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DC-area Starbucks workers join national strike

Post publisher drops layoff bombshell on staff

Brockington fundraiser not there yet

Labor Quote

Today's Labor History

 

Today's Labor Calendar

[link removed] Click here for the complete calendar and details. Got something to add or update? Email us at mailto:[email protected] [email protected].

Union City Radio: 7:15am, WPFW-FM 89.3 FM

2-minute audio version of the Metro Washington Labor Council's Union City newsletter.

Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO 2023 MD General Assembly Legislative Conference
Mon, December 19, 9am - 3pm
IBEW Local 24 Union Hall 2701 West Patapsco Avenue Baltimore, Maryland 21230 ([link removed] map)

$30.00 (includes registration, holiday lunch and conference materials); contact Legislative and Political Director Brian Wivell at (240) 584-6720 or email mailto:[email protected] [email protected].

FILM: The Shadow of Gold: Mon, December 19, 7pm - 9pm

New Deal Cafe, 113 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770, USA ([link removed] map)
Global investigation of how the world's favorite heavy metal is extracted from the earth. The film is screened in-house and via zoom. [link removed] Prior registration is required for virtual attendees.


Metro Washington Council Delegate meeting (NEW LINK!): Tue, December 20, 5pm - 7pm
[link removed] REGISTER HERE

DC-area Starbucks workers join national strike

Workers at three DMV-area Starbucks were among those joining last weekend's nationwide `Double Down Strike', including one in Olney and two in Baltimore. Starting last Friday, around 100 [link removed] Starbucks union stores and over 1,000 union baristas struck for three days in the longest collective action in the campaign's history, "the latest escalation against Starbucks' ruthless campaign of anti-union bullying." "Starbucks sent a clear message when they closed the Broadway and Denny store," said Michelle Eisen, a barista from the Elmwood location, who was recently named one of [link removed] Bloomberg's 50 most influential people of the year. "They're doubling down on their union-busting, so we're doubling down, too. We're demanding fair staffing, an end to store closures, and that Starbucks bargain with us in good faith."

photo: The DC Labor Chorus, DSA Metro and metro-area Amazon workers on the picket line at the Olney Starbucks yesterday. photo courtesy MARJB Workers United.

Post publisher drops layoff bombshell on staff

When Washington Post workers came the Post's town hall last Wednesday with questions about recent layoffs and the future of the company, "Our publisher dropped a bombshell on us by announcing more layoffs and then walking out, refusing to answer any of our questions," [link removed] tweeted the Washington Post Guild. A number of the Post's star reporters -- including Josh Dawsey, Ashley Parker, Tyler Pager and Shane Harris -- subsequently decided to join the paper's union after the town hall, [link removed] reported Axios. "The assembled crowd, which oozed out of the conference space into the surrounding corridor, felt snookered by an hour of happy talk punctuated by a gut punch," [link removed] reported Erik Wemple, the Washington Post's media critic.


Brockington fundraiser not there yet

The effort to [link removed] raise funds for the funeral of labor activist - and former MWC Board member -- Donna Brockington still has a way to go, with almost $3,600 raised towards the $11,000 goal. At the time of her passing last month, Brockington served as the secretary for her local union, AFGE Local 32 and as an officer with Council 1 of AFGE's District 14. She was the immediate past president of the Metropolitan D.C. Area Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (Metro DC CLUW) and still served on the chapter's board. "Any assistance is greatly appreciated," says Metro DC CLUW President Chelsea Bland. [link removed] Click here for details on how to contribute.


Labor Quote: J.J. Richards

"Our drivers are angry. We're mad."

Richard is an Executive Board Member at ATU Local 1493 in Roanoke, VA; drivers there picketed recently to raise the alarm about the poor condition of Valley Metro.

Today's Labor History

This week's Labor History Today podcast: [link removed] Red Jerseys in Detroit. Last week's show: [link removed] Julia Reichert: "Documentarian of the Working Class".

An explosion in the Darr Mine in Westmoreland Co., Penn. kills 239 coal miners. 71 of the dead share a common grave in Olive Branch Cemetery. Dec 1907, was the worst month in US coal mining history, with over 3,000 dead - 1907

A 47-day strike at Greyhound Bus Lines ends with members of the Amalgamated Transit Union accepting a new contract containing deep cuts in wages and benefits. Striker Ray Phillips died during the strike, run over on a picket line by a scab Greyhound trainee - 1983

26 men and 1 woman are killed in the Wilberg Coal Mine Disaster near Orangeville, Utah. The disaster has been termed the worst coal mine fire in the state's history. Federal mine safety officials issued 34 safety citations after the disaster but had inspected the mine only days before and declared it safe - 1984

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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