Honoring Msgr. George Higgins: Sun, May 1, 11am – 1pm
St. Matthew’s Cathedral, 1725 Rhode Island Ave NW in Washington DC. (map)

May Day Rally and March: Sun, May 1, 1pm – 4pm
Malcolm X Park (16th and Euclid St NW, Washington DC) to The White House (map)

Excluded Worker May Day for the New Labor Movement! Sun, May 1, 3pm – 6pm
Columbia Heights Civic Plaza
Excluded Workers are rallying this May Day! We're inviting the whole DC community to show up in support and solidarity to uplift the struggles of excluded workers and the fight for $160 million in cash assistance.

FILM: THE WOBBLIES: Sun, May 1, 5:30pm – 7:00pm
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
INFO/TICKETS Opening Night of the 2022 DC Labor FilmFest!

The Future We Need: A Book Launch and Discussion: Mon, May 2, 11:00am – 12:30pm
In-person and virtual book launch of The Future We Need: Organizing for a Better Democracy in the Twenty-First Century, written by Erica Smiley and Sarita Gupta.

Honoring Msgr. George Higgins: Mon, May 2, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
AFL-CIO Headquarters, 815 16th St. NW in Washington DC.
Space is limited, please register to attend in-person using this link.

Labor Night at the Nats: Fri, June 10, 7:05pm – 11:00pm
$17.00 per ticket; CSA will receive $2.00 per ticket sold.
Click the link for a home run and purchase tickets: Josh Grohs, Account Executive, Group Sales (o) 202-640-7714 or [email protected]

CLICK HERE to listen to this week’s Your Rights At Work, Killed at Work, plus remembering labor priest Monsignor George Higgins and filmmaker Deborah Shaffer on “The Wobblies.”

New America staff union receives voluntary recognition
New America on April 22 officially recognized New America United (NAU) as the union representing over 65 staff at the organization. “We look forward to working with leadership on a contract that supports our collective aspirations and lays the groundwork for a more inclusive and vibrant New America,” the NAU organizing committee wrote. “New America deeply values its employees and supports the right to organize,” said New America CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter and New America President & Chief Transformation Officer Paul Butler. NAU is part of NPEU, the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union. Read more here.

“Get serious,” transit union urges DC Circulator operator
Saying that RATP Dev “consistently acts in bad faith making productive negotiations almost impossible,” ATU Local 689 reacted negatively yesterday to DDOT’s press release calling for both parties to remain at the bargaining table. RATP manages the DC Circulator, whose drivers earlier this month authorized a strike in frustration over the lack of progress on a contract. “DDOT would better use its influence by calling on RATP Dev to get serious about bargaining in good faith and put real money on the table,” said the union. “We haven’t left the table and don’t plan on leaving the table.”

DCNA strike makes AFL-CIO’s Daily Brief
“Really it comes down to respect and dignity for our workers, our long-term workers. Many of them, the vast majority who are women, the vast majority who are women of color. And we have tried to engage management time and again,” DCNA-NNU executive director Edward Smith said in a report published yesterday in the AFL-CIO’s Daily Brief newsletter. Members of the District of Columbia Nurses Association-NNU (DCNA-NNU) held a one-day strike earlier this month to demand a fair contract from their employer, Howard University Hospital. Despite months of bargaining for a successor agreement, management has so far refused to offer adequate pay and safe staffing levels that these health care workers and their patients deserve. Following the strike, the union remains optimistic that management will return to the bargaining table.

Tell Howard University Hospital to give DCNA-NNU members the respect they and their patients deserve.

IUOE 99 apprenticeship apps
Applications for the IUOE Local 99 Apprenticeship Program will be accepted May 2—6. Applications must be completed in person by the applicant at Engineer Center, 9315 Largo Drive West, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Applicants MUST wear a mask at all times, while inside the facility. $35 application fee includes drug screen. Click here for additional information. Equal Opportunity M/F

Solidarity Center Report: Myanmar Union Activists Assaulted, Detained by Military

Two women union activists in Myanmar were assaulted and arrested late last week after the taxi they were traveling in was rammed by a military vehicle in eastern Yangon. They were taken to an interrogation center. Under the junta, physical torture, including sexual assault, is widespread weapon against dissent. The activists were part of a rally to urge a return to democratic rule. Find out more at Solidarity Center.

Today’s Labor Quote: Deborah Shaffer

“Documentaries have to be just as entertaining as any movie. They have to make you laugh, they have to make you cry, they have to make you feel. They have to make you care about the people that they are about.”

Shaffer, co-director of The Wobblies, will be on hand for a Q&A after Sunday’s 5:30 DC Labor FilmFest Opening Night screening of the film at AFI Silver. Tickets/Info here.

TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY

This week’s Labor History Today podcast: The death of “Big Steve” Sutton; Last week's show: Working on Earth Day.

April 29
Coxey’s Army of 500 unemployed civil war veterans reaches Washington, DC – 1894

When their demand that only union men be employed was refused, members of the Western Federation of Miners dynamited and destroyed the $250,000 mill of the Bunker Hill Company at Wardner, Idaho – 1899

April 30
An explosion at the Everettville mine in Everettville, W. Va., kills 109 miners, many of whom lie in unmarked graves to this day – 1927

Obama Administration’s National Labor Relations Board implements new rules to speed up unionization elections. New rules are largely seen as a counter to employer manipulation of the law to prevent workers from unionizing. These rules were subsequently undone under the Trump administration in December 2019. – 2012

May 1
Eight-hour day demonstration in Chicago and other cities begins tradition of May Day as international labor holiday – 1886

Mother Jones’ 100th birthday celebrated at the Burgess Farm in Adelphi, Md. She died six months later – 1930

Rallies in cities across the U.S. for what organizers call “A Day Without Immigrants.” An estimated 100,000 immigrants and sympathizers gathered in San Jose, Calif., 200,000 in New York, 400,000 each in Chicago and Los Angeles. In all, there were demonstrations in at least 50 cities - 2006

- David Prosten

Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit Union City as the source.

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.

Story suggestions, event announcements, campaign reports, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space; just click on the mail icon below. You can also reach us on Facebook and Twitter by clicking on those icons.

You are receiving this email because our records indicate that [email protected] signed up to receive this newsletter. Click here to edit your subscription preferences