TODAY'S LABOR CALENDAR; click here for complete and latest listings
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report
"Wednesdays with Warner" for the PRO Act: Wed, April 14, 8:15am – 8:45am
Windmill Hill Park, 500 South Lee St., Alexandria, VA
Southern Towers Tenant Zoom Event: Wed, April 14, 10:30am – 11:30am
Via Zoom; See story below!
Film: MARTIN EDEN: Wed, April 14, 7pm – 9pm
CLICK HERE for tickets: $12; $2 from each ticket purchased goes to MWC’s Community Services Agency Event support provided by American Income Life.
Post-screening Q&A with filmmaker and novelist John Sayles.
A Community Salute to WTU president Elizabeth Davis: Celebrating a Life of Advocacy & Grace: Thu, April 15, 12pm – 5pm
WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online. See graphic below for details.
Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, April 15, 1pm – 2pm
WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online.
Guests: Labor leaders pay tribute to WTU president Liz Davis.
Baltimore Labor Council meeting: Thu, April 15, 7pm – 9pm
Email for call-in details: [email protected]
NoVA Labor monthly meeting: Thu, April 15, 7pm – 9pm
Brookings and Urban Institute staff organize
Workers at both the Brookings Institute and the Urban Institute are forming unions with NPEU, the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union. “Brookings is an intellectual home for policy ideas that empower working people, and Brookings United is excited for this new partnership so that together, we can create a more inclusive and sustainable environment in the post-COVID-19 world,” said the Brookings United organizing committee. “We believe that nobody can represent workers’ interests better than workers themselves and that our perspectives are vital to Urban’s longevity and its institutional ethics,” said the Urban Institute Employees Union’s Organizing Committee. The staff unions also released a joint statement urging their employers to stay neutral during their union drives.
Alexandria tenants form union
In a historic step, tenants at Southern Towers in Alexandria, Virginia have organized a Tenants Union. Southern Towers, an apartment complex housing more than 4,400 residents, is a major source of affordable housing in Alexandria, but since it was purchased by LA-based real estate corporation CIM last August, the new owners have launched hundreds of eviction proceedings against its tenants, the majority of whom are Black and/or immigrants. This morning at 10:30 (see Calendar, above), the new Tenants Union -- supported by Unite Here Local 23 and African Communities Together as well as local political leaders -- will present a White Paper exposing CIM's actions and plans threatening to displace the working class residents of Southern Towers.
DuCote stepping down as CSA Executive Director
After serving as Executive Director for the Metro Washington Council’s Community Services Agency for nearly four years, Sonté DuCote is stepping down. “It has been a source of great joy to me to get the opportunity to serve area workers facing hardship,” said DuCote. “It’s been and a real privilege to work with DC-area locals facing layoffs, strikes, government shutdowns and now an extraordinary pandemic.” Under DuCote’s leadership CSA has helped thousands of workers stay in their homes and keep food on their tables, secured a $300k federal grant to increase the number of women in the local construction industry, partnered with community-based organizations to expand CSA’s reach into vulnerable communities and streamlined administrative processes. “I want to thank every local, allied organization, foundation and individual donor for your support,” DuCote said. “You and CSA will always have a special place in my heart, and it is my hope that we stay connected.” DuCote will remain on board through May 21st to ensure a smooth transition.
Today’s Labor Quote: John Steinbeck
“...and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.”
From his novel “The Grapes of Wrath,” published on this date in 1939.
Today's Labor History
This week’s Labor History Today podcast: The US-Canadian Labor History Collaborative, plus songs about the 1913 Saskatchewan coal miners’ strike.
Last week’s show: Canal workers, gays & miners, Gandhi’s labor quote
More than 100 Mexican and Filipino farm workers are arrested for union activities, Imperial Valley, Calif. Eight were convicted of “criminal syndicalism” - 1930
The United Steelworkers and the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers unions merge to form the largest industrial union in North America - 2005
- David Prosten
Hiring Hall: Plus dozens more DC-area union jobs; click here!
Executive Director – Community Services Agency, Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, based in Washington, DC (Posted: 4/13/2021)
Communications
Media and Communications Strategist – Department of External Relations, AAUP (American Association of University Professors), based out of Washington, DC (location is flexible) (Posted: 4/12/2021)
National Program Coordinator – Communications, CKPU (Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions), based in Oakland, CA (preferred) (Posted: 4/9/2021)
Communications and Policy Director, LCLAA (Labor Council for Latin American Advancement), based in Washington, DC (position is remote until the LCLAA office is able to reopen) (Posted: 4/12/2021)
Information Tech
Data Engineer (Infrastructure) – Data & Analytics Department, UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers International Union), based in Washington, DC (Posted: 4/12/2021)
Legal
Attorney, KCNF (Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch, P.C.), based in Washington, DC (with some travel) (Posted: 4/7/2021)
Labor Relations Staff Attorney and/or a Senior Counsel for Labor Relations, NATCA (National Air Traffic Controllers Association), based in Washington, DC (Posted: 4/7/2021)
Misc
Executive Director – Community Services Agency, Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, based in Washington, DC (Posted: 4/13/2021)
Executive Director, FCFT (Fairfax Count Federation of Teachers, AFT Affiliate Local 2401), based in Springfield, VA (Posted: 4/12/2021)
Union workers in the building trades donate masks to nurses amidst government inaction. (public service announcement), NNU (National Nurses United) (Posted: 4/20/2020)
Organizing
Campaign Lead – Alphabet Workers Union, Communications Workers of America Local 1400, CWA (Communications Workers of America), based in Washington, DC [Headquarters] (Posted: 4/8/2021)
National Organizer, GCC/IBT (Graphic Communications Conference/ International Brotherhood of Teamsters), assignments based within the U.S. and Canada (Posted: 4/8/2021)
Account Supervisor – Digital Organizing, M+R, may be based in Los Angeles, CA or Washington, DC (Posted: 4/7/2021)
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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