NEA Pulls Madison Bookings

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

The National Education Association has canceled all union bookings for the month at the nearby Madison Hotel, which is being boycotted by UNITE HERE Local 25 (Madison Hotel Workers Call For Boycott 2/1 UC). “This is hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost business,” UNITE HERE Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Boardman told Union City. NEA staffers brought pizza and joined the picketline Thursday night as over 100 marched and chanted “DC is a union time” and “Up up with the union, down down with the bosses.” The longtime union hotel changed hands on January 19 and the new owners have refused to accept the terms of the existing contract with Local 25, which represents 150 workers at the Madison. Picketing continues daily -- including weekends -- from 7A to 7P, with critical mass time from 7-8:30A and 4:30-6P. - report/photo by Chris Garlock