Rockin' The House Of Labor

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

“Labor’s house is shakin’ tonight, baby!” shouted Street Dogs lead singer Mike McColgan (second from left) last night as the AFL-CIO headquarters reverberated to the punk rock band’s working-class anthems. Hundreds – including Metro Council delegates who had just attended the December meeting – enthusiastically jammed the Gompers Room for the concert, which benefited the Capital Area Food Bank. The transition from reports on local labor struggles – including the latest on negotiations at the Washington Hospital Center – to raucous songs about battling injustice was seamless and invigorating. “Our fists are in the air and we’re ready to fight until the end of time,” McColgan pledged, and the band – joined onstage by legendary guitarist Wayne Kramer (second from right) -- brought the house down with a foot-stompin’ fist-waving performance of Billy Bragg’s “There is Power in the Union” followed by Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” The concert was hosted by AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, who promised that it was “the first of more to come” as the AFL-CIO reaches out to young activists and workers. - report/photo by Chris Garlock; if you follow us on Twitter you got this report last night! Click here to follow us. Plus; watch for draft minutes of the December Council meeting to be posted online later this week.