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In Memoriam: John Sweeney



DC teachers urge caution on re-opening schools

MD Essential Workers Legislative Action Days start tomorrow

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

[link removed] George Mason Univ. Worker Rights Coalition: Tue, February 2, 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Launch of a new coalition of campus employees, students, professors, and contract workers. GMU has a history of using contractors that exploit and cheat workers. Our coalition will ask GMU to respect worker rights and union rights for all.

[link removed] Loudoun County Labor Caucus: Tue, February 2, 5pm - 7pm
Meeting of union members and community allies in Loudoun.

[link removed] DC 2021: Continuing Crises, Prospects for Change: Wed, February 3, 3:00pm - 4:30pm
The Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor invites you to a virtual conversation:

Arts Union Caucus: Wed, February 3, 3pm - 4pm
Meeting of unions representing workers in the performing and broadcast arts.
Contact mailto:[email protected] [email protected] for the link.

Alexandria Dems Labor Caucus: Wed, February 3, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Meeting of union members and community allies in Alexandria.
Contact mailto:[email protected] [email protected] for the link.

In Memoriam: John Sweeney
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released the following statement yesterday on the passing of AFL-CIO President Emeritus John Sweeney:

John Sweeney was a legend, plain and simple. He was guided into unionism by his Catholic faith, and not a single day passed by when he didn't put the needs of working people first. John viewed his leadership as a spiritual calling, a divine act of solidarity in a world plagued by distance and division. The son of Irish immigrants, he used work as a way to directly apply his values, consistently exhibiting grit over flash and pursuing progress instead of posturing. He built SEIU into a powerhouse, doubling its membership, earning respect across the labor movement and in the halls of power. Throughout his storied life, John used the lessons he learned as a ground-level union leader to uphold dignity for all working people and expand human rights worldwide. I was proud to join his insurgent ticket in 1995, which recommitted the AFL-CIO to worker organizing and collective power. As president, John was a great leader and true innovator, driving the labor movement forward. We stand on that foundation today as we take on the challenges of inequality, systemic racism and much more. Former President Bill Clinton called John "a force for inclusion and activism." I was blessed to call him a brother, a mentor and a friend. May God bless John's memory, his family and the labor movement to which he devoted his life.

DC teachers urge caution on re-opening schools
Teachers conducted virtual rallies across the city last Saturday to demand a safe re-opening plan for schools. While the Washington Teachers Union hailed the COVID-19 vaccine, president Liz Davis noted that it takes time for the vaccine to become effective. "Yet," she [link removed] testified on Friday, "we are embarking upon a massive reopening of our school system on Monday. A full three weeks before our staff are protected." While Davis said she believes schools can and should safely re-open, she urged city leaders to "follow the science" and exercise caution, noting that "In the District we have lost more than 900 of our friends and neighbors."

MD Essential Workers Legislative Action Days start tomorrow
Now you can lobby the Maryland State legislature from your living room couch. Or your kitchen table. Tomorrow and Thursday, the Metro Washington Council and allies from around the region will conduct virtual lobbying during [link removed] Essential Workers Legislative Action Days to urge legislators to protect the health and safety of front-line workers. The [link removed] Maryland Essential Workers Protections Act will provide much-needed standards and procedures that aim to protect the health and safety of essential workers during pandemics. "We are counting on you to make sure that Maryland legislators know you will no longer wait for them to take action to protect you and your family," says the coalition. "The time for our elected leaders to act is now!" The Action Days are scheduled for 9:30 - 12:30p this Wednesday, February 3 and Thursday, February 4.
- David Stephen

Labor Quote: Coalition of Labor Union Women

"A woman's place is in her union."

CLUW's motto; find out more [link removed] here.

Today's Labor History
This week's Labor History Today podcast: [link removed] What's the matter with labor history? The life and work of Anna Louise Strong, a 20th-century American journalist, activist, and labor supporter. Steelworker Mike Stout, author of The Homestead Steel Mill: The Final 10 Years. Historian Max Krochmal on Why don't people know U.S. labor history and what can we learn from the past? Plus: The day New Orleans fired 7,000 teachers.
Last week's show: [link removed] The People, No

Sixteen thousand silk workers in Paterson, NJ and 32,000 in Lawrence, Mass. strike for shorter work week with no cut in pay - 1919

Legal secretary Iris Rivera fired for refusing to make coffee; secretaries across Chicago protest - 1977

The 170-day lockout (although management called it a strike) of 22,000 steelworkers by USX Corp. ends with a pay cut but greater job
security. It was the longest work stoppage in the history of the U.S. steel industry - 1987

- David Prosten

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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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