LABOR CALENDAR

Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report

NoVA Coalition to Repeal Right to Work: Fri, April 17, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
via Zoom

Labor Notes Virtual Conference: Sat, April 18, 1:00pm – 5:45pm
Free; register here

National Writers Union: Sun, April 19, 2:00pm – 3:30pm
Via Zoom

Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are all teleworking and can be reached at the contact numbers and email addresses here.

Latest DC-area labor news, delivered daily: tell a friend and help build our Union City!

NPEU notches second organizing win this week
The Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU) notched their second organizing win this week when the staff of J Street joined the union. The J Street Workers Union has asked for voluntary recognition, and management has signaled they will recognize the J Street Workers Union. “We believe that recognition of this union will demonstrate J Street’s continued leadership in the progressive movement and will move us towards making J Street as strong as possible,” said Shifra Sered of J Street Workers Union. Management and union still have to agree on which employees are in the union and sign the voluntary recognition agreement. This is the second group of nonprofit employees to join NPEU this week; workers at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on Monday announced they were unionizing. Read more here

Labor Notes Virtual Conference set for Saturday
The first-ever Virtual Labor Notes conference will take place this Saturday, April 18. Click here to register; there's no fee but you must register. At Saturday's virtual conference, worker leaders and activists will discuss organizing strategies and the state of the labor movement, during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. The schedule includes: 1p (EDT): Opening Plenary and Welcome: Building Power During the Pandemic; 2:45p: (choose one of two options) Organizing a Stewards' Network OR Talking to Your Co-Workers about Trump; 4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. (choose one of two options): Organizing on Health and Safety in the Face of Coronavirus OR A Just Recovery: From the Climate Crisis to the Pandemic.

IN MEMORIAM: Michael Miller, UFCW 1994
UFCW 1994/MCGEO member Michael Miller, an MC-DOT employee who worked out of the Silver Spring/Bethesda Ride-On Depot, passed away Wednesday night from Covid-19. “Our union family was lucky to have Michael as a brother,” said Local 1994 president Gino Renne. “Although there was no time to say goodbye, a life such as his that touched so many others goes on forever.” Known as a no-nonsense hard worker, Michael “was always smiling and pleasant” and “He was a loyal union brother who always looked out for his coworkers,” said Renne.
photo: Michael cherished his role as a Mason and was well respected and loved by his Mason brothers and sisters.
If you know of a DC-area union member who has died from COVID-19, please email us at [email protected]

Today's Labor Quote: Mary C. Turner, RN

“We are at war. We are the nurses. We are on the front line. We head into the hospitals every day with what little PPE we have and that’s our armor.”

Mary Turner is president of the Minnesota Nurses Association.

Today's Labor History

This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Organizing during historic crises
On this week’s show, labor historians Dorothy Sue Cobble and Michael Merrill talk with the NoVA Coalition to Repeal Right to Work about how workers engaged in mass uprisings and organizing during previous historical crises. Plus American Prospect Editor at Large Harold Meyerson, on The Return of the Breadline and retired nurse and novelist Tim Sheard visits a New York City hospital during the pandemic.
Last week’s show: Coronavirus essential workers’ rights

West Virginia coal miners strike, defend selves against National Guard - 1912

After a four-week boycott led by Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., bus companies in New York City agree to hire 200 black drivers and mechanics - 1941

An American domestic terrorist’s bomb destroys the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people, 99 of whom were government employees - 1995

- 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.

You are receiving this email because our records indicate that [email protected] signed up to receive this newsletter. Click here to edit your subscription preferences