Record Turnout For 10th Labor Seder

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

A record turnout of more than 330 celebrated Jews United for Justice’s (JUFJ) milestone 10th anniversary Labor Seder last night at Adas Israel Congregation in Northwest DC. While area workers still have far to go to achieve justice, worker advocates like UNITE HERE’s Tracy Lingo credited JUFJ for “being there for us in the heat and cold, on the picket line and even getting arrested with us too.” To cheers and applause, Lingo reported progress in the long-standing struggle for a voice at work for Northern Virginia hotel workers, with the new owners of the Crystal City Sheraton reaching out to discuss terms of lifting the boycott. The seder’s theme this year was “Everyone deserves a good job” and participants heard from advocates whose stories of area worker’s challenges finding good jobs with living wages and benefits connected local struggles with the ancient Jewish story of liberation from slavery in Egypt celebrated during Passover. In keeping with the Labor Seder tradition, participants signed letters to local political leaders addressing the various issues, including calling on Mayor Gray and the DC City Council to hold Walmart accountable and “Respect DC” (left). “What keeps people coming back to the Labor Seder and bringing their friends is both the familiar ritual of the seder and the renewed focus each year on specific local struggles,” JUFJ Executive Director Jacob Feinspan told Union City. “Each year we see that we win sometimes but there’s also an awful lot of challenges that remain.” In the hall, the a capella voices of SongRise rose in a lovely and spirited rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “Union Maid,” with the entire gathering joining in on the chorus, “Oh you can’t scare me, I’m sticking to the union, I’m sticking to the union, I’m sticking to the union, ‘til the day I die.” - report/photos by Chris Garlock