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Virginia

Boar’s Head Plant Shuts Down

September 15, 2024 Edward Carver, Portside. , , , , ,
About 500 workers lost their current jobs when Boar's Head on Friday announced the closure of the Virginia meatpacking plant behind a deadly listeria outbreak. A chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which represents the workers, said in a statement that the closure was "especially unfortunate" given that the workforce was not to blame for the outbreak, which killed at least nine people nationwide. The UFCW announced that it had reached a deal with the company to allow the workers to transfer to another Boar's Head facility or receive a severance package "above and beyond" what's required by law. "Thankfully these workers have a union they can count on to always have their backs," the union statement said.

New Virginia-North Carolina Intercity Rail Line Starts Construction

July 16, 2024 Dan Zukowski, Smart Cities Dive. , , ,
Richmond and Raleigh are among the five busiest train stations in the Southeast, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority said in a Feb. 28 press release. The S-Line project is among the two states’ ambitious plans to expand intercity passenger rail. Last December, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded grants to the North Carolina DOT from the federal Corridor Identification and Development Program for seven corridors. Three radiate out from Charlotte, three from Raleigh, and one would connect Asheville and Salisbury, North Carolina. “The roads are just as congested as they were before [the COVID-19 pandemic],” said Mike McLaughlin, chief operating officer at the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, speaking about the growth of rail ridership in the region.

The Biggest Organizing Wave You Never Heard Of

June 24, 2024 Chris Townsend, MLToday. , , , ,
Nobody would pick the U.S. state of Virginia to be a trade union organizing hotspot. But that’s what increasingly is happening, despite the fact that many of the unions and certainly the national AFL-CIO are oblivious to it.  Richmond the state capital was once the capital of the Confederacy, and Virginia is in many ways the ideological and historical home of U.S. segregationist and anti-union bigotry. Virginia is seeing a significant and remarkable expansion of its small but wily labor movement. In a labor movement urgently in need of new union organizing experimentation it would certainly be of value to consider the situation in Virginia as one guide to expanded organizing work across the South.

Big Union Win In Virginia Schools Where Bargaining Is Suddenly Legal

June 15, 2024 Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes. , , , , ,
Education unions just won a massive victory in the fight to bring collective bargaining rights to Virginia’s public sector. Workers at the Fairfax County Public Schools voted this week to unionize, creating a wall-to-wall union of 27,500 teachers, custodians, teaching assistants, bus drivers, and more. The new bargaining unit is one of the largest K-12 unions on the East Coast, according to the National Education Association. Fairfax County is in Northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C., and the Fairfax County school district is by far the largest in the state. But many teachers, especially newer ones, live outside Fairfax County because housing there is too expensive. And “a lot of custodians do two or three jobs just to provide for their families,” said Ernesto Escalante, a building supervisor at Crestwood Elementary and an activist in the union drive.

27,000 Virginia Education Workers Win Union Recognition

June 13, 2024 Tn Long, Portside. , , , , ,
Around 14,000 teachers and 13,000 support staff will now be represented by an alliance of the Fairfax County locals of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). This win increases union density in Virginia by at least 15%, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The election victories were for the two bargaining units within the FEU: the Licensed Instructional Unit, covering all workers requiring a license, such as teachers, counselors, social workers, psychologists, librarians, and speech language pathologists; and the Operational Unit for workers such as various kinds of assistants, cafeteria workers, custodians, transportation workers, and front office staff.

Tripod Blockade Prevents Mountain Valley Pipeline Work For Five Hours

May 30, 2024 Appalachians Against Pipelines, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Elliston, VA - Early Wednesday morning, pipeline fighter August suspended themself in a tripod blockade on Yellow Finch Lane in Montgomery County, blocking Mountain Valley Pipeline's construction access to Poor Mountain. A rally of supporters gathered on site throughout the morning until Virginia State Police responded with a militarized, armored skid steer to remove August from their blockade. Banners and signs at the protest read, "UNTIL ALL ARE FREE," "WATER IS PRECIOUS," and "DOOM TO MVP!" After over 4.5 hours of blocking the road, August was extracted and arrested. They were charged with 4 misdemeanors and bail was set at $1,500.

A Unique Community Land Trust Making Homeownership Affordable

May 23, 2024 Barry Greene, Jr, Next City. , , , , ,
When Michael Haggins’ credit score disqualified him for a mortgage preapproval in 2021, he was crushed. A single father who grew up in Richmond, Haggins dreamed of owning a house in his hometown where his two sons could play freely. A shortage of just five credit score points — plus systemic inequities and a national housing crisis — left them all living with his mother. But today, Haggins is the proud owner of a home in Church Hill, thanks to Richmond’s Maggie Walker Community Land Trust (MWCLT) and its pioneering model for creating permanently affordable housing. “I don’t think I could’ve done it without their help, honestly,” says Haggins.

