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Transit union welcomes Wiedefeld as MD Transportation secretary

Coalition urges legislative action to address Maryland's nursing crisis

Labor Photo: One day longer, one day stronger!

DMV unions help drive union organizing surge

Labor Quote

Today's Labor History

 

Today's Labor Calendar

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

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

Loudoun County Transit Strike Picket Line: Thu, January 26, 3:30am - 4:00pm
43031 Loudoun Center Place in Leesburg, VA ([link removed] map)

Action: ServeSafe Not So Safe: Thu, January 26, 12pm - 1pm
6301 Hillside Ct, Columbia, MD 21046 ([link removed] map)

All Workers are Workers: Union Organizing at Nonprofits: Thu, January 26, 12pm - 1pm

Economic Policy Institute 1225 Eye St. NW, Suite 600, Washingon, DC, xxxxxx ([link removed] map)
[link removed] RSVP HERE

Your Rights at Work radio show (WPFW 89.3FM): Thu, January 26, 1pm - 2pm
WPFW 89.3 FM or [link removed] listen online.

ARA's "Making Our Case: Best Practices for Lobbying Our Elected Officials"
Thu, January 26, 4pm - 5pm

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[link removed] NoVA Labor Pride at Work: Thu, January 26, 7:15pm - 8:15pm

Pride at Work is the AFL-CIO support and advocacy group for LGBTQ workers. Everyone is welcome!

Transit union welcomes Wiedefeld as MD Transportation secretary

ATU president Raymond Jackson was among those on hand for Tuesday's announcement at the State House of the appointment of Paul Wiedefeld as Maryland's Transportation secretary. "When Paul was General Manager at WMATA, he and I were able to work together to keep Washington DC's transit system one of the best in North America," said Jackson. "I look forward to continuing to work with him and Governor Moore to make sure that Maryland has a world-class transit network that is excellent for workers and riders alike." In addition to serving as GM for WMATA, Wiedefeld also worked for years for various agencies under the MDOT umbrella. "As a leader in the transportation sector, Paul has proven to be a thoughtful and decisive leader who knows how to make tough choices and necessary choices in order to advance progress," Governor Moore said. "I congratulate you for selecting this fine man here, who I consider a real friend of labor," Jackson told Moore. Among those joining Moore, Wiedefeld and Jackson at Tuesday's news conference was Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D), a retired transportation engineer and MWC President Dyana Forester.[link removed] Read more here.

photo by Dyana Forester

Coalition urges legislative action to address Maryland's nursing crisis

"Care is political; a majority of the workforce in long term care are women of color who are overworked and underpaid," said 1199 SEIU Maryland/DC Political Director Riccara Jones at yesterday's Caring Across Maryland press conference in Annapolis with legislators, advocates and caregivers to highlight proposed legislation to address Maryland's crisis in nursing and improve care and workplace benefits. "How can patients have quality care when workers are understaffed?" Jones asked. "It's time for Maryland to invest in our care workforce." "We try our best," said Cynthia Neely, a CNA and home care aide in Maryland. "But we can't do everything these older patients need and deserve. It's so frustrating. They're not happy and their families are upset. It's time for Maryland to take action." If you care about improving conditions for home health care nursing home workers in Maryland, follow @CaringAcrossMd #CareCantWaitMD #CareWorkers #carecantwait #MDGA23


Labor Photo: One day longer, one day stronger!

"Loudounhttps://twitter.com/ATULocal689 @ATULocal689 workers are STANDING STRONG on the picket line in their fight for a fair contract," tweeted AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler yesterday. "Hold the line! One day longer, one day stronger![link removed] #1u"

The picket line runs M-F 3:30 am to 4 pm. at 43031 Loudoun Center Place in Leesburg, VA.

DMV unions help drive union organizing surge
By Dyana Forester
Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its annual report on union membership. On its face, the report may appear alarming, reporting a decline in union destiny, but further analysis and considering the growing public favorability of unions paint a more hopeful picture.

Here are some essential factors for our Jurisdiction-Maryland's unionized workforce have increased by 40,000, and Union affiliation has surged among people of color, Generation X, and the public sector.

Though the report shows a decline in union affiliation in the District of Columbia and the private sector, our local unions have ramped up their efforts to meet this challenge. With the robust efforts of our affiliates to organize unrepresented workers, we are hopeful about the future of organized labor. Over the past year, UFCW 400 organized seven workplaces covering 260 workers' including workers at Politics and Prose, Union Kitchen, Kaiser Permanente, MOM's Organic Market, La Colombe Coffee Roasters, Zen Leaf, and Potomac Holistics. IATSE Local 22 has organized community theatres, including 40 at the Signature Theatre and more than 60 at the Shakespeare Theatre. Local Apple workers have joined the Machinists, non-profit workers have joined OPEIU 2 and NPEU, and workers in Congress have organized the Congressional Workers Union. Many of these worksites were previously viewed as non-traditional organizing targets, but we believe every worker deserves a voice on the job.


Between 2021-2022, OPEIU Local 2 organized about 1,000 workers at area non-profits, including the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), DC SAFE, Defenders of Wildlife, The Public Interest Network, EMILY's List, MADRE, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). "Contract bargaining is now underway as our new members fight to secure their rights and build a powerful coalition of unionized nonprofit employees under OPEIU's Nonprofit Employees United (NEU), a growing initiative that brings member leaders together to improve their workplaces as a united front," reports Local 2's Michael Spiller.


"The momentum of the moment we are in is clear," said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. "Organizing victories are happening in every industry, public and private, and every sector of our economy all across the country. The wave of organizing will continue to gather steam in 2023 and beyond despite broken labor laws that rig the system against workers." [link removed] Read more on the AFL-CIO blog.


Labor Quote: Samuel Gompers

"Our movement is of the working people, for the working people, by the working people. . . . There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too long endured that we are not determined to abolish."
Samuel Gompers, first AFL president, was born in London, England on this date in 1850. He emigrated to the U.S. as a youth.

Today's Labor History

This week's Labor History Today podcast: [link removed] Bill Lucy on MLK; Shubert Sebree on Debs. Last week's show: [link removed] Strong Winds and Widow Makers.

In what could be considered the first workers' compensation agreement in America, pirate Henry Morgan pledges his underlings 600 pieces of eight or six slaves to compensate for a lost arm or leg. Also part of the pirate's code, reports Roger Newell: shares of the booty were equal regardless of race or sex, and shipboard decisions were made collectively. - 1695

The Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America is chartered by the American Federation of Labor to organize "every wage earner from the man who takes the bullock at the house until it goes into the hands of the consumer." - 1987

Workers win a two-day sitdown strike at the Brooklyn electric plant that powers the city's entire subway system - 1937

David Prosten

 

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Published by the Metropolitan Washington Labor Council, an AFL-CIO "Union City" Central Labor Council whose 200 affiliated union locals represent 150,000 area union members. DYANA FORESTER, PRESIDENT.

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