WMATA has plenty of problems to deal with. But that won't stop "protracted labor struggle" from being added to the list. more ›

Earlier this month, we noted that some 12,000 office cleaners in the Washington area were planning to go on strike if their demands for higher wages, fewer staffing cuts and health-care benefits for more workers were not met. Looks like the threat worked. more ›

A word to the wise for those who might be considering knocking off work a little bit early today and taking a trip to the Kogod Courtyard or to a matinee at Gallery Place: a pro-labor organization has planned a protest of Walmart at the company's lobbying office on 8th Street NW this afternoon. more ›

Rut roh: according to the Washington Post, some Metrobus drivers might not show up for work tomorrow over concerns that the transit agency is not taking their safety seriously. more ›

WMATA isn't the only transit agency having some serious service issues this morning -- Arlington Regional Transit (ART) bus service is being hit particularly hard by a labor protest. more ›

The District of Columbia's public school system now says that about 750 teachers and support staff have been "excessed" for the 2011-12 school year, though they are promising to help those teachers find other jobs within the District. more ›

approximately 1,700 nurses at Washington Hospital Center, ratified a new contract, putting to bed one of the region's most heated labor disputes. more ›

WJLA is reporting this morning that a tentative agreement has been reached between Washington Hospital Center and a union representing its nurses, a deal which could bring an end to one of the region's longest-running labor disputes. more ›

For the past several weeks, a labor protest outside the Madison Hotel at 1177 15th Street NW has been causing a real commotion, day and night. But quiet has finally arrived -- Michael Neibauer reports that the union, Unite Here Local 25, and hotel management came to a settlement last night with the help of Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, putting an end to the noise, at least temporarily. more ›

Yesterday, dozens of protesters descended on the state of Wisconsin's D.C. offices at 444 North Capitol Street NW to participate in a Service Employees International Union-organized solidarity rally. more ›

Jackie Jeter, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 -- the labor union representing Metro employees -- once got in some hot water for allegedly responding to a critical email about Metro workers by telling the emailer that "apparently you believe in slavery." Well, if you thought that was bad, wait until you hear what one of Jeter's union members reportedly said during a recent meeting. more ›

A bus driver strike that went into effect early this morning is causing some problems for Prince George's County residents. According to Dave Jamieson, around 100 unionized employees of Veolia Transportation, the company that is contracted to drive buses for the county's "TheBus" transportation system, decided that they'd had enough of faltering negotiations on a new contract and chose to not drive their routes today. The strike obviously caught many morning commuters off guard; Metrobus service was not affected. But hey, when you're talking about landmark labor divides like whether or not to give employees lunch breaks, a work stoppage is bound to happen, right? more ›

WTOP has the latest in the kerfuffle between the D.C. Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police: Chief Cathy Lanier confirms that MPD has filed an appeal in an attempt to overturn a September 9th arbiter's ruling that the "All Hands On Deck" program violates the police union's contract with the city. (The FOP claims, among other issues, that overtime pay as a result of AHOD efforts was never paid to deserving officers.) As a result of the appeal, the police department will continue with plans to hold AHOD efforts in November and December. Depending on which agency's statistics one chooses to believe, it's been a pretty good year for Lanier and the police -- a large labor dispute is probably not the note the Chief envisioned ending the calendar year on. more ›

The D.C. Council earlier today passed an amended version of the noise bill first introduced by Tommy Wells and Mary Cheh that was born out of Ward 6 resident David Klavitter's crusade to put an end to amplified street preachers keeping him awake at his home near H Street NE. But Wells and Cheh actually voted against this bill, after it was basically gutted by an amendment introduced by Ward 5 Council member Harry Thomas Jr. that was a major concession to union groups. more ›

While the Washington Post is our hometown newspaper, it's also part of a larger corporate behemoth. And like many a corporate behemoth, this one is seeing some turmoil in the ranks. more ›

The D.C. Council voted 10 to 3 today to give Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee the power to fire nonunion central office employees. more ›

