TODAY'S LABOR CALENDAR; click here for latest listings
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report
Building A More Perfect Union: Wed, January 13, 12:15pm – 1:45pm A Policy Blueprint for Rewiring the Economy, Rebuilding the Social Safety Net, and Reconnecting America With the World
Alexandria Dems Labor Caucus: Wed, January 13, 7:30pm – 8:30pm Meeting for union members and community allies in Alexandria. Contact [email protected] for the link.
Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, January 14, 1pm – 2pm WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online
Arlington Dems Labor Caucus: Thu, January 14, 6pm – 8pm Meeting of Arlington union members and community allies.
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DC-area educators demand coordinated reopening plan Unions and associations representing more than 48,000 public school workers in the greater metro Washington, DC region mobilized together in a National Day of Resistance yesterday to demand a single, cohesive plan on reopening schools in the region. The DC-area public school educators and school-related personnel released a letter to Maryland Governor Hogan, Virginia Governor Northam and Washington, DC Mayor Bowser: www.DemandSafeSchoolsDMV.org/Press calling on Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to coordinate across school district boundaries for a “single, safe and sensible plan for returning to in-person instruction.” “Where I live I can walk across the street --- at 300 yards --- and be in the District of Columbia,” said PGCEA President and Prince George's County resident Theresa Dudley in her opening remarks during the National Day of Resistance press conference. Other union leaders said that the lack of a cohesive plan has created havoc for DC-area families, and the lack of proper sanitizing and protection in school facilities poses a threat for students as well as teachers. The coalition demanded immediate action and response from jurisdictional leaders. photo (l-r clockwise from top): Timothy Traylor (AFSCME 2250), Theresa Dudley (PGCEA), Liz Davis (WTU 6), Dyana Forester (Metro Washington Council).
Labor On The Move: AFGE’s Brian DeWyngaert retires After a 43-year career, AFGE Chief-of-Staff Brian DeWyngaert has retired. Brian began his career at AFGE in 1978 as a contract negotiator and labor relations specialist shortly before the enactment of the Civil Service Reform Act. Five years later, he joined the union’s National President Office and later became chief of staff, the position he held for 32 years until his retirement on Dec. 31, 2020. He helped guide AFGE through challenges and triumphs spanning seven U.S. presidents from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump, "almost eight if you count his work with the Biden transition team," said AFGE. "Brian is a walking history book when it comes to AFGE, who has been instrumental in the success of our union," said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. As chief of staff, Brian managed 13 AFGE conventions, coordinating their themes, programs, and logistics. And when the union needed attention for its Dirty Chicken campaign against a new rule that increased poultry processing line speeds to unsafe levels, Brian teamed up with then-director Bob Nicklas and showed up in a chicken suit to lead AFGE's rally on Capitol Hill.
Today’s Labor Quote: John Lewis
“We march today for jobs and freedom, but we have nothing to be proud of. For hundreds and thousands of our brothers are not here. For they are receiving starvation wages, or no wages at all.”
At the 1963 March on Washington
Today's Labor History
The original Tompkins Square Riot. As unemployed workers demonstrated in New York's Tompkins Square Park, a detachment of mounted police charged into the crowd, beating men, women and children with billy clubs. Declared Abram Duryee, the Commissioner of Police: "It was the most glorious sight I ever saw..." - 1874
Chicano citrus workers strike in Covina, CA - 1919
(Exact date uncertain) As the nation debates a constitutional amendment to rein in the widespread practice of brutally overworking children in factories and fields, U.S. District Judge G.W. McClintic expresses concern, instead, about child idleness - 1924
- David Prosten
Plus dozens more DC-area union jobs; click here!
Administrative Office & Marketing Assistant, Concerted Action (Posted: 1/8/2021)
Communications National Press Secretary/Political Media Strategist – Communications, AFL-CIO [Headquarters] (Posted: 12/18/2020) Communications Program Manager, SEIU (Service Employees International Union) (Posted: 1/11/2021) Communications Coordinator – Northern Virginia Collective Bargaining Campaign, SEIU (SEIU Virginia 512) (Posted: 12/23/2020)
Legal Senior Staff Attorney, GLJ-ILRF (Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum) (Posted: 1/7/2021)
Misc Campaign Director for Bargaining for the Common Good, ACRE (Action Center on Race and the Economy) (Posted: 1/7/2021) Union Staff, NNU (National Nurses United)(Posted: 1/1/2021) Assistant Director of Talent Acquisition, SEIU (Service Employees International Union) (Posted: 12/30/2020) SMART Membership and Skills Video, Journey level and Apprenticeship opportunities, SMART (The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers) (Posted: 1/1/2021) Staff Representative, AFSCME (Council 67) (Posted: 12/22/2020) Member Services Director – Public Services and Home Care, SEIU (SEIU Virginia 512) (Posted: 12/29/2020) UniServ Director – Territory 8 (Fairfax), VEA (Virginia Education Association) (Posted: 1/7/2021)
Organizing Central America Campaign Organizer, GLJ-ILRF (Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum) (Posted: 1/7/2021) Appalachian Regional Field Organizer, BlueGreen Alliance (Posted: 12/23/2020) Organizing Coordinator – Northern Virginia Collective Bargaining Campaign, SEIU (SEIU Virginia 512) (Posted: 12/23/2020) Organizer – Northern Virginia Collective Bargaining Campaign, SEIU (SEIU Virginia 512) (Posted: 12/23/2020)
Political Government Relations Specialist, AAUP (American Association of University Professors) (Posted: 1/11/2021) Government Affairs Advocate, Climate Change and Clean Energy – Government Affairs, LCV (League of Conservation Voters) (currently REMOTE) (Posted: 1/11/2021) Senior Government Affairs Advocate, Conservation – Government Affairs, LCV (League of Conservation Voters) (currently REMOTE) (Posted: 1/11/2021) Legislative Advocate, NNU (National Nurses United) (Posted: 1/1/2021) Government Relations Representative, SMART (The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers) (Posted: 12/16/2020)
Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit Union City as the source for all news items and www.unionist.com as the source for Today’s Labor History.
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. DYANA FORESTER, PRESIDENT.
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