Assessing labor’s wins and losses as DC City Council wraps budget season
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" (now at 2 sites!): Wed, August 4, 8:15am – 9:15am Alexandria and Vienna; The Painters Union will raise its banner outside the Senator's District Office, 8000 Towers Crescent Drive, Vienna, at 8:30 am. Contact [email protected] for info. And the Coalition to Repeal Right to Work will continue for the 20th week to gather at the picnic table at Windmill Hill Park, 500 South Lee St., Alexandria at 8:15 am.
Demo for UNITE HERE Local 7 workers at Sheraton Columbia: Thu, August 5, 11am – 12pm (NEW DATE!) 10209 Wincopin Cir, Columbia, MD 21044
Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, August 5, 1pm – 2pm Featuring the latest episode of San Francisco Mime Troupe's Tales of the Resistance radio drama!
NoVA Labor Arts Union Caucus: Thu, August 5, 3pm – 4pm NOTE: moved to Thursday this month.
Arlington Dems Labor Caucus: Thu, August 5, 6pm – 7pm Meeting of union members and friends of labor in Arlington.
Assessing labor’s wins and losses as DC City Council wraps budget season
The DC City Council ended its most unconventional budget season last night with no end in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic. With hearings and legislative sessions all completely virtual, the labor community, like other advocates and community members, was challenged to find and create memorable ways to push working family issues higher on the Council’s agenda. “There were significant wins as a result of labor’s input and outreach efforts, as well as some losses,” said Metro Washington Labor Council president Dyana Forester. Wins included expanding Paid Family Leave, a more progressive tax rate for high-income earners in the District, sound transportation funding, and continuation of the W Street OSSE Bus Project. The council also unanimously approved CM Elissa Silverman’s amendment to give $5 million in one-time, $500 payments for District residents who have had to wait months for their unemployment insurance. On the loss side was the failure of the Heroes Pay Act to garner enough support on the Council to be included in the budget. “Metro Council affiliates should be proud of their hard and creative work this session, which will benefit working families throughout the region,” said Forester.
DC teachers hail move to fund FT librarians for all schools The Washington Teachers Union hailed Tuesday’s DC City Council passage of an amendment to move $3.25 million within the DCPS budget to guarantee a full-time librarian for every DCPS school. “Librarians are essential, but we have 36 DCPS schools without full-time librarians, nearly half of them in Wards 7 and 8,” tweeted Ward 4 Council member Janeese Lewis George, who introduced the amendment. "Every student deserves the warm, welcoming of a school library as well as the literacy resources librarians bring to our schools," tweeted WTU Local 6.
Labor leader focuses grief on finding solutions "Cathy Feingold doesn’t know who the women were or what lives they had led. All she knows is that they appeared during one of her darkest moments and knew exactly what to do as her husband lay on a busy Northwest D.C. sidewalk, dying from a gunshot wound." That's the lead for Theresa Vargas' recent column in The Washington Post. Feingold, director of the AFL-CIO’s International Department, talked to the Post about what happened on the night of June 29 "because she doesn’t want her husband’s death to just raise fears among people who hadn’t before seen gun violence as a threat to them. She wants it to lead to solutions." The Jerry Black Memorial Fund Feingold set up at the TraRon Center reflects her husband's lifelong commitment to non-violence, the arts and supporting his local community. The funds -- $162,000 has already been raised -- will support local programs that provide children impacted by violence in the DC area with after school programs and a creative arts summer camp. "“We’re not going to solve this problem without people dealing with what’s going on inside of them," Feingold told the Post.
Today’s Labor Quote: Paterson silk strike
“Eight hours work, eight hours rest, and eight hours pleasure.”
Slogan from banners carried in the 1919 Paterson (NJ) silk strike for the 44-hour week by 15,000 workers, which began on this date in 1919.
Today's Labor History This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Keokuk before the strike. Last week's show: Indigenous Longshoremen & the I.W.W.
The Amalgamated Assn. of Iron and Steel Workers is formed. It partnered with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, CIO in 1935; both organizations disbanded in 1942 to form the new United Steelworkers - 1876
185,000 Teamsters begin what is to become a successful 15-day strike at United Parcel Service over excessive use of part-timers – 1997
- David Prosten
Hiring Hall: 39 DC-area union jobs, plus click here for more listings!
