| From | Union City <[email protected]> |
| Subject | NSO musicians fight off furlough |
| Date | April 8, 2020 9:46 AM |
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NSO musicians fight off furlough
ATU demands protection for frontline transit workers
Free "Stewards Guide to Fighting COVID-19"
How to Help: CSA's Emergency Assistance Fund
Union Voice/Readers Write: Right campaign, wrong strike
MWC COVID-19 UPDATES
Today's Labor Quote
Today's Labor History
[link removed] LABOR CALENDAR
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report, [link removed] "Contractor cuts cleaning staff during pandemic"
Alexandria Dems Labor Caucus: Wed, April 8, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Via Zoom
Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are all teleworking and can be reached at the contact [link removed] numbers and email addresses here.
[link removed] Latest DC-area labor news, delivered daily: tell a friend and help build our Union City!
NSO musicians fight off furlough
The musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra are not being furloughed after all. Their union, the D.C. Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 161-710, filed a grievance after the Kennedy Center last week announced its [link removed] unilateral decision to furlough the musicians, which was not permitted by the union's contract. While the musicians' pay has been restored, the union agreed to "substantial economic concessions" in recognition of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Kennedy Center. The contract is also being extended for an additional year, through the beginning of September 2024, which the union said "will provide financial stability to our musicians during this difficult time." The union also urged the Kennedy Center to bring back the Orchestra's staff - who are not protected by a union contract - "as a matter of fairness" and announced that the musicians "are pledging at least $50,000 of our own money over the next 10 weeks to help support our NSO staff colleagues."
ATU demands protection for frontline transit workers
With more than 40 transit workers, including 13 Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) members, dying after contracting COVID-19, the ATU is demanding that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) immediately provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for all transit workers on America's transit systems. "The last month has been incredibly challenging," said ATU Local 689 president Raymond Jackson. "Our workers have been on the front lines of a global health pandemic. It is essential that we keep our members safe and make sure that every one of them has PPE. We've been working closely with WMATA to keep our members protected and get them the equipment they need." The ATU is calling for every worker who operates or maintains a transit vehicle to -- at a minimum -- be equipped with an N95 disposable respirator, gloves, and other critical gear. Despite federal funding, some agencies are citing cost and refusing. Others are making an effort but cannot identify sellers. "It is unconscionable and immoral to send transit employees to work without PPE during this health crisis," said ATU President John Costa. "Our members provide essential public services, making sure that people can get to the doctor, the pharmacy, and the grocery store. But they cannot be expected to keep doing it while putting their lives in danger."
photo: crowded bus in Grand Rapids, MI last week
Free "Stewards Guide to Fighting COVID-19"
Saying that "Stewards are our first line of defense on a new front," UE is making its [link removed] "Stewards Guide to Fighting COVID-19" available for free. "Stewards have a special role to play right now to assist our members as they face a life-threatening situation. Some of our workplaces must stay open to provide life-sustaining services, and stewards will need to advocate for special workplace protections. Other workplaces must close or drastically reduce the number of workers present to prevent this disease from spreading more rapidly, and stewards will need to help workers navigate layoffs and maintain connections with members outside of work." UE is the [link removed] United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.
How to Help: CSA's Emergency Assistance Fund
In addition to the various federal, state and local financial assistance programs available to workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ([link removed] click here for latest details), labor or labor-friendly organizations are also setting up financial support operations. If you know of one, please let us know at mailto:[email protected] [email protected]
Fund Name: [link removed] CSA Emergency Assistance Fund
Organized by: Metro Washington Council's Community Services Agency
Benefits: Area union families
About the fund: Raises and spends approximately $120,000 annually and assists about 350 families. Helps workers facing hardships due to no fault of their own to meet emergency needs -- prevention of utility cut-offs, evictions, food, needed prescriptions, and other needs. Local unions refer workers to the fund.
Union Voice/Readers Write: Right campaign, wrong strike
"The 1990 strike ([link removed] Today's Labor Quote: LA Janitor) started on May 22, 1990 (not April 7)," writes SEIU's Bill Ragen, who was the lead organizer for the Justice for Janitors campaign. "The police riot the quote refers to was on June 15 and the strike ended around June 25. "The 2000 strike started in April. The Wikipedia [link removed] Justice for Janitors entry conflates the two - it talks about a 1990 strike, but says it started in April and mentions Mayor Riordan, who was mayor from 1993-2001. Both were big deals - 1990 was when we started re-organizing and came back from the dead; 2000 was when all that organizing was the basis for a strike that [link removed] won major improvements and also brought in new members."
