Supermarket workers to DC mayor: more must be done
UFCW Local 400, the union representing thousands of grocery workers at Giant and Safeway stores in the District, yesterday applauded DC Mayor Muriel Bowser for her decision to issue an executive order mandating additional measures to protect the health and safety of grocery workers and customers in D.C. stores.
But the union called the order a first step, and said more must be done. “This is not a time for broad, vague measures,” said Local 400 president Mark Federici. “We need specific, enforceable mandates to ensure everyone’s safety.”
The union is demanding testing for every grocery worker so they can make an informed choice before coming to work. “Without adequate testing, there is no way to know who is infectious until it’s too late,” said Federici, who renewed the union’s call for Mayor Bowser and every state governor to declare all grocery store, pharmacy, and food processing workers as ‘first responders,’ making them eligible for free coverage for all coronavirus treatments and tests, “as well as the treatment and personal protective equipment they need to stay safe on the job while they continue to serve our communities,” said Federici.
SMART’s nose for solidarity
As anyone who’s strapped on a homemade mask knows, it’s the details that matter. Like nose clips, so you can breathe easily. SMART Local 100 Business Rep Tom Killeen reports that last week a nurse in Connecticut looking for those metal nose strips called up SMART Local 40 – after all, sheet metal is part of the name of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation union. Local 40 Manager Dave Roche contacted the Hillery company in Groton, Connecticut and they started making and giving away the strips – made by sheet metal union members -- to local sewing groups. “At this point our International became involved and is now spearheading the effort, providing aluminum metal nose clips for anyone who wants them,” Killeen told Union City. Volunteer groups providing masks to first responders and hospitals can order the free clips here and the requests are then routed to the local SMART Army Coordinator (Killeen is Local 100's coordinator), who then works with local contractors to fill the order. “SMART Local 100's contractors and members are currently churning out clips and have pledged to make 100,000 by the end of this week,” Killeen said. Yesterday they sent out more than 10,000 clips to volunteer groups throughout the metro DC area. The materials for this project have been either donated by the contractors or their suppliers. “In addition, our contractors in most cases are footing the bill for the labor but in some cases our members are staying after hours on their own time to make the clips,” Killeen adds. “This is truly an effort by the people for the people of these United States and once again unions are there to contribute and help.”
photos: (left) Wesley DeHeart; (bottom right, l-r) Scott Jessee, Thomas Brazerol, Steve Chandler and Robert Bennett Jr, all with Stromberg Metals; photo by Tom Killeen
Labor activists sing out to ease coronavirus anxiety
Longtime local labor activists Peter Jones and Holly Syrrakos made the evening news recently with their nightly porch sing-alongs in Takoma Park. "We try to maintain some kind of connection to people," Syrrakos told NBC4. The two were inspired by YouTube videos of neighbors singing in Italy, "and we've always believed in singing together," said Jones. Said one little neighborhood girl, "I feel really happy when they sing."
MWC COVID-19 UPDATES
Legislative updates: click here for the latest updates, including Washington Dc: The Covid-19 Response Supplemental Emergency Amendment Act Of 2020.
Unemployment Insurance: click here for the latest helpful information, including Expansion of Unemployment Insurance Benefits under the New CARES Act.
CSA: latest resource updates posted here.
How to Help: JWJ’s “Worker Solidarity Fund”
In addition to the various federal, state and local financial assistance programs available to workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (click here for latest details), labor or labor-friendly organizations are also setting up financial support vehicles. If you know of one, please let us know at [email protected]
Fund Name: Worker Solidarity Fund
Organized by: Jobs with Justice
Benefits: Will provide direct financial assistance to workers affected by COVID-19
About the fund: The impact of Coronavirus spans across all sectors. Workers are losing pay or being put at risk. Any money you contribute will go to these affected workers who need help right now – giving them the power they need to continue to demand better of corporations and help slow down the spread of the Coronavirus.
Today's Labor Quote: Dolores Huerta
"Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world."
Dolores Huerta was born on this date in 1930. Along with Cesar Chavez, she co-founded the United Farm Workers.
Today's Labor History
This week’s Labor History Today podcast: 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: Socialists, suffragettes and fear at work
Birth date of Frances Perkins, named Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, becoming the first woman to hold a cabinet-level office - 1880
133 people, mostly women and girls, are killed when an explosion in the loading room tears apart the Eddystone Ammunition Works in Eddystone, Pa., near Chester. Fifty-five of the dead were never identified - 1917
Dancers from the Lusty Lady Club in San Francisco’s North Beach ratify their first-ever union contract by a vote of 57-15, having won representaion by SEIU Local 790 the previous summer. The club later became a worker-owned cooperative - 1997
Tens of thousands of immigrants demonstrate in 100 U.S. cities in a national day of action billed as a campaign for immigrants’ dignity. Some 200,000 gathered in Washington, D.C. - 2006
- David Prosten; photo of 2006 DC immigration march by Chris Garlock
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