Labor Updates (4/23/08)

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Contract Talks to Resume for DOL Cafeteria Workers: Cafeteria Workers at the Department of Labor (DOL) – who have been without a contract for nearly a year – will resume contract negotiations after the workers’ employer – FAME – yielded to a pressure campaign from other DOL workers, reports Josh Niederman of UNITE HERE Local 25. Local 25 represents the workers. DOL Workers – outraged about FAME’s refusal to bargain and demands for worker concessions (DOL Cafe Workers Fight Concessions 4/17/08 UC) – began the campaign after hearing about the workers’ struggle at last week’s screening of “Mother Jones: America’s Most Dangerous Woman.” Negotiations will resume on May 8. Burger King Accused of Spying: With pressure building against Burger King’s (BK) refusal to negotiate with Florida farm workers, BK is now turning to intimidation and spying tactics, reported Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! last Monday. Both the Student/Farmworker Alliance and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers say there has been “an increase in hostile online posts and at least two attempts by outsiders posing as student activists to infiltrate [SFA],” reported Goodman. “One of them turned out to be the owner of a private security company that advertises its ability to place ‘operatives’ in the ranks of target groups.” Click here to sign the petition in support of farmworkers’ fight for better wages and working conditions.