| Thursday, August 12, 2010
NEW UFCW 400 PRESIDENT MCNUTT BUILDING FOR POWER: “There is power in numbers,” said Thomas P. McNutt (r) upon taking office as UFCW L ocal 400 President. “We are going to grow our union in order to strengthen our power to improve our members’ lives. The more our union grows, the more clout we have at the bargaining table and in the corridors of power." McNutt -- elected by the Local 400 Executive Board to fill the remainder of retiring President Jim Lowthers’ term -- was sworn in May 4 and is profiled in the most recent edition of Local 400's "Union Leader." Added new Secretary-Treasurer Mark Federici, “We are going to be aggressive in maximizing every opportunity to win gains for our members at the bargaining table, in Congress and the state legislatures, and in every other venue.” Federici was previously Local 400’s executive assistant to the president and director of strategic programs. McNutt has been a UFCW member since 1975 and a member of Local 400 for 22 years, Over his 35-year career McNutt has been a bag boy, clerk, shop steward, union organizer, union representative, and, from 1997 to 2010, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 400. "We are going to recruit a volunteer army second to none," says McNutt. "We’re going to train our member activists and give them the skills to do what they do best...There’s so much our members have to offer and so much we can achieve." McNutt also discussed Local 400's support for Teamster 639's strike against Daycon (“Local 400 Supports Striking Daycon Workers, p23), noting that "every local union leader in our area is a friend of Local 400 and every union member in our area is a brother or sister. The only way we’re going to grow is if we’re unified. And the only way workers in our area will see their economic standing rise is if we grow." Click here for McNutt's profile (McNutt Sworn in as Local 400 President, p 14) and his views on the future of Local 400 (Tom McNutt Speaks Out, p 16). - Chris Garlock; photo courtesy Union Leader
RAID ON UFCW 1994 ENDS: The raid on UFCW Local 1994's units is officially over. "The UFCW International and the International representing the raiding organization signed a binding a greement this week," reports Local 1994 President Gino Renne. "Staff representatives who were soliciting for signatures have left town." As previously reported (New York Group Trying To Raid UFCW In Montgomery County), the National Corrections Employees Union (NCEU) from Massachusetts and the New York-based United Public Service Employees Union (UPSEU) have been soliciting Local 1994 members for signatures on a decertification petition, but have now withdrawn after realizing "that our members were not persuaded by the misrepresentations they made about our accomplishments," said Renne. "Thank you, brothers and sisters, for standing up for your union. Together we are united." Click here for Local 1994's report. - photo: dozens of Montgomery County government workers rallied against “scab unions” UPSEU and NCEU in July, 2010; photo by Boaz Young-El, AFL-CIO Union Summer Intern
DC NURSES ENDORSE MENDELSON FOR CITY COUNCIL: The District of Columbia Nurses Association has endorsed Phil Mendelson’s candidac y for At-Large Councilmember in the upcoming September Primary Election. “Councilmember Mendelson has consistently supported registered nurses in their efforts to improve health care and advocate on behalf of their patients,” said DCNA President Carole Hennessey in an August 4 press release. DCNA represents approximately 2000 registered nurses and other health care professionals working in the District of Columbia. Click here for a complete list of labor-endorsed candidates on the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO’s website. - photo: "All workers must have the right to organize," declared DC Councilmember Phil Mendelson (at left), who then led a chant of "Boycott! Boycott!" at the hotel worker demonstration outside the Westin City Center in March, 2010; photo by Adam Wright
LABOR PASSAGES: Longtime Labor, Political Activist Betty Miller Dies At 91: Lifelong labor union and political activist Betty Miller (l), 91, known for her boundless energy and drive , died on August 7. “Betty believed in action,” reports CLUW’s Carolyn Jacobson, “and throughout her life went to bat for the causes she believed in, often leading the charge.” A memorial celebration will be held at 2p Saturday, September 11 at the National Labor College. Miller worked as a "Rosie the Riveter" at a plant in Baltimore during World War II, helping screw in the nosecones of B29 bombers. She married fellow New Yorker Saul Miller – the former AFL-CIO director of publications -- soon after the war, and worked as a union organizer and reporter in a number of cities. After they settled in the Washington area in 1952, Betty raised their four children while working full time at positions that included Assistant Executive Secretary at the Montgomery County Education Association; AFSCME Education Director and Assistant to the President, and Director of Contract Administration at the Department of Labor, where she retired in 1984. Click here for Miller’s complete obituary.
- photo courtesy Carolyn Jacobson
TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY: The national Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners is founded in Chicago in a gathering of 36 carpenters from 11 cities (1881); Coal company guards kill 7, wound 40 miners who are trying to stop scabs, Virden, Ill. (18 98); With the news that their boss, Florenz Ziegfeld, was joining the Producing Managers’ Assn., the chorus girls in his Ziegfield Follies create their own union, the Chorus Equity Assn. They were helped by a big donation from superstar and former chorus girl Lillian Russell. In 1955 the union merged with the Actor’s Equity Assn. (1919); Teamsters official William Grami is kidnapped, bound and beaten near Sebastopol, Calif. He was leading a drive to organize apple plant workers in the area (1955); The North American Free Trade Agreement—NAFTA— was concluded between the United States, Canada and Mexico, despite protests from labor, environmental and human rights groups. It went into effect in January, 1994 (1992); What was to become a 232-day strike by major league baseball players over owners' demands for team salary caps began on this day; 938 games were cancelled (1994); More info & ammo for unionists is available online from Union Communication Services. - photo: portion of the Virden, IL Massacre Memorial; photo courtesy Labor Beat
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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. JOSLYN N. WILLIAMS, PRESIDENT.
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