Last Month at the Local
Local 655 recently joined an alliance of labor and community organizations in Miami-Dade County. The alliance is working on a number of issues of importance to a number of different groups, one of which is wage theft.
As a member of the Alliance, Secretary-Treasurer Apana recently attended the Miami-Dade Mayoral Forum, where he asked the candidates about their position on misclassification of employees as independent contractors and the exclusion of independent contractors from protection under the county's wage theft ordinance. Both Xavier Suarez and Daniella Levine Cava committed to amending the ordinance to cover independent contractors, and Cava also voiced strong support that musicians should be classified as employees.
Also last month, President Reskin and Vice-President van Eck attended a 3-day Leadership and Organizing Training Program in Silver Spring, MD. The event was jointly sponsored and presented by the AFM and the AFL-CIO. The group of about 20 participants was drawn from officers of Locals all over the country. The training covered AFM history, principles of union organizing, tools and techniques for organizing campaigns, role playing scenarios, and much more.
