This is the weekly Federation Hotline updated April 6.
4/4/18 - A day to honor, Part 1: WSDOT Worker Memorial event
Flanked by an honor guard of Washington State Department of Transportation workers (including many Federation members), friends, families and colleagues of DOT workers killed on the job joined a solemn procession this past Wednesday (April 4) at the annual WSDOT Worker Memorial Event in Olympia. The annual event honors the 60 DOT workers killed in the line of duty since 1950 and injured workers, and renews DOT's safety pledge.
Everett Local 1020 member Ken Buretta, a maintenance lead tech injured during an incident response in 2016, stressed motorist awareness and worker safety.
“The safety of our people – it determines whether we go home to see our families each night,” Buretta said.
Learn more about the WSDOT Memorial Foundation: http://www.wsdotmf.org/
Reminder: April is Worker Memorial Month, capped with observations around Worker Memorial Day April 28. Details coming on events later this month.
4/4/18 - A day to honor, Part 2: Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. – Keep the dream alive
Our WFSEc28 Facebook page has a number of posts from Federation members, AFSCME and the mainstream media on the I AM 2018 events in Memphis on Wednesday and all of this week on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while in Memphis to support striking AFSCME sanitation workers.
More coverage at AFSCME Now: https://www.afscme.org/now
And for a limited time, watch the entire video documentary on Dr. King and the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike. Watch “At the River I Stand” at: https://www.afscme.org/now/at-the-river-i-stand
Fight to save UW Laundry grows as faculty union joins push for second rally this Monday
The UW Faculty Forward Union today (April 6) in an email to University of Washington faculty urged all faculty to attend the second Rally to Save the UW Laundry.
That rally will be 2:30-4:30 p.m., this Monday, April 9, at Drumheller Fountain on the main UW Campus in Seattle.
The first rally took place March 28. Just days later, on Passover and Easter Weekend, the UW issued layoff notices to 15 workers at the Consolidated UW Laundry in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. They are members of WFSE/AFSCME Local 3488. Next month, the UW plans to issue bids for proposals to privatize the Consolidated Laundry.
“The decision may or may not cut costs, as privatization rarely offers the benefits promised while extracting profits only by lowering wages,” the UW Faculty Forward email said.
Today’s action by UW Faculty Forward shows the growing opposition to the laundry closure coming not only from the affected workers and their unions but also students, the community and elected officials.
UW Faculty Forward is joining the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28, SEIU Local 925 and UW Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) as co-sponsors of Monday’s rally.
Show your support at the second rally with University of Washington Laundry Workers, who are fighting to keep their union jobs as UW Medicine threatens to privatize and close their facility.
Learn more and RSVP for Monday’s rally at: https://wfse.org/news/stop-uw-laundry-layoffs
“Invest in All of Us” at our coalition Tax March April 14
The Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28 is joining the All In For Washington and 10 other coalition partners for Tax Day March and Rally, 2-5 p.m., Saturday, April 14, Judkins Park, 2150 S. Norman St., Seattle, Washington 98144.
Why?
Because Washington is known nationwide as a leader for change. But here at home, we know there's more work to be done to change our upside-down tax code. For instance, working families pay up to 17 percent of their income in state and local taxes while the wealthy pay less than 3 percent.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
On April 14, we'll rally at Judkins Park to share stories, music, and ways to get involved and make real change happen. For affordable housing, a world-class education for all our kids, and accessible healthcare, we need to work together to clean up our tax code and ask Washington invest in all of us, not just the wealthy and powerful. JOIN US!
FEATURING:
- Sen. Rebecca Saldana
- Momma Nikki
- Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda
- Juan Jose Bocanegra, El Comite
- Kirsten Harris Talley, activist and co-chair of the Seattle Progressive Revenue Tax Force
- ...and many more exciting guests!
Union Summer 2018: Apply now for paid internship positions
Are you or anyone you know interested in working for social change?
Union Summer is the paid ($15/hour) summer internship program for people interested in getting involved in the labor movement. Union Summer participants will spend an exciting six weeks — June 26-Aug. 2 — working full-time and hands-on with different campaigns — talking to our community, marching for justice, and gaining first-hand experience in the movement. The positions are based in and around Seattle, but campaigns may take place throughout the region.
The application deadline is May 22. For more information and to apply: http://www.thestand.org/?p=65557
That’s it for now.
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