by DC Jobs with Justice | Nov 17, 2008 | Workers' Rights Board
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASErnrnNovember 17, 2008rnrnContact: Ruth Castel-Branco, 202.489.2273, rcastel@dclabor.org rnrnDC WORKERS’ RIGHTS BOARD TO HOLD HEARING ONrnBUDGET CUTS IMPACT ON SERVICES AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEESrnThursday, Nov. 20th, 6:30 – 9:00 PM, Wilson Building – 1350 Penn. Ave. NW, Rm. 412rnrnWASHINGTON, DC—A coalition of community, faith, youth and labor organizations will hold a public hearing Thursday, November 20th at the DC City Council on the impact of the proposed budget cuts on public services. The hearing held by the DC Workers’ Rights Board will examine recent layoffs of public workers in city agencies ranging from mental health to public schools. Community leaders, workers, parents and students will testify. City officials including Mayor Adrian Fenty and DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee have been invited to testify.rnrn”I was a teacher’s aide for 23 years,” said Loretta Archie, AFSCME Council 20 member. “Then Rhee appointed a new principal who unilaterally re-categorized us as instructional employees and obliged us to take the No Child Left Behind-mandated test. On August 12th I was told that I did not meet the qualifications– qualifications that bear littlernrelevance to my everyday work û and I was laid off with no opportunity to retake the test or possibility of training.” This year the Fenty administration laid off approximately 450 unionized teachers’ aides, and has replaced them with contracted workers instead.rnrn”Rhee was brought in to break the union,” added Harold Cox, a former DCPS teacher and Washington Teachers’ Union member. “After dedicating 21 years to working with students I was fired without due process. Like hundreds of other summarily dismissed teachers, I was forced to reapply for my position. But...
by DC Jobs with Justice | Nov 12, 2008 | Workers' Rights Board
rnrnOn Thursday, November 20th the DC Workers’ Rights Board will be holding a hearing at the DC City Council on the impact of the proposed budget cuts on public services. The hearing will examine recent attacks on public workers in city agencies ranging from mental health to public schools. Community leaders, workers, parents, students and city administrators will testify. The Mayor, City Council and Chancellor have been invited to participate.rnrn“This hearing will give the public a chance to voice their concerns about the direction of city spending and the finger pointing at city workers for government’s systemic problems,†said Rev. Raymond Bell, Pastor, First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church and a member of the Workers Rights Board. The hearing is free and open to the public. rnrnHELP MAKE THIS HEARING A SUCCESS!rnrn1. Come out to the hearing. There will be an opportunity to submit your questions to workers, students, community leaders and city officials beforehand.rn2. Print out the flyer and circulate to your networks.rn3. Sign up to volunteer!rnrnrnWHAT’S THE STORY?rnrnJust days after news of the tragic death of Banita Jacks’ four children hit DC’s headlines, Mayor Adrian Fenty fired six social workers at the Child and Family Services Agency. The firings, undertaken without any investigation or due process, were a last-ditch attempt to to secure voters’ confidence by scapegoating workers. Last month DC’s arbitrator concluded that the workers had been fired unjustly and ordered the city to reinstate them with back pay and benefits. But for many workers at the CFSA this decision comes too late. “The firings around the Jacks case created a climate of fear at the...
by DC Jobs with Justice | Oct 10, 2008 | Workers' Rights Board
rnWorkers’ Rights Board Hearingrn”Defending Public Workers”rnThursday, Nov. 20thrn6:30 – 9pmrnJohn A. Wilson Buildingrn1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW room 412rnMetro Center or Federal Triangle MetrornrnSince coming into office, Mayor Fenty and his administration have launched an attack on public sector employees and the communities they serve — scape-goating workers for structural problems, firing teachers on probation for no reason, contracting out entire sectors of our public health services, stepping over due process and outright ignoring opposition from affected communities. rnrnOn Tuesday, October 21st DC Jobs with Justice is holding a Workers’ Rights Board Hearing to respond to these attacks. Workers and community members will testify on the impact of these attacks before a high-profile board of faith and community leaders, public officials andrnacademics. The panels will focus specifically on healthcare and education, and public officials have been invited to explain themselves.rnrnWe need your help to make it a success! Here’s what you can do:rn1. Forward the email announcement below to your lists and include it inrnupcoming calendars. rn2. Volunteer! We need help the day of the event for the following shifts: rn10am – noon: Press calls at the JwJ office (great way to get media experience!)rn5:30- 6:30pm: Set-up at the Wilson Buildingrn6:30-7:30pm: Sign-inrn8:30-9:30pm: Clean-uprnrnThe hearing is free and open to the public. For more information or to sign up to volunteer contact Ruth Castel-Branco at Rcastel@dclabor.org or...