MWC COVID-19 UPDATES
Legislative updates: [link removed] click here for the latest updates.
Unemployment Insurance: [link removed] click here for the latest helpful information, including Am I Eligible for UI Benefits during the COVID-19 Emergency? (updated 4/7)
CSA: latest resource updates posted [link removed] here including Feeding America link to local food banks.
Today's Labor Quote: Harry S Truman
"Republicans can hear the whispers of business, but not the yells and screams of working people."
President Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize the nation's steel mills to avert a strike on this date in 1952. The Supreme Court ruled the act illegal three weeks later.
Today's Labor History
This week's Labor History Today podcast: [link removed] Coronavirus essential workers' rights
On this week's show, organizer and union rep John Barry on "Coronavirus `essential workers' have rights too;" ethnographer Candacy Taylor on "Beauty Shop Culture and the Labor of Hairdressing" and Tales from the Reuther Library podcast host Dan Goldner celebrates Frances Perkins' birthday.
Last week's show: [link removed] Socialists, suffragettes and fear at work
128 convict miners, leased to a coal company under the state's shameful convict lease system, are killed in an explosion at the Banner coal mine outside Birmingham, Ala. The miners were mostly African-Americans jailed for minor offenses - 1911
President Wilson establishes the War Labor Board, composed of representatives from business and labor, to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers during World War I - 1918
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is approved by Congress. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed the WPA during the Great Depression of the 1930s when almost 25 percent of Americans were unemployed. It created low-paying federal jobs providing immediate relief, putting 8.5 million jobless to work on projects ranging from construction of bridges, highways and public buildings to arts programs like the Federal Writers' Project - 1935
- David Prosten
Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit Union City as the source.
Published by the Metropolitan Washington Council, an AFL-CIO "Union City" Central Labor Council whose 200 affiliated union locals represent 150,000 area union members.
Story suggestions, event announcements, campaign reports, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space; just click on the mail icon below. You can also reach us on Facebook and Twitter by clicking on those icons.
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mailto:[email protected]
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You are receiving this email because our records indicate that [link removed] [email protected] signed up to receive this newsletter. Click here to [link removed] edit your subscription preferences
To view our Privacy Policy: [link removed]
[link removed]
NSO musicians fight off furlough
ATU demands protection for frontline transit workers
Free "Stewards Guide to Fighting COVID-19"
How to Help: CSA's Emergency Assistance Fund
Union Voice/Readers Write: Right campaign, wrong strike
MWC COVID-19 UPDATES
Today's Labor Quote
Today's Labor History
[link removed] LABOR CALENDAR
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report, [link removed] "Contractor cuts cleaning staff during pandemic"
Alexandria Dems Labor Caucus: Wed, April 8, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Via Zoom
Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are all teleworking and can be reached at the contact [link removed] numbers and email addresses here.
[link removed] Latest DC-area labor news, delivered daily: tell a friend and help build our Union City!
NSO musicians fight off furlough
The musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra are not being furloughed after all. Their union, the D.C. Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 161-710, filed a grievance after the Kennedy Center last week announced its [link removed] unilateral decision to furlough the musicians, which was not permitted by the union's contract. While the musicians' pay has been restored, the union agreed to "substantial economic concessions" in recognition of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Kennedy Center. The contract is also being extended for an additional year, through the beginning of September 2024, which the union said "will provide financial stability to our musicians during this difficult time." The union also urged the Kennedy Center to bring back the Orchestra's staff - who are not protected by a union contract - "as a matter of fairness" and announced that the musicians "are pledging at least $50,000 of our own money over the next 10 weeks to help support our NSO staff colleagues."
ATU demands protection for frontline transit workers
With more than 40 transit workers, including 13 Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) members, dying after contracting COVID-19, the ATU is demanding that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) immediately provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for all transit workers on America's transit systems. "The last month has been incredibly challenging," said ATU Local 689 president Raymond Jackson. "Our workers have been on the front lines of a global health pandemic. It is essential that we keep our members safe and make sure that every one of them has PPE. We've been working closely with WMATA to keep our members protected and get them the equipment they need." The ATU is calling for every worker who operates or maintains a transit vehicle to -- at a minimum -- be equipped with an N95 disposable respirator, gloves, and other critical gear. Despite federal funding, some agencies are citing cost and refusing. Others are making an effort but cannot identify sellers. "It is unconscionable and immoral to send transit employees to work without PPE during this health crisis," said ATU President John Costa. "Our members provide essential public services, making sure that people can get to the doctor, the pharmacy, and the grocery store. But they cannot be expected to keep doing it while putting their lives in danger."
