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MontCo workers say Council action "slap in the face"

MWC DC City Council Candidate Town Halls launch

Pandemic inspiring a wave of unionization efforts

Today's Labor Quote

Today's Labor History

[link removed] LABOR CALENDAR

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

Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, May 14, 1pm - 2pm
Guests: Frank Stricker, on his new book "American Unemployment: Past, Present, and Future" and Seth Cook, the National Symphony Orchestra musician (and DC Musician's Union member) who's also a local small business owner

MWC Candidate Town Hall: Anthony Lorenzo Green (Ward 7): Thu, May 14, 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Via Zoom; [link removed] Register here

Car caravan protest to support the Camden Yards Concessions workers: Fri, May 15, 1pm - 2pm
Caravan: Camden Yards Parking Lot G, 250 W Ostend, Baltimore; On foot, Camden Yards Warehouse, 333 W. Camden Street, Baltimore

NoVA Coalition to Repeal Right-to-Work: Fri, May 15, 7pm - 9pm
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!

MontCo workers say Council action "slap in the face"
Showing what UFCW Local 1994 president Gino Renne called "a stunning and callous disregard" for Montgomery County workers' hard work and sacrifices, the Montgomery County Council yesterday voted to zero out all provisions of Local 1994's revised contract. "This is a slap in the face," said one Local 1994 member. "They call you heroes for continuing to work and provide services for the County in midst of an unprecedented pandemic," said Renne, yet "They reward you by stripping you of any expected pay or benefits increases next year!" The Council also voted against both the police and the firefighters' revised agreements, setting the stage for a continued contentious relationship between the Council and the County workforce. Renne thanked Councilmembers Tom Hucker and Will Jawando for their support while slamming Councilmembers Craig Rice, Hans Riemer and Andrew Friedson for their "complete contempt and hostility."

MWC DC City Council Candidate Town Halls launch
The issues of working people were front and center last night during the Metro Washington Council's DC City Council Candidate Zoom Town Hall with Ward 8 DC Council member Trayon White, who has been endorsed by the MWC. CM White, on the road in his ward, answered detailed questions from representatives of union affiliates about the city budget, education, public transit, and access to healthcare. Tomorrow, the MWC-endorsed candidate for Ward 7, Anthony Lorenzo Green, will headline the Metro Council's next Zoom Town Hall at 7:30; [link removed] click here to register and share widely. "This will be a great opportunity to get information on Anthony's plans for labor and the future of the District of Columbia," said MWC Political and Legislative Director David Stephen.

Pandemic inspiring a wave of unionization efforts
"There's power in numbers, so there's nothing ... that's going to happen that we don't allow to happen." That's cafeteria cook -- and Unite Here Local 23 member -- Renita Harrison in WAMU's May 13 report on how [link removed] "The Pandemic Is Inspiring A Wave Of Unionization Efforts." "The coronavirus pandemic has amplified many workers' desires for workplace protections -- both against losing their jobs and against the virus," reports Eliza Berkon. "What this current crisis has exposed is the fact that many employers would put their bottom line above everything else, including their employees' health and safety," said Ethan Miller, secretary-treasurer of the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union. For those looking for union victories, the story cites "a host of local examples," including the transit union for DASH bus drivers in Alexandria, Metrobus garage workers in Virginia, Safeway workers and unionization in the local tech and gaming industries now underway.
photo: Giant/Safeway workers with UFCW 400 rallied in February for a contract; photo by Jenny Gathright/WAMU

Today's Labor Quote: Richard Trumka

"Every worker would rather receive a paycheck than an unemployment check. Our jobs are a source of dignity, a piece of our pride. We're ready to get back to work. We're ready to rebuild America."
From a recent [link removed] Facebook video.

Today's Labor History

This week's [link removed] Labor History Today podcast: "Strike for Your Life!"; labor history's lessons for the COVID-19 crisis
Peter Rachleff, co-director of the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul, Minnesota, on how "Lessons from labor history can inform our labor movement during the COVID-19 crisis." "As a labor historian, the closest thing I can think of to the spread of coronavirus strikes is the epidemic of sitdown strikes to spread across the country in the mid-1930s." Historian and writer Jeremy Brecher, from "Strike for Your Life!" Also this week, we preview Debs In Canton, a new audio/radio drama from the filmmakers of American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs.
[link removed] Last week's show: Jack Kelly's "The Edge of Anarchy"; "Union Maids" director Julia Reichert (Part 2)

Milwaukee brewery workers begin 10-week strike, demanding contracts comparable to East and West coast workers. The strike was won because Blatz Brewery accepts their demands, but Blatz was ousted from the Brewers Association for "unethical" business methods - 1953

- David Prosten; photo courtesy [link removed] Milwaukee Record

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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.

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