Some 12,000 pecan shellers in San Antonio, Texas—mostly Latino women—walk off their jobs at 400 factories in what was to become a three-month strike against wage cuts. Strike leader Emma Tenayuca was eventually hounded out of the state - 1938 Ida M. Fuller is the first retiree to receive an old-age monthly benefit check under the new Social Security law. She paid in $24.75 between 1937 and 1939 on an income of $2,484; her first check was for $22.54 - 1940 After scoring successes with representation elections conducted under the protective oversight of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the United Farm Workers of America officially ends its historic table grape, lettuce and wine boycotts - 1978 Union and student pressure forces Harvard University to adopt new labor policies raising wages for lowest-paid workers - 2002 Five months after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans school board fires every teacher in the district in what the United Teachers of New Orleans sees as an effort to break the union and privatize the school system - 2005 Compiled/edited by Union Communication Services Team photos from yesterday's 25th annual Community Services Agency bowling tournament have been posted on our Facebook page. Click here for the morning session and here for the afternoon session. Please tag and share widely! photo: the UFCW 1994 MCGEO teams; photo by Chris Garlock/Union City Laborers Local 11, one of the largest area construction unions, is affiliating with the Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO. “We’re looking forward to working with our brothers and sisters in the local labor movement to empower working people,” said Business Manager Dennis Desmond. "We’re thrilled to have Local 11 join the almost 200 other unions that comprise our Council, and know that together we will be able to take on and win even bigger fights to raise up working families throughout the region," said Council Executive Director Carlos Jimenez. Local 11’s 3,600 members come from a variety of different socio-economic backgrounds, and the union “believes that all construction workers should have a real voice in the workplace,” says Local 11. “We aim to unite workers around a common struggle for better workplace conditions. We know that workers who belong to a union receive better pay and benefits than workers who are not being represented. Our members work in the construction industry and earn family-supporting pay, good benefits, and the opportunity for advancement.” AT&T workers from CWA Local 2222 in Annandale, VA joined nationwide picketing outside Mobility stores last week to demonstrate their solidarity with ongoing “orange” contract negotiations. About 21,000 CWA workers nationwide are covered under the current contract, which expires Feb. 11. CWA says it’s “Ready to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract.” photo: CWA 2222 member shows off his orange solidarity t-shirt |