Good morning, Washington. We'll be standing by for a good chunk of the day to see what the Metro Board decides to do about the proposed fare hike - the Board is meeting at 11 a.m. for a session that is expected to produce a final vote on the fare hikes, which could go into effect as soon as January. Board members have indicated they would likely pass a fare hike that is slightly less than the current proposal. more ›

Meat and Potato, the low-fi theatre company devoted to reviving disused devices such as puppetry and masks, has taken on Rashomon as their latest experiment. Is this a good idea? No, it's a great idea, which makes it all the more disappointing that the show, despite the obvious care and labor that has gone into it, arrives half-formed. more ›

FRIDAY: >> Two shows for DAM! Fest tonight, with events at Rock and Roll Hotel and the Red and the Black. The former includes an appearance by recent Three Stars subject the Beanstalk Library, plus The Exit, Dragons of Zynth and The Teeth. Stick around for the free afterparty, We Fought the Hej, a combo of two of our favorite DJ nights, Hej Hej and We Fought the Big One. >> Don't forget to check... more ›

>> DAM! Fest kicks of with its first night of shows featuring a dozen different bands at three venues, including New York's A Place to Bury Strangers (don't miss our interview with the band) and Dirty on Purpose at the Rock and Roll Hotel, Vandaveer and Julie Ocean at the Red and The Black, and Foreign Islands at DC9, among many others. Check out our guide to the DAM! highlights. >> Two film festivals open... more ›

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Repertory: D.C. Labor FilmFest Strictly speaking, the D.C. Labor FilmFest isn't a repertory festival, but with over half of their programming falling into that category, plus a dedicated retrospective to the great Ken Loach, we'll go ahead and shoehorn it into the category this week. The festival is put on by the Washington Metro Council of... more ›

Sen. McConnell, On Tuesday the Senate is set to take up legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. And though the measure passed the House and enjoys wide support in the Senate and among the American people, you've threatened to use procedural road-blocks to prevent it from coming to a vote. Please don't. Sen. McConnell, in opposing a measure that would grant the District's 600,000 residents a... more ›

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and... more ›

We're working on putting together a special event for our readers to celebrate towards the end of this month, and will let you know all the details soon. This web site would certainly be nothing without all of you who spend your time here, debating the issues, being overly sensitive and correcting our typos. At the ripe old age of three, DCist salutes you, the commentariat. And of course, we salute ourselves. It is our birthday, after all. more ›

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Major Release: 3:10 to Yuma Mark your calendars. Labor Day is past, summer is over, and it's time for all the Oscar contenders to step into the ring. First out of the gate is 3:10 to Yuma, the second filmed version of an Elmore Leonard short story about a Civil War veteran (played here by Christian... more ›

If the DCist Flickr pool is a good indication, many of you decided to spend part of your Labor Day weekend the good ol' fashioned American way -- at the ballpark. Flickr user Scott Ableman perfectly caught Ryan Zimmerman's game winning RBI against the Giants on Sunday night, in a nail biting moment with the count full in the bottom of the ninth. The Nationals inched out for a final score of 2-1.... more ›

Good morning, Washington, and welcome to September. After what was quite possibly the most beautiful weekend in the history of late summer weather in this city, we've finally arrived at the date many of us still associate with "back-to-school" -- the Tuesday after Labor Day. So sharpen your pencils, polish your lunchbox and make sure you have the right Trapper Keeper as we check out today's headlines. At Least Four Weekend Killings: The Examiner... more ›

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom... more ›

>> Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will announce his plans Saturday amid calls from his GOP colleagues for his resignation. [AP via MSNBC] >> What would you do if a homeless person set up camp on your stoop? [Prince of Petworth] >> Fewer people will be driving out of town this weekend than is typical for Labor Day. [WaPo] >> The MPD has advised that there will be an authorized fly - over the District... more ›

FRIDAY: >> Starting tonight, George Mason Stadium plays host to the region's annual D.C . College Cup. The soccer teams of George Washington, American, Howard, and George Mason will square off in two rounds of games. Though the tournament is conspicuously missing national powerhouses UMD and UVA, the event will still showcase some of the best young talent around. GW and AU kick off tonight's slate (5:00 p.m.), with Howard and GMU rounding the night... more ›