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Buffalo workers vote in first-ever Starbucks union

Fighting colonialism in Williamsburg

Kellogg's strikers reject deal

MD House OKs USM collective bargaining

TweetWatch: @Virginia_AFLCIO

D.C. Labor Chorus Winter Concert

Today's Labor Quote

Today's Labor History

 

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LABOR CALENDAR; click here for latest listings

NOTE: Union City is appearing on Fridays this month; December 10, 17 & 24. Follow our [link removed] Twitter and [link removed] Facebook feeds for breaking news.

Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; [link removed] click here to hear today's report

[link removed] George Mason University Worker Rights Coalition: Fri, December 10, 12pm - 1pm
Coalition of faculty, students, alumni, employees and contract workers at GMU.

[link removed] "Striketober" and "The Great Resignation": Putting the Current Labor Upheaval in Historical Context: Fri, December 10, 8:00pm - 9:30pm
The East Side Freedom Library invites you to "Striketober" and "The Great Resignation": Putting the Current Labor Upheaval in Historical Context, a conversation with labor historian Gabriel Winant.

[link removed] D.C. Labor Chorus Concert * Live-streamed: Sun, December 12, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Free, but donations gratefully accepted. [link removed] RSVP HERE. For more info: 202-637-3963

[link removed] DC COPE meeting: Tue, December 14, 2pm - 4pm

[link removed] Special meeting of the International Solidarity Committee: Tue, December 14, 6pm - 7pm
Speakers on exciting new developments in the Mexican labor movement and how we can help.

[link removed] FILM: Luzzo (Labor Films at the AFI EU Film Showcase): Wed, December 15, 2:30pm - 4:30pm & Thu, December 16, 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, December 16, 1pm - 2pm: WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online.

Baltimore Labor Council meeting: Thu, December 16, 7pm - 9pm
Email for call-in details:
mailto:[email protected] [email protected]

[link removed] NoVA Labor monthly meeting: Thu, December 16, 7pm - 9pm

Missed this week's Your Rights At Work radio show? [link removed] Catch the podcast here.
We go live to Battle Creek, Michigan to get an update from Trevor Bidelman, president of Baker's Local 3G on why Kellogg's strikers rejected the latest contract offer. Then, teaching history shouldn't have to mean re-living it on the job. Workers at Colonial Williamsburg are being worked to the bone, says their union, UNITE HERE Local 25; Benjy Cannon reports. The ongoing strike wave reminds many of [link removed] The Labor Upsurge of the 1930s and '40s in the United States; we talk to political scientist Michael Goldfield about lessons for today. Plus, Before The Fall, a brand-new song from the R.J. Phillips Band, and callers on a range of workplace issues.

Buffalo workers vote in first-ever Starbucks union
In a historic victory for the labor movement, workers have voted to form the first-ever Starbucks union in the country after facing [link removed] tough opposition and union-busting efforts from the company. Workers at the Elmwood location in Buffalo voted 19 to 8 in favor of unionizing under Starbucks Workers United, which is under the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
TruthOut; [link removed] read more here.

Fighting colonialism in Williamsburg

"Their bodies are breaking down," said UNITE HERE Local 25 Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Boardman, talking about how a shameful history is repeating itself in Colonial Williamsburg. Workers there are working six to seven days a week, and just like in colonial times, says Boardman, many of the workers are Black. Poor treatment of workers "is the history of Colonial Williamsburg, which is what is so disturbing," he added. Teaching history shouldn't have to mean re-living it on the job, says the union, and they're urging calls to Williamsburg - 757-220-7201 - to say you support the fight for fair working conditions and a fair union contract.

THIS JUST IN: On Saturday, December 11th, workers from the Williamsburg Inn and Lodge, Chowning's Tavern, and King's Arms Tavern will picket and call for a boycott of these properties until the labor dispute is resolved. More details to follow on the timing and location of the picket lines; follow [link removed] @dclabor
on Twitter.

Kellogg's strikers reject deal

Members of the Bakery workers on strike against Kellogg's have overwhelmingly voted to reject the tentative agreement reached last week. "The members have spoken," said Bakers' president Anthony Shelton, adding, "The strike continues." Shelton said that the Bakers are "grateful for the outpouring of fraternal support we received from across the labor movement for our striking members at Kellogg's. Solidarity is critical to this fight." Click here to hear BCTGM Local 3G president Trevor Bidelman on yesterday's Your Rights At Work radio show (WPFW 89.3FM, Thursdays 1-2p).


MD House OKs USM collective bargaining

AFSCME higher education members can finally bargain with the University System of Maryland directly for one master contract. Unions have been fighting for a consolidated bargaining process for years, saying the existing system is inefficient and expensive, and Maryland House lawmakers on Monday night voted to do just that. "Our leaders and members are anxious to get started on fixing inequities that are throughout the university system, including those around health safety, workers rights and pay equity," said AFSCME Council 3 spokesman Stuart Katzenberg.


TweetWatch: [link removed] @Virginia_AFLCIO

(12/8) BREAKING NEWS: Loudoun County employees win a strong collective bargaining ordinance! Our essential county workers deserve a seat at the table to strengthen their wages, benefits, working conditions, and the public services they provide. I'm proud to support their fight.

D.C. Labor Chorus Winter Concert

Join the D.C. Labor Chorus on Sunday, December 12 from 4:00 - 5:30 PM

for a concert of some of their favorite songs, "selections from folk, gospel, jazz, seasonal, and labor traditions, including new songs inspired by recent events." The Chorus is made up of labor and community activists who love to sing for peace, for joy, and a belief in the power of song to touch hearts and minds. "You'll leave inspired and energized!" they promise. Live‐streamed from Blue House Productions. [link removed] Register for tickets here [link removed] or call 202-637-3963.

Today's labor quote: Linda Pusey

"I love my job, but like I said I want my job to respect and love us back."

Pusey is a Colonial Williamsburg worker and UNITE HERE 25 member who's worked in the area's hospitality industry for more than 30 years.

TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY

This week's Labor History Today podcast: This week's show: [link removed] Founding the American Federation of Labor. [link removed] Last week's show: [link removed] Long live Mother Jones!

December 10

First sit-down strike in U.S. called by IWW at General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y. - 1906

International Human Rights Day, commemorating the signing at the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, in part: "Everyone has the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests" - 1948

American Federation of Teachers Local 89 in Atlanta, Georgia disaffiliates from the national union because of an AFT directive that all its locals integrate. A year later, the AFT expelled all locals that refused to do so - 1956

Cesar Chavez jailed for 14 days for refusing to end United Farm Workers' lettuce boycott - 1970

December 11

A small group of black farmers organize the Colored Farmers' National Alliance and Cooperative Union in Houston County, Texas. They had been barred from membership in the all-white Southern Farmers' Alliance. Through intensive organizing, along with merging with another black farmers group, the renamed Colored Alliance by 1891 claimed a membership of 1.2 million - 1886

Ten days after an Illinois State mine inspector approved coal dust removal techniques at New Orient mine in West Frankfort, the mine exploded, largely because of coal dust accumulations, killing 119 workers - 1951

Forty thousand workers go on general strike in London, Ontario--a city with a population of 300,000--protesting cuts in social services - 1995

December 12

A U.S. immigration sweep of six Swift meat plants results in arrests of nearly 1,300 undocumented workers - 2006

- 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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