Today’s Labor Calendar
Click here for the complete calendar and details. Got something to add or update? Email us at [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.
AFGE Federal Worker Pay Increase Rally: Tue, February 14, 12pm – 1pm
Taft Memorial Carillon, New Jersey Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20001 (map)
AFGE will be calling on Congress to pass the FAIR Act, which will provide a much needed 8.7% pay increase for federal workers. If you can’t join in person, please take one minute to send a letter to your lawmakers telling them to support the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act.
Arts Union Caucus: Tue, February 14, 3pm – 4pm
Meeting for unions representing broadcast and performing arts.
Rally for Loudoun County Transit Workers (ATU 689): Tue, February 14, 5pm – 6pm
Loudoun County Government Center at 1 Harrison St SE in Leesburg VA (map) |
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“Keolis Has No Heart”: Striking Loudoun County transit workers to rally on Valentine’s Day
Demanding Loudoun County Supervisors levy fines against Keolis for missed service and bargain in good faith to end the month-long strike, ATU Local 689 Loudoun County Transit workers and allies will hold a "Keolis Has No Heart” Valentine’s Day rally today at 5pm outside the Board of Supervisors Finance and Government Operations Committee meeting (see Calendar for details). The announcement came yesterday as part of a rising tide of unrest from Keolis workers in Northern Virginia and around the country. Early Monday morning, members of Teamsters Local 639 at Keolis Transportation in Prince William County officially began their own strike. Keolis additionally had to recently pull out of Las Vegas, Nevada, altogether and lost a contract in Raleigh, North Carolina. Teamsters Local 533 in Reno, Nevada, also had to go on strike three times to secure a fair contract. “Keolis has no heart,” said ATU International President John Costa. “For over a month now, Keolis has left our members and riders out in the cold.” “It is crystal clear to all of us that Keolis is trying to crush our members at any cost,” said ATU Local 689 President Raymond Jackson. “The Board has to do the right thing and fine Keolis or else it will continue to abuse the riding public and workers all over Northern Virginia and this country.”
photo: Loudoun County transit worker (ATU 689) joins the Prince William County transit worker picket line (Teamsters Local 639) on Monday. |
Jeremy Black scholarship fund applications open
Applications for the Jeremy Black scholarship fund – open to students in DC's Wards 5, 7 and 8 who have been impacted by gun violence – are now being accepted. Jerry Black, husband of AFL-CIO International Director Cathy Feingold, passed away from gun violence in 2021 and Feingold worked with the TraRon Center to lift up Black’s life and legacy through the Fund. The scholarship is for high school students who have lost a loved one to gun violence and who plan to continue their post-high school education. Email [email protected] for an application and/or more information. Deadline to apply is April 21. To make a donation to the Jeremy Black Scholarship Fund please click here.
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Solidarity Center Report: Tunisian Call Center Workers Win Big Pay Boost
Tunisian workers at the call center giant Teleperformance Foundation won big pay and benefit gains in a new contract negotiated by the Informational Technology and Services union. Effective in March, the agreement includes wage increases between 9.5 percent and 13 percent, depending on seniority, and a 250 Tunisian dinar ($83) May Day bonus, a first in Tunisia’s private sector. “This agreement comes as one of the successes that the sector and the Teleperformance Company have reaped, and is a positive message to our counterparts among call center workers that we invite them to organize more,” says Ali Ourak, general secretary of the Informational Technology and Services union. Read or listen to the full story at Solidarity Center.
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Labor Quote: AFL-CIO Valentine |
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Today’s Labor History
This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Domestic worker, Mother of the Movement. Last week’s show: Reconciling a Slaveholding Past. Western Federation of Miners strike for 8-hour day – 1903
President Theodore Roosevelt creates the Department of Commerce and Labor. It was divided into two separate government departments ten years later – 1903
Striking workers at Detroit’s newspapers, out since the previous July, offer to return to work. The offer is accepted five days later but the newspapers vow to retain some 1,200 scabs. A court ruling the following year ordered as many as 1,100 former strikers reinstated – 1996
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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