Sheraton Columbia workers forced to reapply for jobs
When the pandemic shut down the Sheraton Columbia last year, the 80 union members working there were thrown out of work. The property is now set to reopen in August as The Merriweather Lakehouse Hotel, but the UNITE HERE Local 7 members who worked at the Sheraton Columbia – mostly immigrant workers and people of color -- will have to reapply for their old jobs with no guarantee that they will be rehired. “There is an immediate action that you can take to support the workers,” writes Glen Middleton Sr, Interim President at the Metropolitan Baltimore Council AFL-CIO. “Please use this support letter template to urge Aimbridge Hospitality and Costello Construction and ask them to rehire the laid off workers when the Merriweather Lakehouse Hotel reopens.” Email your letter to [email protected] & [email protected]. “Their future, and with it the economic health of our community, depends on them being able to return to work as soon as possible,” Middleton added.
PRO Act appreciation for Cardin & Van Hollen
Greg Bowen and Derick Nabors (ATU Local 689), joined Tom Clark (IBEW Local 26) on Thursday to thank Maryland senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen for their co-sponsorship of the PRO Act. For months, the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions have urged Congress to support the PRO Act, federal legislation that will give millions of workers the freedom to form a union without the fear of intimidation or retaliation. Yesterday's visit was a part of the AFL-CIO's "week of action" in support of the Act. The PRO Act aims to make it easier to vote in federal elections and overturn laws designed to suppress the vote, among other provisions that will strengthen access to organizing and government ethics.
- report/photo by David Stephen
Bangladesh Factory Fire: 'This Amounts to Murder'
A factory fire in Bangladesh killed 52 workers, including more than a dozen children, in a multi-story building where the doors were locked and flammable chemicals exposed. Worker advocates say the disaster highlights the need for multinational brands to renew the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a landmark pact that made factories safer for 2 million garment workers. “The fire amounts to premeditated murder,” says Nahidul Hasan Nayan, general secretary of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation (SGSF). Read more at Solidarity Center.
Today's Labor Quote: James Coleman and Nick Gonzalez
“The fight to pass the PRO Act is not just about democratizing the workplace, it’s our best shot at building a fair economy and reviving the American dream — for our generation and all those who follow.”
Coleman and Gonzalez are co-authors We Are Zoomers and We Want the PRO Act.
This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Houston, We Have a Labor Dispute. Last week’s show: Dramatizing The Murals. The Memphis Fire Fighter Strike of 1978.
July 23
Northern Michigan copper miners strike for union recognition, higher wages and eight-hour day. By the time they threw in the towel the following April, 1,100 had been arrested on various charges and Western Federation of Miners President Charles Moyer had been shot, beaten and forced out of town - 1913
July 24
The United Auto Workers and the Teamsters form the Alliance for Labor Action (ALA), later to be joined by several smaller unions. The ALA's agenda included support of the civil rights movement and opposition to the war in Viet Nam. It disbanded after four years following the death of UAW President Walter Reuther - 1968
July 25
Workers stage a general strike – believed to be the nation’s first – in St. Louis, in support of striking railroad workers. The successful strike was ended when some 3,000 federal troops and 5,000 deputized special police killed at least eighteen people in skirmishes around the city - 1877
July 26
Battle of Mucklow, W.Va. in coal strike. An estimated 100,000 shots were fired; 12 miners and four guards were killed - 1912
- David Prosten
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