THIS WEEK'S LABOR CALENDAR; click here for latest listings
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report
Building a Just Economy: Insights from Worker Center Leaders: Tue, August 31, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
Register HERE
NoVA Labor Volunteer Phone Bank: Tue, August 31, 6pm – 8pm
We will be calling fellow union members and reminding them about registering to vote and early voting opportunities. Register in advance.
Wednesdays with Warner for the PRO Act: Wed, September 1, 8:15am – 9:15am
Two locations! Picnic table at Windmill Hill Park, 500 South Lee St., Alexandria at 8:15 am. The Painters Union will hold up their banner outside the Senator's district office at 8000 Towers Crescent Drive, Vienna at 8:30 am. Contact [email protected] and [email protected] for details.
Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, September 2, 1pm – 2pm
WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online.
Arlington Dems Labor Caucus: Thu, September 2, 6pm – 8pm
Meeting of union members and friends of labor in Arlington.
For more information contact [email protected].
Working In DC (Previews): Fri-Sun, September 3-5, 7:30pm – 9:00pm
AFL-CIO, 815 Black Lives Matter Plaza NW, Washington, DC xxxxxx, USA (map)
Richmond Nabisco workers join strike
Hundreds of workers at the Nabisco plant in Richmond, VA have gone on strike, joining workers in five other states. Bakery Workers union members (BCTGM Local 358) rejected the company’s demand that they work longer hours for less pay. Workers have been taking 16-hour shifts during the pandemic, and the union objects to the company's demands for concessions while their CEO is making almost $17 million a year and the Mondelez corporation, valued at $86.5 billion, reported a 12 percent revenue gain for the most recent quarter. The workers also want their pensions restored and an end to the outsourcing of their jobs.
Support the strike:
-- Contribute to the strike fund
-- Join the picket line, running 24/7 at 6002 Laburnum Ave. in Henrico County, VA. RSVP to [email protected] if you want to join a NoVA Labor delegation during Labor Day week.
- Virginia Diamond, NoVA Labor
Labor adds voice to call for voting rights
Thousands rallied Saturday at the March On for Voting Rights in DC and more than 95 events across the country. Labor – including DC-area locals – turned out to add their voices to the call for expanded voting rights for all. “Here in the nation’s capital we are committed to putting boots on the ground to protect every American’s right to vote as well as statehood for District voters,” said Metro Washington Labor Council president Dyana Forester. Check out the livestream of the DC event here and you can pledge to protect voting rights by going to votingrightspledge.org or texting PLEDGE to 89799.
NewsGuild urges support for Afghani journalists
The NewsGuild and four other media unions last week urged President Biden to support journalists, support staff and families who are desperately trying to flee Afghanistan. “Journalists from Afghanistan and many countries are being directly targeted by forces interested in controlling dissent and the flow of information,” the union said. “Over the past few days, more than 140 media outlets have either been closed or forcibly turned over to Taliban control. Women journalists are being banned from working and many are fearful for their lives. To support journalists in danger, The NewsGuild is donating $2,500 to the International Federation of Journalists Safety Fund, which gives grants to journalists needing emergency assistance. CWA Canada also pledged $1,000.
In Memoriam: Bill Boarman
William J. Boarman, retired head of the Printing Sector of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), died on Sunday, August 22nd. He was 75. Boarman began his career as a proofreader at the GPO and eventually moved up to Linotype operator. He quickly became a shop steward and at age 30 was elected president of the Columbia Typographical Union, Local 101, his home local and a craft union that traces its beginning to before the Civil War. He also served on the Metro Washington Labor Council’s Executive Board. A fierce advocate for worker rights, Boarman attended labor rallies across the country, marching with Cesar Chavez in San Diego in 1990 and with Richard Trumka at the Detroit News strike in 1996. Read more here.
Services will be held Tuesday, August 31 at 11am at Our Lady of the Fields Roman Catholic Church, 1070 Cecil Avenue, Millersville, MD, 21108. The service will be livestreamed here.
Today's Labor Quote: Lisa Gregory
Striking Nabisco workers "decided this was their time to stand up together and fight, and that's exactly what they've done coast to coast."
Lisa Gregory is East-Central Regional Representative for the BCTGM -- the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union -- hear her on last Thursday's edition of Your Rights At Work on WPFW 89.3FM.
This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Marching on Washington: civil rights to voting rights. Last week's show: Sacco and Vanzetti; Midnight in Vehicle City.
John Reed forms the Communist Labor Party in Chicago. The Party’s motto: "Workers of the world unite!" - 1919
10,000 striking miners began a fight at Blair Mountain, W.Va., for recognition of their union, the UMWA. Federal troops were sent in, and miners were forced to withdraw 5 days later, after 16 deaths - 1921
The Trade Union Unity League is founded as an alternative to the American Federation of Labor, with the goal of organizing along industrial rather than craft lines. An arm of the American Communist Party, the League claimed 125,000 members before it dissolved in the late 1930s - 1929
Solidarity workers movement founded as a strike coordination committee at Lenin Shipyards, Gdansk, Poland. The strike launched a wave of unrest in the Soviet Union that ultimately led to its dissolution in 1991 - 1980
325,000 unionists gathered in Washington, D.C. for a Solidarity Day march and rally for workplace fairness and healthcare reform - 1991
Detroit teachers begin what is to become a nine day strike, winning smaller class sizes and raises of up to four percent - 1999
- 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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