photo: crowded bus in Grand Rapids, MI last week
Free "Stewards Guide to Fighting COVID-19"
Saying that "Stewards are our first line of defense on a new front," UE is making its [link removed] "Stewards Guide to Fighting COVID-19" available for free. "Stewards have a special role to play right now to assist our members as they face a life-threatening situation. Some of our workplaces must stay open to provide life-sustaining services, and stewards will need to advocate for special workplace protections. Other workplaces must close or drastically reduce the number of workers present to prevent this disease from spreading more rapidly, and stewards will need to help workers navigate layoffs and maintain connections with members outside of work." UE is the [link removed] United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.
How to Help: CSA's Emergency Assistance Fund
In addition to the various federal, state and local financial assistance programs available to workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ([link removed] click here for latest details), labor or labor-friendly organizations are also setting up financial support operations. If you know of one, please let us know at mailto:[email protected] [email protected]
Fund Name: [link removed] CSA Emergency Assistance Fund
Organized by: Metro Washington Council's Community Services Agency
Benefits: Area union families
About the fund: Raises and spends approximately $120,000 annually and assists about 350 families. Helps workers facing hardships due to no fault of their own to meet emergency needs -- prevention of utility cut-offs, evictions, food, needed prescriptions, and other needs. Local unions refer workers to the fund.
Union Voice/Readers Write: Right campaign, wrong strike
"The 1990 strike ([link removed] Today's Labor Quote: LA Janitor) started on May 22, 1990 (not April 7)," writes SEIU's Bill Ragen, who was the lead organizer for the Justice for Janitors campaign. "The police riot the quote refers to was on June 15 and the strike ended around June 25. "The 2000 strike started in April. The Wikipedia [link removed] Justice for Janitors entry conflates the two - it talks about a 1990 strike, but says it started in April and mentions Mayor Riordan, who was mayor from 1993-2001. Both were big deals - 1990 was when we started re-organizing and came back from the dead; 2000 was when all that organizing was the basis for a strike that [link removed] won major improvements and also brought in new members."
MWC COVID-19 UPDATES
Legislative updates: [link removed] click here for the latest updates.
Unemployment Insurance: [link removed] click here for the latest helpful information, including Am I Eligible for UI Benefits during the COVID-19 Emergency? (updated 4/7)
CSA: latest resource updates posted [link removed] here including Feeding America link to local food banks.
Today's Labor Quote: Harry S Truman
"Republicans can hear the whispers of business, but not the yells and screams of working people."
President Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize the nation's steel mills to avert a strike on this date in 1952. The Supreme Court ruled the act illegal three weeks later.
Today's Labor History
This week's Labor History Today podcast: [link removed] Coronavirus essential workers' rights
On this week's show, organizer and union rep John Barry on "Coronavirus `essential workers' have rights too;" ethnographer Candacy Taylor on "Beauty Shop Culture and the Labor of Hairdressing" and Tales from the Reuther Library podcast host Dan Goldner celebrates Frances Perkins' birthday.
Last week's show: [link removed] Socialists, suffragettes and fear at work
128 convict miners, leased to a coal company under the state's shameful convict lease system, are killed in an explosion at the Banner coal mine outside Birmingham, Ala. The miners were mostly African-Americans jailed for minor offenses - 1911
President Wilson establishes the War Labor Board, composed of representatives from business and labor, to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers during World War I - 1918
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is approved by Congress. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed the WPA during the Great Depression of the 1930s when almost 25 percent of Americans were unemployed. It created low-paying federal jobs providing immediate relief, putting 8.5 million jobless to work on projects ranging from construction of bridges, highways and public buildings to arts programs like the Federal Writers' Project - 1935
- David Prosten
Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit Union City as the source.
Published by the Metropolitan Washington Council, an AFL-CIO "Union City" Central Labor Council whose 200 affiliated union locals represent 150,000 area union members.
Story suggestions, event announcements, campaign reports, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space; just click on the mail icon below. You can also reach us on Facebook and Twitter by clicking on those icons.
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
mailto:[email protected]
[link removed]
You are receiving this email because our records indicate that [link removed] [email protected] signed up to receive this newsletter. Click here to [link removed] edit your subscription preferences
To view our Privacy Policy: [link removed]
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- Sender: Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO
- Political Party: n/a
- Country: United States
- State/Locality: Washington, DC
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