Protester Blockades The Mountain Valley Pipeline Access Road

May 16, 2024 Appalachians Against Pipelines, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
Roanoke County, VA - Early this morning, a pipeline fighter going by the name Mullein locked themself to barrels blockading Honeysuckle Rd, which provides access to the Mountain Valley Pipeline easement. This protest, along with many prior, is located on Poor Mountain, where the Yellow Finch Treesits protected some of the last standing trees in the MVP’s path for two and a half years from 2018-2021. About a month ago, a similar action took place at this same location. Two grandparents had locked themselves to a large wooden opossum, stopping work for the day. "Today, as I sit in the road on so-called Poor Mountain, it is the day after Nakba Day," stated Mullein.

MVP Protester Locks Himself To Construction Equipment

May 9, 2024 Appalachians Against Pipelines, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
Elliston, VA — Early Wednesday morning, pipeline fighter Finn locked himself to a side boom on a Mountain Valley Pipeline worksite on Poor Mountain in Montgomery County, VA, preventing MVP construction at the site for 11 hours. "Why risk arrest? Why risk my name? Why devote my time and energy, to be here protesting this pipeline in the backwoods of Appalachia?" Finn asked. "The truth is I've lost the ability to look away. And it no longer makes sense to be anywhere else." At the base of the mountain, nearby where the pipeline easement crosses Yellow Finch Rd, a rally of people gathered to show their support for Finn's action.

Married Couple Block Mountain Valley Pipeline In Large Wooden Possum

April 11, 2024 Appalachians Against Pipelines, Popular Resistance. , , , , , ,
Roanoke County, VA - Early Wednesday morning, married couple Ted Glick (74) and Jane Califf (83), locked themselves inside a large wooden possum on Honeysuckle Rd in Roanoke County, VA, blocking Mountain Valley Pipeline construction in the area. Ted and Jane prevented MVP's access to the pipeline easement, a work yard, and 2 access roads, for 6.5 hours, before they were extracted from their blockade and arrested. They were each charged with 3 misdemeanors, given bail of $3,000, and bailed out the same day.

Resiliency Hub Provides Safety, Self-sufficiency In Disinvested Community

March 28, 2024 Laurie Mazur, Resilience. , , ,
Queen Shabazz became an activist three decades ago, when her young son contracted lead poisoning in their rental home. She soon learned that “lead wasn’t the only problem out there”: her low-income, disinvested community in Petersburg, Virginia, contends with more than its share of environmental hazards — from air pollution to toxic waste. Increasingly, those hazards are compounded by climate change. As the planet warms, Petersburg is experiencing more flash floods, as well as power outages that last for days.

Protester Inside Mountain Valley Pipeline Blocks Work For Two Days

March 10, 2024 Appalachians Against Pipelines, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Giles County, VA - Early Thursday morning, a pipeline fighter using the name Ricky Bobby climbed inside the Mountain Valley Pipeline (which is 42 inches in diameter) atop Peters Mountain to prevent ongoing construction in the area. MVP security and law enforcement responded to the scene but did not enter the pipe; Ricky left after 2 days and was arrested and charged with 4 misdemeanors. A banner placed at the entrance of the pipe read, "FUCK YOU, MVP." People rallied in support of Ricky's action on the first day at the Jefferson National Forest gate on Pocahontas Rd.

Activists Establish Protest Camp Outside Antony Blinken’s Home

February 6, 2024 Fadil Aliriza, Mondoweiss. , , , , , ,
If the bags under U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s eyes have looked heavier than usual recently, it might have something to do with the wake-up brigade camped outside his $5 million dollar mansion. “Wakey wakey, war criminal! Good morning war criminal! How is your genocide coffee? How many kids did you kill while you were sleeping?” shouted Hazami Barmada at seven a.m. outside Blinken’s residence in McLean, Virginia, on Friday, February 2, along with several others who had spent the cold night in tents by the side of the road. As she has done nearly every morning since she and other activists began their campout on January 26, Barmada live-streamed what she called the “blinky blinky morning routine,” on her Instagram page.

Mountain Mamas Resistance To Mountain Valley Pipeline Continues

February 1, 2024 Appalachians Against Pipelines, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
Early this morning Mama Julz, an Ogala Lakota land defender and water protector, locked herself to a Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) helicopter to prevent the transportation of pipeline workers onto a remote work site on Poor Mountain, where MVP is causing an immense amount of damage pushing the pipeline through rugged lands. Mama Julz prevented MVP's use of the helicopter for multiple hours before she was extracted from her blockade and arrested, along with one other person who supported Mama Julz' action this morning. Both Mama Julz and the supporter were charged with one misdemeanor; both were denied bond and are being held in jail unjustly.

2023, A Year Of Progress: Expanding Voting Rights Across The Country

December 31, 2023 Morgan McLeod, The Sentencing Project. , , , , , , , , , , ,
This year, thanks to the tireless efforts of dedicated advocates and organizations, we’re witnessing a remarkable shift in the political landscape when it comes to expanding and protecting the right to vote for justice-impacted people. Advocacy Based on Lived Experience (ABLE) – an organization dedicated to working to engage people in the democratic process – held several community events across Kentucky, allowing attendees and lawmakers to hold discussions on pertinent issues in their communities, regardless of their political affiliation. Participants frequently discussed state legislation that would restore the right to vote to over 160,000 Kentuckians who are disenfranchised due to their history with the criminal legal system.
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