by DC Jobs with Justice | Apr 17, 2008 | Workers' Rights Board
After four years of struggling to organize and negotiate with their companies, the 1,500 security officers who are members of SEIU Local 32BJ in Washington, DC won their first union contract on April 10th. rnrnThe contract establishes a minimum starting salary of $12.40 an hour, with 50 cent raises for officers who were already making above that level. The companies will also pay for health insurance for all full-time workers. Part-time officers did not yet gain full health benefits, but they and their families will receive some employer-paid benefits, such as prescription drugs, dental care, vision care and life insurance.The contract also provides 8 paid holidays and 7 days personal days, as well as addressing important job quality and security issues. rnrnThe contract will cover officers working for Admiral Security, AlliedBarton, Guardsmark and Securitas at commerical office buildings in DC. Together these companies employ about three-quarters of the District’s office building security workforce.rnrnThe officers were supported in their long struggle by DC Jobs with Justice members and activists, with the union extending special thanks to members of Interfaith Worker Justice of Greater Washington, the DC Workers’ Rights Board, and the Building Benefits Network. rnrnMembers of IWJ and the WRB participated in delegations to employers, visited workplaces, collected letters, and brought officers to speak at their congregations. rnrnBuilding Benefits network members invited workers to speak at brown bag lunches in their offices, signed petitions, sent letters to their office managers, and held sticker days to show appreciation for the officers in their buildings. rnrnYou can read more in...
by DC Jobs with Justice | Jul 20, 2007 | Projects, Workers' Rights Board
What is the Workers’ Rights Board?rnThe Workers’ Rights Board is a board composed of community and religious leaders, academics, prominent members of the community and public officials who support struggles for economic justice through investigations, hearings, press conferences, meetings and other events. rnrnWhy was the Workers’ Rights Board created?rnJobs with Justice originally created Workers’ Rights Boards to combat the lack of an adequate legal framework to support workers’ rights. Our Board in Washington, DC is one of over two dozen Boards across the country. Although it has no legal authority, the Boards can produce real results. rnrnWhat does the Workers’ Rights Board do?rnBesides holding hearings, the Workers’ Rights Board can also support worker struggles by writing supportive letters, issuing reports and press releases, organizing town hall meetings on key issues, and sending delegations of community leaders to talk to management or to public officials. rnrnWhat has the DC Workers’ Rights Board done?rnOur Workers’ Rights Board in DC was formed in the Fall of 2001 to support the efforts of workers at Interpark to unionize. rn In December of 2001, the Board came together again to investigate the effect of September 11 on the tourism and hospitality industry and to call on our public officials to do more to aid workers laid off as a result of a drop in travel and tourism. rn During the summer of 2002, the Board held its third hearing, investigating the exploitation of immigrant workers. The hearing focused on the abuses perpetrated by a local lawn services firm with a contract to maintain the city’s parks, playing fields and recreation areas. Since then, the...
by DC Jobs with Justice | Jan 24, 2007 | Workers' Rights Board
On January 23, 2007 the DC Workers’ Rights Board brought together community activists, workers, teachers, policy experts, and elected officials to examine the state of work in DC and propose solutions for making DC more work ready, and improving the quality of jobs available. rnrnFour panels of witnesses gave testimony and answered questions from the Board. rn rn The first panel addressed the challenges of improving workforce development and job readiness programs. rn The second panel featured both teachers and youth activists discussing how to provide young people with better summer and school year work experiences and expanded career tech and vocational education opportunities. rn The third panel explored potential strategies making economic development more accountable for both creating good jobs, and hiring DC residents, including reforming the city’s First Source Hiring and Tax Increment Financing programs. rn The final panel discussed the impact low wages and lack of benefits and sick days have on many workers, especially in the service sector, and advocated for increasing the DC minimum wage and adjusting it annually for inflation, and for requiring all employers to provide a minimum amount of paid sick days for their employees. rn rnrnFollowing the hearing, Board members reviewed and discussed the testimony presented and developed a set of resolutions addressing the job gap. The Board committed to bringing these resolutions to the attention of public officials and working over the coming year to help promote strategies for creating more good jobs for DC...
