Training on the DC Metropolitan Police Department (DCMPD)'s
participation in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s
"Secure Communities" program. This training is particularly
important for advocates and organizers that work with D.C.'s immigrant
community. Participants will receive information about how ICE's
"Secure Communities" program operates, who among your
constituents may be affected, and where individuals can call to report
any civil rights violations related to DCMPD.

Shabbat is a powerful day -- we believe it can change the world. The AJWS-AVODAH Partnership encourages you to participate in a Shabbat dedicated to one of the most critical issues claiming lives in the world today.

Shabbat is a powerful day -- we believe it can change the world. The AJWS-AVODAH Partnership encourages you to participate in a Shabbat dedicated to one of the most critical issues claiming lives in the world today.

On Sunday, March 21, you can be part of history and help change the future for millions of out immigrant brothers and sisters. Join thousands of people of faith from across the U.S. for "March for America: Change Takes Courage and Faith." Between 11 and 12:30 EST, join others from the Jewish community to learn about We Were Strangers, Too Jewish immigration campaign and to make posters for the rally. At 1 PM there will be an interfaith prayer service in advance of the rally. At 2 PM EST gather with other immigrant advocates to send the message that now is the time to fix our broken immigration system.

Register for the rally" http://changetakesfaith.org/.

Register for the bagel brunch by emailing Juliana at JSchnur@rac.org

Learn tools for having "the best meeting ever." Part of the Gerry Brittain Education Project, is an initiative of DC Jobs with Justice designed to strengthen local organizing and build power among working people in the District of Columbia.

Pre-register online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=bdAvdFc2_2bP7TBKN2m08OLA_3d_3d

A donation of $10 is requested, but no-one is turned away.

Columbia Sussex, a national hotel owner with several hotels in the
local area, has been using the economic downturn as an excuse to cut
workers wages and benefits to distressing levels. Columbia Sussex is
currently engaged in bitter labor disputes at four of its union
properties, including the Sheraton City Centre in Baltimore and the
Hilton Crystal City in Arlington.

At each of these hotels the Company has declared impasse after months
or years of fruitless negotiations in which the Company made no
consequential changes to its opening proposals. As a result the Company
has implemented, without Union agreement, proposals which have:
· Reduced work opportunities for long-time employees
· Eliminated sick days
· Eliminated seniority rights
· Increase d employee co-pays for Dental, Optical, and Health Insurance
Increased housekeeper workloads
· Forced workers to work at several jobs at the same time

At each of these hotels workers have called on the public to boycott
these properties until a fair contract can be reached.

What is it like doing the back-breaking work of immigrants? To find out, Gabriel Thompson spent the year working alongside Latino immigrants, who initially thought he was either crazy or an undercover immigration agent. He stooped over lettuce fields in Arizona and worked the graveyard shift at a chicken slaughterhouse in rural Alabama. He dodged taxis-not always successfully-as a bicycle delivery "boy" for an upscale Manhattan restaurant, and was fired from a flower shop by a boss who, he quickly realized, was nuts.

Combining personal narrative with investigative reporting, Thompson shines a bright light on the underside of the American economy, exposing harsh working conditions, union busting, and lax government enforcement-while telling the stories of workers, undocumented immigrants and desperate US citizens alike, forced to live with chronic pain in the pursuit of $8 an hour.

Pre-register here. 

Each year, Jews United For Justice's Labor Seder highlights a current workers' rights struggle and brings together the Jewish and labor communities in a shared commitment to social and economic justice.

This year's seder - set for Sunday, April 11 -- will focus on our region's social safety net crisis, as city and state budgets are cut in ways that disproportionately affect working families and low-income residents. The seder will feature singing, storytelling, discussion, reflection, and action, as well as local workers, activists, rabbis, and an original haggadah. Planning for the seder is now underway; email seder@jufj.org if you'd like to be involved. 

Join us for DC Emancipation Advocacy Day from 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM on Friday, April 16 at U.S. Capitol Building, Capitol Visitors Center, room HVC-215. As the District's only official local holiday, DC Emancipation Day commemorates the day in 1862 on which President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act to free the 3,100 enslaved people of Washington, DC.

On this day of celebration and unity, we must remember that DC residents are the only Americans who pay full federal taxes, fight and die in wars and serve on juries, but still do not have full congressional representation and full local control over local issues. This year DC Vote needs your help advocating on the Hill for current legislation that will bring DC closer to achieving full democracy.