After eight grueling months of bargaining talks, the Washington Post and the Washington-Baltimore News Guild last week reached a tentative agreement on a new two-year contract. The pact includes a 4.5 percent raise, the largest increase in at least a decade. The Post has also agreed to continue providing health care insurance for part-time employees and maintain the current language on severance pay. The tentative agreement is still subject to a ratification vote by Guild members, which is scheduled for June 10.
In an unprecedented organizing achievement, interns at the Washington, DC headquarters of the American Federation of Teachers have overwhelmingly voted to unionize, forming the first non-medical intern union in the U.S. The decision to organize with OPEIU Local 2 reflects the growing trend in the use of intern labor to replace entry-level jobs for young workers. Noting that “the labor movement has always dedicated itself to setting a higher standard for working conditions and improving workers’ lives,” Local 2 said “It is now time for the movement to lead by example by allowing interns and all contingent, temporary workers to organize, have a voice at the table, and bargain a fair contract.” On today’s labor calendar, there are two book talks at 12:30, one at the AFL-CIO with Chad Broughton, author of "Boom, Bust, Exodus: The Rust Belt, the Maquilas, and a Tale of Two Cities" – about Maytag’s decision to move from Illinois to Mexico -- and the other at the Solidarity Center, with Miriam Lara-Meloy discussing the new “Workers' Guide to Health and Safety” and the participatory process that involved workers from 25 countries in its making. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for completed details. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1966, some 35,000 members of the Machinists union began what was to become a 43-day strike—the largest in airline history—against five carriers. The mechanics and other ground service workers wanted to share in the airlines’ substantial profits. And in 1971, New York City drawbridge tenders, in a dispute with the state over pension issues, left a dozen bridges open, snarling traffic in what the Daily News described as "the biggest traffic snafu in the city's history." Today’s labor quote is by author Chad Broughton, explaining why many residents were angered by Maytag's decision to leave Galesburg, Illinois: "They were very nationalistic, very patriotic. They thought that this was a profoundly unpatriotic thing to do ... by this very American company, by this quintessentially American company, Maytag."
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Supporting the middle class just got easier with the launch of the Washington DC edition of Labor 411. The print and online directory boasts more than 8,500 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. “We want the average consumer to be able to focus his or her spending power in a way that advances and strengthens the middle class in America,” said Labor 411 publisher Cherri Senders. “Harnessing our consumer buying power is a powerful tool to build a stronger, fairer America,” added Jos Williams, President of the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO. Go to labor411.org to check it out.
Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1976, thirty-five members of the Teamsters, concerned about the infiltration of organized crime in the union and other issues, met in Cleveland to form Teamsters for a Democratic Union. And in 1998, a strike began at a General Motors Corp. parts factory in Flint, Michigan that ultimately forced the closure of GM plants across the country for seven weeks. The Flint workers were protesting the removal of key equipment from their plant and feared their jobs would be lost. The company ended the dispute by promising the plant would remain open until at least the year 2000. Today’s labor quote is by Walter Reuther: “Labor is not fighting for a larger slice of the national pie--labor is fighting for a larger pie.” Walter Reuther was an American labor union leader who made the United Automobile Workers a major force not only in the auto industry but also in the Democratic Party and the Congress of Industrial Organizations in the mid 20th century. Registered nurses at Washington DC’s largest hospital, Medstar Washington Hospital Center reached a tentative agreement with hospital officials Monday on a new contract. The deal achieves significant patient care as well as economic improvements that nurses say will promote recruitment and retention. The four-year pact also protects RNs’ health coverage and retirement security. Monday’s settlement, in the first meeting between RNs and hospital management in seven months, ends a festering dispute that had included a one-day strike in December that was followed by a nine-day lockout. National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United, represents 1,900 RNs at MWHC. The RNs will hold membership meetings today and tomorrow to vote on the proposed contract.
Here’s today’s labor history: The House of Representatives approved the Taft-Hartley Act on this date in 1947. The legislation allows the president of the United States to intervene in labor disputes. President Truman vetoed the law but was overridden by Congress. In 1956, the AFL-CIO opened its new headquarters building on 16th Street, in view of the White House. And on this date in 1975, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the first law in the U.S. giving farmworkers collective bargaining rights. The legislation came after years of effort by the United Farm Workers union. Today’s labor quote is by John L. Lewis: “The Taft-Hartley statute is the first ugly, savage thrust of Fascism in America. It came into being through an alliance between industrialists and the Republican majority in Congress, aided and abetted by those Democratic legislators who still believe in the institution of human slavery.” John L. Lewis served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960. Today is National Fast Track Call-In Day. The “Fast Track” trade bill in Congress will send jobs overseas and give more power to giant corporations. It continues the same failed trade policies that leave working people behind, and it’s doing so in secret, behind closed doors. A group of citizens who went to the US Trade Representative’s office yesterday to ask to read the text found the doors locked. To help stop Fast Track, join union members and our allies for today’s national day of action. Call 1-855-712-8441 and tell Congress to stop secret trade deals and oppose Fast Track. For more information, visit NOFASTTRACK.COM.
Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1900, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union – or ILGWU -- was formed. At its founding convention, delegates represented roughly 2,000 members. The Garment Workers grew to become one of the largest unions in the U.S., with 450,000 members at its peak in 1969. It merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995 to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees, or UNITE. UNITE merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) in 2004 to create a new union known as UNITE HERE. Today’s labor quote is from "Look for the Union Label," the ILGWU’s advertising jingle from the 1970s: Look for the union label When you are buying a coat, dress, or blouse, Remember somewhere our union's sewing, Our wages going to feed the kids and run the house, We work hard, but who's complaining? Thanks to the ILG, we're paying our way, So always look for the union label, It says we're able to make it in the USA! The commercial featuring the famous song was parodied on a late-1970s episode of Saturday Night Live in a fake commercial for The Dope Growers Union and South Park also parodied it in the "Freak Strike" episode in 2002. |
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