UNION CITY! 07/08/2010

TODAY'S LABOR NEWS  "Scabs Go Home" Say MCGEO Workers Restaurateur Hamdan Targeted For Failure To Pay Wages MD General Assembly Questionnaires Posted Online School Helps Union Women Learn History, Leadership Skills Today’s Labor History ON THE LINE Today, July 8 8A: Walk The Line With Striking Daycon Workers! Thursday, July 8, 2010 “SCABS GO HOME” SAY MCGEO WORKERS: Responding to recent attempts to raid UFCW 1994 MCGEO members by “decertified scab unions,” dozens of Montgomery County government workers hand-billed outside the Gaithersburg Holiday Inn during rush hour Wednesday afternoon. The presence of a giant inflatable rat on loan from the Laborers -- which has been on picket duty with striking Teamsters at Daycon for the last two months -- underlined the message of local union solidarity in the face of out-of-town interlopers. “They’re trying to poach our members,” said UFCW 1994 MCGEO Organizing Coordinator Amy Miller, pointing to the hotel where the Massachusetts and New York based NCEU and UPSEU “rogue unions” were attempting to hold a membership meeting. “These scavengers are nothing more than scabs and they need to go back where they came from.” Miller told Union City that the two groups have been decertified from some of their own units, have raided the Building Trades, IBEW, Laborers, Teamsters, SEIU and AFSCME and have been the target of several Labor Department audits citing “questionable practices and bookkeeping deficiencies.” Jamele McLaurin – a six-year member of UFCW 1994 MCGEO – told Union City, “This group is making impossible promises about wages and benefits that can’t be delivered on in a booming economy, let alone during a budget crisis.” He added, “They are going about their business in an underhanded and sneaky way- they’re essentially trying to steal us from our union. It’s unethical and it’s disgusting.” The UFCW 1994 MCGEO workers rallied for over 2 hours in the suffocating heat and humidity, clanging cow bells and waving signs at passing traffic that read, “NCEU, UPSEU Just Beat It!” McLaurin added, “I’m proud to be a member of my union- they fight hard for us every day and deliver on their commitment to bettering our workplace. We stand strong and united together.” – report by Adam Wright; photos by Boaz Young-El, AFL-CIO Union Summer Intern RESTAURATEUR HAMDAN TARGETED FOR FAILURE TO PAY WAGES: Moe Hamdan owes his workers more than $10,000. The owner of The Reserve restaurant is the target of a DC Jobs with Justice campaign to win back wages for DC workers. Hamdan has refused to meet with ex-workers who charge that he never paid them and D.C. Jobs with Justice delegation members, as well as ducking meetings with District wage and hour officials. The campaign will turn up the heat Friday with a picket at The Reserve. - Boaz Young-El, AFL-CIO Union Summer Intern; photo by Andy Richards MD GENERAL ASSEMBLY QUESTIONNAIRES POSTED ONLINE: Responses to the Metro Council's questionnaire by candidates running for office in the Maryland General Assembly have been posted online. This expands the existing candidate questionnaire postings, which now include DC City Council, Prince George's County Council and County Executive, Charles, St Mary's and Calvert County commissions. Email rpowell@dclabor.org for more information. SCHOOL HELPS UNION WOMEN LEARN HISTORY, LEADERSHIP SKILLS: Union women will learn how to "Run for Office, Not for Coffee" at this year's Southern School for Union Women, set for August 19-22 at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring. The school was created by and for union and community activists who support women’s advancement in the labor movement. Workshop topics include Women in Labor History, Women and Leadership, Money Matters and more. Due to the economic crisis, extra scholarships are available for local women, especially "those who are current activists, activists-in-training, and/or women who are currently in an organizing campaign," says the NLC's Elise Bryant. “I felt my confidence soar!” said a past participant in the school. For a complete description of the scholarships and course descriptions contact Bryant at ebryant@nlc.edu or Barbara Miller at bmiller@nlc.edu or 301-431-5449. - Boaz Young-El, AFL-CIO Union Summer Intern; image courtesy AFL-CIO TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY: First anthracite coal strike in U.S. (1842); Labor organizer Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor (r) born on Staten Island, NY. Among her activities: investigating child labor in glass factories and mines, and working undercover in meat packing plants to verify for federal investigators the nightmarish working conditions that author Upton Sinclair had revealed in "The Jungle" (1862); The Pacific Mail Steamship Co. fires all employees who had been working an eight hour day, then joins with other owners to form the "Ten-Hour League Society" for the purpose of uniting all mechanics "willing to work at the old rates, neither unjust to the laborers nor ruinous to the capital and enterprise of the city and state." The effort failed (1867); Founding convention of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W., or Wobblies) concludes in Chicago. Charles O. Sherman, a former American Federation of Labor organizer, is elected president (1905); More info & ammo for unionists is available online from Union Communication Services. - photo courtesy Marxists Internet Archive  Follow DC Labor on Twitter! http://www.twitter.com/dclabor Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit the Council as the source.   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. JOSLYN N. WILLIAMS, PRESIDENT.   Story suggestions, event announcements, campaign reports, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space, and should be directed to:   Editor: Chris Garlock Assistant Editor: Adam Wright streetheat@dclabor.org Voice: 202-974-8153 Fax: 202-974-8152 Forward UNION CITY! to all your friends and colleagues or click here to spread the word! 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