Forward to a friend:
[link removed]

Transit workers slam service cuts and layoffs

Metro Council releases criteria for school re-openings

Landmark agreement for U.S. offshore wind workforce transition

Today's Labor Quote

Today's Labor History

[link removed] LABOR CALENDAR; click here for latest listings

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

DC COPE committee: Tue, November 24, 2pm - 4pm
[link removed] Register here

Missed yesterday's Your Rights At Work radio show? [link removed] Catch the podcast here; Metro Washington Council president Dyana Forester reports on the latest on efforts by DC school unions to keep students safe; plus why postal workers took to the streets across the country this week and the final episode of Tales of the Resistance!

Transit workers slam service cuts and layoffs
Transit workers reacted with frustration and anger to threatened service cuts and layoffs at Metro. ""No employees, union or not, should be laid off during this time," said Raymond Jackson, president of ATU Local 689. "Essential workers in the Washington, DC area depend on our members to operate buses and trains to and from hospitals, clinics, airports, and grocery stores," Jackson added. His statement came as WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld and the WMATA Board met to discuss cutting service in neighborhoods where many essential workers live, as well as laying off more than 1,000 Local 689 members. "We are essential workers who are responsible for carrying other essential workers, period!" said Jackson.

Metro Council releases criteria for school re-openings

The Metro Washington Council yesterday issued a list of criteria to be met before the District schools open CARE classrooms. The Council includes affiliate unions representing a range of workers in the DC public school system, including teachers, nurses, paraprofessionals, cafeteria staff, counselors, administrators, office staff and security guards. In a letter to DC Public Schools Chancellor Ferebee and Mayor Bowser, the Metro Washington Council outlined measures that need to be in place before schools are reopened for in-person learning. "Our...members take pride in educating, nurturing, and transporting our children, and ultimately ensuring our children have a safe and healthy environment in which to learn," the letter says. "We look forward to working with you to ensure that our workforce and our students are safe as we reopen our school buildings."

Landmark agreement for U.S. offshore wind workforce transition
A national agreement designed to transition U.S. union construction workers into the offshore wind industry was announced Wednesday. North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) announced the landmark initiative in collaboration with Ørsted, a global leader in offshore wind development. "The partnership will create a national agreement for Orsted's current portfolio of work including Maryland and Virginia," said Stephen W. Courtien, president of the Baltimore/DC Building Trades. "This is a very large step in the right direction for us," Courtien added, noting that it has been years in the works with many allies "supporting and working to make this happen from sending members to testify at hearings, attending rallies, speaking to stake holders about the benefits of the Building Trades and by showing that our apprenticeships are nimble and finally showing that we have the best workforce development and recruitment in the State of Maryland." NABTU president Sean McGarvey added that "Our highly trained men and women professionals have the best craft skills in the world, and now will gain new experience in deep-water ocean work."

Today's Labor Quote: Gene Debs

"A scab in labor unions is the same as a traitor to his country."

Debs was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States. The first use of term "scab," to describe a worker who does not join a strike or who takes the place of another worker who is on strike, was recorded on this date in 1816 by the Albany Typographical Society.

Today's Labor History
This week's Labor History Today podcast: [link removed] A journey down the Working River The UnionDues podcast takes a trip down the River Thames, finding struggles and strikes, insurrection and inspiration. And, on this week's Labor History in 2: Striking against privatization in Alberta, Canada.
Last week's show: [link removed] One Day More

November 20
Norman Thomas born, American socialist leader - 1884

The time clock is invented by Willard Bundy, a jeweler in Auburn, N.Y. Bundy's brother Harlow starts mass producing them a year later - 1888
Mine fire in Telluride, Colo., kills 28 miners, prompts union call for safer work conditions - 1901

78 miners are killed in an explosion at the Consolidated Coal Company's No. 9 mine in Farmington, W. Va. - 1968

Six miners striking for better working conditions under the IWW banner were killed and many wounded in the Columbine Massacre at Lafayette, Colo. Out of this struggle Colorado coal miners gained lasting union contracts - 1927

November 21
The United Auto Workers Union strikes 92 General Motors plants in 50 cities to back up worker demands for a 30 percent raise. 200,000 workers are out - 1945

Staten Island and Brooklyn are linked by the new Verrazano Narrows Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time and still the longest in the U.S. Joseph Farrell, an apprentice Ironworker on the project, told radio station WNYC: "The way the wind blows over this water it would blow you right off the iron. That was to me and still is the most treacherous part of this business. When the wind grabs you on the open iron, it can be very dangerous." Three workers died over the course of the five year project - 1964

A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas kills 85 hotel employees and guests and sends 650 injured persons, including 14 firefighters, to the hospital. Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by smoke inhalation - 1980

Flight attendants celebrate the signing into law a smoking ban on all U.S. domestic flights - 1989

Congress approves the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), to take effect Jan. 1 of the following year - 1993

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act takes effect in the nation's workplaces. It prohibits employers from requesting genetic testing or considering someone's genetic background in hiring, firing or promotions - 2009

November 22
20,000 female garment workers are on strike in New York; Judge tells arrested pickets: "You are on strike against God" - 1909

The district president of the American Federation of Labor and two other white men are shot and killed in Bogalusa, Ala. as they attempt to assist an African-American organizer working to unionize African-American workers at the Great Southern Lumber Co. - 1919

- 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]