Labor Updates (11/21/07)

FINE UPHELD AGAINST WASH GAS: The DC Public Service Commission Thursday upheld a $350,000 fine against the Washington Gas Light Company  (WGL) for stonewalling, for three months, the Commission’s repeated requests for all documents about the company’s outsourcing of 250 Metro DC jobs, reported Michael Neibauer in Tuesday's Examiner. The Commission began levying fines - at $5,000 a day - from late July until WGL finally handed over the documents in late September. The Commission, in its order Thursday, confirmed that it has an "expressed and unqualified right" to review all WGL contracts and that "WGL engaged in deliberate, unreasonable and prolonged resistance to this important principle," reported Neibauer. In related news, the NLRB will hold a hearing in mid-December on WGL’s refusal to bargain with OPEIU Local 2, who represents 100 workers affected by the outsourcing. “Washington Gas refused all our requests to bargain on this issue,” OPEIU Local 2 President Dan Dyer tells UNION CITY! adding that the union has still not seen all documents provided to the Commission. Click here to read Neibauer's full story. REGISTER NOW FOR MD/DC STATE FED LEG CONF: Register early to beat the line for next Tuesday's Maryland State/DC AFL-CIO Legislative Conference. The annual conference focuses on developing a legislative action plan that will grow the union movement in Maryland and DC. The cost is $35 and includes conference materials, a continental breakfast, lunch and refreshments. Click here to download a registration form.