People Of Faith Celebrate Restaurant Workers

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Restaurant and food service workers were the main focus of this year’s Labor in the Pulpits/Labor on the Bimah program. Over Labor Day weekend, 27 local churches and more than 30 local Jewish congregations celebrated workers and labor during their services as part of the annual Labor in the Pulpits/Labor on the Bimah program, organized by Interfaith Worker Justice of Greater Washington and Jews United for Justice. Participating congregations raised up worker justice in a variety of ways -- through sermons, homilies, and d’var torahs; by offering special prayers or songs; or by inviting guest speakers. While service themes focused on a variety of labor issues -- from organizing at Wal-Mart to reaching a work-life balance -- a main focus of this year’s program was on restaurant and food service workers. At Tikkun Leil Shabbat, a special Saturday evening service featured a talk from the Restaurant Opportunities Center of DC. The next morning, McKendree-Simms UMC in the Brookland neighborhood of DC welcomed Kimberly Freeman Brown, Executive Director at American Rights at Work, to speak about the movement to expand organizing rights. Click here for more Labor in the Pulpits program highlights and a complete listing of participating churches or here for more information on the Labor on the Bimah program. - Mackenzie Baris, DC Jobs with Justice