Labor Updates (1/22/08)

Victory for Amtrak Workers: Amtrak and workers may have struck a deal Friday morning that could give workers their first new contract in eight years and end a possible January 30 strike (Amtrak Unions Return to Bargaining Table, January 30 Strike Possible 1/18/08 UC), reported the Associated Press' Devlin Barrett Friday. The deal is reportedly based on a Presidential Emergency Board recommendation that sides with workers demands for a "32.5% pay increase retroactive from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009," reports Occupational Health & Safety. The Board also ruled against Amtrak's "attempts to impose new work rules and combine jobs," Occupational Health & Safety reports. School Closings Protested: Nearly 200 community activists packed the Wilson Building Thursday night for a "People's Meeting" to protest the proposed closing of 23 DC schools, reported V. Dion Haynes and Michael E. Ruane in Friday's Washington Post. The meeting also served as a counter-hearing to 23 simultaneous hearings being held the same night by Mayor Adrian Fenty and School Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Activists at the meeting "said they were angry that Fenty decided to hold the simultaneous assemblies instead of a citywide hearing," Haynes and Ruane reported. The Mayor and Chancellor were also criticized for not canceling the 23 hearings due to the snow and sleet. PIW Workers Vote Down Contract: Workers at the Psychiatric Institute Of Washington - who are represented by CWA 2336 - voted on Tuesday, January 15 not to ratify the tentative agreement reached on December 27. "We are, therefore, preparing for the possibility of a strike," reports the local in the Weekend Wrapup.