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Labor news briefs from the Twitterverse

Union Voice/Readers Write: "If not us, then who?"

Today's Labor Quote

Today's Labor History

[link removed] TODAY'S 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] Labor Committee for Affordable Housing: Fri, April 16, 3pm - 4pm

Committee to support tenant rights, housing justice and affordable housing.

Myanmar Solidarity Rally: Fri, April 16, 3pm - 4pm

600 Thirteenth Street, Suite 600 13th St NW, Washington, D.C., DC xxxxxx, USA ([link removed] map)

[link removed] Coalition to Repeal "Right to Work": Fri, April 16, 7pm - 8pm

Coalition of 50 organizations committed to advocating for workers' rights to organize and collectively bargain, including repeal of the so-called "right to work" law.

Liz Davis lives! If you missed yesterday's 5-hour tribute to WTU president Liz Davis, you can hear heartfelt memories on the Your Rights At Work segment [link removed] here. Chris Garlock and Ed Smith hosted AFT Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram, Metro Washington Council president Dyana Forester, former MWC president Jos Williams and APWU Nation's Capital and Southern MD Local president Dena Briscoe.

Labor news briefs from the Twitterverse
Follow us [link removed] @dclabor

Join the WTU as we salute our #DCPS Librarians during "National School Library Month!" Certified school librarians are essential contributors to the learning community. #AASLslm @aasl #tlchat [link removed] Sign our petition to prevent cuts to library staff across DC.

@WTUTeacher

The Secure Maryland Wage Act -which would raise airport worker wages to $15 by 2024- passed with a super majority! Fair wages, reduce turnover and help make airports safer. #PovertyDoesntFly #FightFor15
@GoodAirports

In case @BrookingsInst is at all hesitant to recognize their workers' union, would point to the dozens of BI publications @BrookingsUnion has compiled on their website documenting the difference unions can make for their members

@jacob_whiton

Union Voice/Readers Write: "If not us, then who?"

By Dan Ronneberg
I recently represented an employee that was hired under the disability hiring authority at the Federal Aviation Administration. This employee had performed satisfactorily for a number of years, but once her first level supervisor changed, her working conditions also dramatically changed. Other employees were encouraged to report on the mistakes of this employee, and she was singled out for minor errors, which arguably can be attributed to her disability. Ultimately, management reprimanded the employee for a raft of pretextual missteps. Enter the union. As a federal employee, I always hoped that federal employment would be a shining example of meritocracy and public service, where fairness was the rule rather than the exception, and where every American serving our country could do their best work. When it became apparent to me that we were so far from this aspiration, I became involved in our federal service unions and have been involved ever since. If our government agencies can't deliver on the American promise in public service, then our federal service unions must. As John F. Kennedy once said, "the American Labor Movement has consistently demonstrated its devotion to the public interest. It is, and has been, good for all America." As union officers, and representatives, stewards, and members, we must make good on aspiration that our workplaces can be fair and equitable, that hard work is rewarded, and that the value and contribution of each of our fellow employees is recognized and celebrated. If not us, then who will do this?

Dan Ronneberg is a Regional Business Agent for the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO and works at FAA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He's been a president in a federal local for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and was a grievance chair for a regional carrier represented by the Air Line Pilot's Association (ALPA). Dan is an Air Force veteran and has over 20 years of federal service.
Union City wants to hear your union voice! Write us at mailto:[email protected] [email protected]

Today's Labor Quote: Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.

"Unless man is committed to the belief that all mankind are his brothers, then he labors in vain and hypocritically in the vineyards of equality."

TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY

This week's [link removed] Labor History Today podcast: The US-Canadian Labor History Collaborative, plus songs about the 1913 Saskatchewan coal miners' strike.
Last week's show: [link removed] Canal workers, gays & miners, Gandhi's labor quote

April 16
Employers lock out 25,000 New York City garment workers in a dispute over hiring practices. The International Ladies' Garment Workers Union calls a general strike; after 14 weeks, 60,000 strikers win union recognition and the contractual right to strike - 1916

500 workers in Texas City, Texas die in a series of huge oil refinery and chemical plant explosions and fires - 1947

An estimated 20,000 global justice activists blockade Washington, D.C. meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund - 2000

April 17
In one of the most controversial decisions in the Supreme Court's history, Lochner v. New York, the Court holds that a law limiting working hours for New York bakery workers is unconstitutional; the decision has since been effectively overturned - 1905

April 18
West Virginia coal miners strike, defend selves against National Guard - 1912

After a four-week boycott led by Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., bus companies in New York City agree to hire 200 black drivers and mechanics - 1941

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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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