Labor/Economics/Business

Hate, Terrorism, The Orlando Massacre And Labor With AFL-CIO Pride At Work Jeramy Davis

Wal-Mart fired Arleja Stevens for pregnancy-related absences two years after agreeing never to do so. On May 25, she walked back into the H st Wal-Mart to demand her job back. She was backed by activists from Making Change at Walmart and DC Jobs with Justice. The manager objected to protesters inside the store but accepted a copy of DC laws pertaining to pregnancy and employment and agreed to meet with her in an "open door" session at 10AM on May 26, 2016. If she does not get her job back protesters will target Wal-Mart's main corporate office in DC on the 7th of June.

Video-marching into Wal-Mart to demand Arleja Stevens's job back

On the 5th of May, striking Verizon workers backed by many other unions showed up to picket the Verizon Wireless store on F st, asking people NOT to shop there. Verizon workers have warned "no contract, no work" and are backing it up with this strike. One of the issues is Verizon wants to outsource their jobs. Another is that only a tiny raise (possibly less than inflation) is being offered while Verizon has made $1.5 Billion dollars a month each month this year. Verizon has decided not to expand FIOS fiber service nor employee wages, choosing instead to expand CEO pay. CEO Ivan G Seidenberg is being paid $36M a year with salary and bonuses. That's enough to buy a 2008 Gulfstream G-550 corporate jet listed on an aviation website for $23M with $13M left over. Meanwhile Verizon workers are offered only what strikers described as a net $200 a month raise

Video from the F st Verizon store picket

On the 12th of April, restaurant workers protested first at the DC Council, then at the Ronald Reagan Building demanding that the minimum wage for tipped workers be raised from $2.77 an hour to $15 an hour. The National Restaurant Association ("other NRA") was meeting at the Reagan building. Outside, protesters offered a stack of bags of ice as the "Frozen Wages Award" for former NRA CEO Herman Cain for his role in blocking prior increases in the mimimum wage for restaurant workers, who at "tipped employees" can make next to nothing if the restaurant is empty on a bad night.

Video from the protest for $15 an hour for tipped workers