require them to implement in-house contact tracing epidemiology programs, create guidelines for notifying workers within 48 hours when a patient or employee tests positive for coronavirus, and reinstate furloughed workers and train them to fill critical contact tracer positions.
“Frontline workers,” said Hall, “cannot and should not be expected to unknowingly put their lives on the line, without being able to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves and their families.“

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1894, Coxey’s Army of 500 unemployed civil war veterans reached Washington, DC.

Today’s labor quote is by a top ER doctor in Manhattan, who committed suicide this weekend, after describing horrific scenes from the Coronavirus crisis to her family. "She tried to do her job, and it killed her," her father said.

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

Today is Workers Memorial Day, and I hope you’ll join me in observing it, as we mourn for the dead, and fight for the living.
50 years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job. Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality—winning protections that have made jobs safer and saved lives. But our work is not done. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more suffer injury or illness because of their jobs.
Decades of struggle by working people and our unions have improved working conditions and made jobs safer. But the Trump administration and business groups have launched an all-out assault on workers’ rights and protections. We must fight back and continue to push forward.
On Workers Memorial Day, write your Congressional representative and tell them to sign on and support the COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020. You can also share a Workers Memorial Day graphic on social media and tag us; we’re @dclabor on Facebook and Twitter.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1914, a coal mine collapsed at Eccles, West Virginia, killing 181 workers. Ten years later, in 1924, on this exact same date, 119 died in the Benwood, West Virginia coal mine disaster.

Today’s labor quote is from “We Just Come to Work Here,” written by longshoreman Harry Stamper and sung here by Anne Feeney:
Mary Harris Jones was a tough organizer and her words still inspire today
And if she took a look at our working conditions, I think I know what she would say
If you’re talking about a Workers Memorial Day mourn the dead while you’re ringing the bell
Just remember Mother Jones, when it comes to the living and you know we gotta fight like hell.

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

We have two organizing wins to report today:
In the first, backstage workers at Signature Theater have filed for an election to certify their union and join IATSE 22. "Folk are organizing across the DC area to raise standards, wages and benefits for everyone employed in the arts/entertainment and trade show industries," said Local 22.
And last week the staff members of the National Women’s Law Center announced they have unionized with NPEU, the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union. Management voluntarily recognized the union, NWLC United.
“We highlight how unions give women and other marginalized workers the power to create more equitable workplaces in our everyday work,” said the NWLC United Organizing Committee members. “By forming our union, we are living NWLC’s long-held values and affirming (it’s) role as a leader in advancing economic justice and worker power.”

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1825, Boston carpenters carried out the first strike for a 10-hour day.
Today’s labor quote is from James Oppenheim’s poem “Bread and Roses,” sung here by DC choral group SongRise:
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses.

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more.