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UNFI to sell or close 17 stores: Union vows to protect workers

Fairfax Connector workers strike over for now

Coalition forms to repeal VA Right to Work

Jews United for Justice Unionizes with NPEU

Today's Labor Quote

Today's Labor History

LABOR CALENDAR; [link removed] click here for latest listings

Union City Radio: 7:15am M-F; [link removed] WPFW 89.3FM

Transdev bus driver picket line (ATU 689): Daily 4:00am - 5:00pm
Gates of the Cinder Bed Road Division, 7901 Cinder Bed Road, Lorton, VA
Show your support for the strike: [link removed] download the sign here, post on Twitter and tag @ATULocal689.

The right to strike: A panel discussion: Mon, December 9, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
AFL-CIO, 815 16th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
[link removed] RSVP HERE

Film: Medicare for All! Mon, December 9, 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Busboys and Poets, 235 Carroll St NW, Washington, DC 20012
Activist Ady Barkan interviews U.S. presidential candidates on health care, Medicare for All, and how to advance a just society. Join nurses, advocates, and interesting people in a discussion of how we can transform the U.S. healthcare system.
RSVP/more info, mailto:[email protected] [email protected]

2nd Tuesdays at PERB: Practical Tips for Engaging in Labor Relations; Tue, December 10, 10am - 12pm
1100 Fourth Street, SW Room 630E, Washington, DC

Pay Stub Clinic: Tue, December 10, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Bread for the City, 1525 7th St NW #3201, Washington, DC 20001
[link removed] RSVP HERE

Alexandria Dems Labor Caucus: Tue, December 10, 7:30pm - 9:00pm

618 N Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Special guest: Paul Smedberg, chair of the WMATA Board.

UNFI to sell or close 17 stores: Union vows to protect workers
UFCW Local 400 reacted with shock and anger last Friday after UNFI announced plans to sell or close 17 Shoppers Food & Pharmacy stores.
The union - which represents workers at Shoppers -- had been pushing for more than a year for information on the fate of these stores, but, said Local 400 president Mark Federici, "UNFI has refused to provide us with any assurances that the hardworking men and women who have dedicated their careers to this company won't be left out in the cold. Now, in the midst of the holiday season, the company suddenly informs workers that their livelihoods are at risk," Federici said. "This is no way for a company to treat its employees or our communities, particularly during the holidays," he added. The union "will do whatever it takes to ensure our members land on their feet," said Federici. "We will fight to protect the rights of Shoppers workers under the law and our union contract. We will hold this company accountable to our community and ensure these locations remain strong union employers."

Fairfax Connector workers strike over for now
With their unfair labor practice strike sending a strong message to contractor Transdev and accelerating progress in negotiations, Fairfax Connector workers have decided to return to work, and the multinational company rescinded their threat to fire any workers who were on strike. "We still have items to negotiate, but our riders come first and foremost for us," said ATU International President John Costa. "We are going back to work because their support and that of elected officials and allies have helped us make significant advances at the table." Costa called the four-day strike "a victory, sending a loud and clear message to Transdev that we won't tolerate their unlawful tactics at the bargaining table. We do reserve the right to walk off the job again if the good faith bargaining by Transdev disappears." Costa added that the union is "very concerned that Transdev continues to bargain in bad faith with our Local 689 sisters and brothers at WMATA's Cinder Bed Road who have been on strike since October 24," noting that Transdev won't return to the bargaining table until December 18. "It's the holiday season and WMATA General Manager Paul Weidefeld is the grinch who is responsible for allowing Transdev to treat his employees with such disdain and disrespect," said Costa.

Coalition forms to repeal VA Right to Work
Barely a month after labor helped Democrats flip the Assembly in Virginia, more than 100 union organizers, activists, elected officials and community leaders crowded into the Shirlington Busboys and Poets Thursday night to form a coalition to repeal Virginia's Right to Work law. State Assembly delegates Lee Carter and Ibraheem S. Samirah and local electeds Mo Seifeldein (Alexandria), Rodney Lusk (Fairfax) and Kenny Boddye (Prince William) "all voiced full support for repealing this anti-worker law," said NoVA Labor president Virginia Diamond. They also discussed the racist origins of Virginia's Right to Work provision, which was enacted at the height of the Jim Crow era in 1947 and pushed by an avowed racist and white supremacist who was the chief lobbyist for the bill. "Virginia should bury this part of its past and join other blue states to protect one of our most important rights, the right to organize and collectively bargain," Diamond added.

Jews United for Justice Unionizes with NPEU

The employees of Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) on Thursday announced they're unionizing with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU). JUFJ management has voluntarily recognized its staff's union. "We have campaigned for the rights of all workers in Maryland and DC, including nonprofit employees," said Rianna Lloyd, JUFJ worker and NPEU member. "We know the importance of keeping dedicated, talented people on the job, and in negotiations we are going to focus on the well-being of JUFJ staff. We want to create a work environment that workers want to stay in." Jacob Feinspan, JUFJ Executive Director, said that "I'm excited to collaborate with the union to further strengthen the staff partnership within our organization, and build on the long Jewish tradition of proud support for organized labor." The JUFJ Union will now work with management to collectively bargain a union contract, focusing on ensuring transparency and equity in pay and workloads, and establishing clear procedures for feedback and discipline. Read more [link removed] here.

Today's Labor Quote: Mother Teresa

"I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?"

Today's Labor History
This week's [link removed] Labor History Today podcast: Collective actions
Working-class heroes organize Pecket Well College in England; Fannie Lou Hamer's Freedom Farms Cooperative (photo) in the Mississippi Delta. Plus this week's labor history highlights!
Last week's show: (12/1): [link removed] Making the Woman Worker

Ratification of a new labor agreement at Titan Tire of Natchez, Miss. ends the longest strike in the history of the U.S. tire industry, which began May 1, 1998 at the company's Des Moines, Iowa, plant - 2001

Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit Union City as the source for all news items and www.unionist.com as the source for Today's Labor History.

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. JACKIE JETER, PRESIDENT.

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