Union members across the DC region celebrate Labor Day
This is the September 4, 2024 edition of our twice-weekly newsletter about labor movement news in the DC region. Sign up to get our newsletters delivered straight to your inbox.
Union members in DC and Maryland celebrated Labor Day 2024 at events across the region. Clockwise from top right: Members of Steamfitters Local 602 attended the annual Labor Day Mass at St. Camillus Church in Silver Spring; members of IUPAT DC 51 participated in the Greenbelt Labor Day Parade; families enjoyed music and food at the NoVA Labor Picnic co-hosted by United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 197; and IBEW Local 26 joined the picnic along with Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney (pictured), U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, and several other elected leaders from across the region.
Hotel workers strike on Labor Day
Some 40,000 hotel workers represented by UNITE HERE are renegotiating contracts this year in more than 20 cities across the the U.S. and Canada. On Labor Day, more than 200 Hilton hotel workers in Baltimore with UNITE HERE Local 7 went on a one-day strike — the most recent salvo in an escalating conflict over wages and working conditions at the city-owned hotel.
UNITE HERE is calling on allies to sign a pledge to express your solidarity with hotel workers. Let workers know that if they're on strike or call for a boycott, you won't eat, sleep, meet at these hotels.
Recent News
Labor union popularity at near-record highs
Approval ratings for organized labor is at near-record highs after dipping slightly last summer during a number of high-profile strikes and work stoppages. “Americans know that unions give working people the freedom to get ahead,” American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Lee Saunders wrote in a Wednesday statement. Read more »
New research: Unions help shrink the public-sector pay gap
As AFSCME has been working on for years, state and local governments are facing staffing shortages as public-sector pay lags farther behind the pay of private-sector workers.
New research from the Economic Policy Institute finds that the pay gap is narrower in states where public employees have stronger collective bargaining rights. Strengthening collective bargaining rights for government workers would narrow the pay gap and reduce racial and gender inequality. Read more »
Staffer dismissal by the Washington Post will go before NLRB
A National Labor Relations Board judge will hear a complaint about the June 2022 firing of former Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez, according to a filing last week. The complaint is based on an unfair labor practice charge filed by the Washington-Baltimore News Guild in September 2022. Many unfair labor practice charges are filed every year with NLRB, but only a few result in complaints like this one being issued. Read more »
Contract fights continue for Washington Teachers' Union and Teamsters Local 639 at Airgas
Right: Washington Teachers' Union members at DC Public Schools wore #RedForEd last week to make it clear they want a fair contract now. Left: Teamsters Local 639 were standing strong on Day 8 of their strike for a good contract at Airgas.
Register now for CSA's 27th Annual Benefit Golf Tournament
The Community Services Agency's 27th Annual Golf Tournament is coming up in just under a month, on Monday, September 23 starting at 6:30 AM. Proceeds benefit the Emergency Assistance Fund for Union Members in Need and now is the time to register. Join us for this year's tournament.