Administrative Office Assistant III – Research and Collective Bargaining Department, AFSCME, based in Washington, DC [Headquarters] (Posted: 7/22/2021) Shipping and Receiving Clerk, ATU, based in Silver Spring, MD (Posted: 7/21/2021) Chief Financial Officer, UFR, location: fully remote – even post-pandemic (Posted: 7/22/2021)
Communications Social Media Specialist, CNA/NNU, may be based in Oakland, CA; Glendale, CA; or the Washington, D.C. area (one position, 3 possible locations) (Posted: 8/1/2021) Creative and Digital Associate or Creative and Digital Manager (one position depending on experience), ITEP, based in Washington, DC (open to hiring a REMOTE staff member for this position) (Posted: 7/29/2021) Communications Specialist, NNU. may be based in California: Oakland, Los Angeles, or Sacramento, CA, or in the Washington, DC area (Posted: 8/1/2021) Communications Officer III, Solidarity Center (8/3) Digital Director, UFR, may be worked from anywhere in the United States (remote) (Posted: 7/20/2021)
Internships Internships: The Kalmanovitz Initiative is now accepting applications for the Fall 2021 Research in Action and Organizing Internships.
Legal Paralegal, ATU, based in Silver Spring, MD (Posted: 7/21/2021) Associate General Counsel, ATU, based in Silver Spring, MD (Posted: 7/21/2021) Staff Attorney, SOC, based in Washington, DC (Posted: 7/30/2021) Assistant General Counsel, UFCW, based in Washington, DC (Posted: 8/2/2021) Staff Attorney, UMWA, based in Triangle, VA (in the Washington, DC metro area) (Posted: 7/21/2021)
Misc National Representative I-IV – Organization & Field Services Department, AFT National Representatives work throughout the country (Posted: 8/1/2021) Assistant Director – AFT Health Issues Department, AFT, based in Washington, DC [Headquarters] (Posted: 7/23/2021) Staff Representative – AFT-WV/Professional Educators Group (PEG) Project (two positions), based in Charleston, WV (Posted: 7/27/2021) Executive Director, FCFT/AFT, based in Springfield, VA (Posted: 7/30/2021) UniServ Director, MSEA, based in Allegany and Garrett Counties (Posted: 7/29/2021) UniServ Director, MSEA, based in Baltimore County (Posted: 7/29/2021) Union Staff, NNU (Posted: 8/1/2021) Staff Representative, OPEIU 2, based out of Silver Spring, MD (Posted: 7/30/2021) SMART Membership and Skills Video, SMART, Journey level and Apprenticeship opportunities (Posted: 8/1/2021) Co-Director for Equality and Inclusion, Solidarity Center, based in Washington, DC (currently remote) (Posted: 8/2/2021) Executive Director, TABCO, based in Towson, MD (Posted: 7/20/2021)
Organizing Organizer – Organizing & Field Services, AFSCME, based in Washington, DC [Headquarters] (Posted: 7/23/2021) Lead Organizer, Green Workers Alliance, based in Washington, DC (with extensive travel to other parts of the country) (Posted: 7/29/2021) Organizer, Green Workers Alliance, based in Washington, DC (with extensive travel to other parts of the country) (Posted: 7/29/2021) Associate Organizers, IAM, based in the Southern Territory (AL, AR, FL, GA, KS, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, OK, TN, VA, PR and VI) (Posted: 8/2/2021) Organizer, LIUNA-MAROC, based in Richmond, VA (Posted: 7/29/2021) Union Organizer-in-Training (OIT) – Higher Education Campaign, SEIU, based in Rockville, MD (Posted: 7/29/2021) Project Organizer – Higher Education, UE, various locations available (Posted: 7/20/2021) Senior Organizer – States Power Building Team, UFR, may be worked from anywhere in the United States (remote) (Posted: 7/20/2021) Temporary Organizing Specialist / Fairfax – Organizing And Field Support, VEA, based primarily in the Fairfax, VA area (Posted: 8/3/2021)
Political Director of Politics and Policy, UFR, this position is remote but Washington, DC location is a plus (Posted: 7/20/2021)
Research Strategic Researchers and Organizers, AFL-CIO, available in various locations (Posted: 7/29/2020) Senior Associate – Research & Strategic Initiatives Department, AFT, based in Washington, DC [Headquarters] (Posted: 7/23/2021) Senior Research Coordinator – United for Respect at Amazon, UFR, Location – Fully Remote (even post-pandemic) (Posted: 8/2/2021) Senior Research Coordinator – Wall Street Accountability Campaigns, UFR, Remote (NY/NJ, Washington DC, or Bay Area CA preferred) (Posted: 7/20/2021)
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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. DYANA FORESTER, PRESIDENT.
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