The Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO has just released the 2018 Directory of Local Unions. The pocket-sized Directory is a handy guide to the local labor movement, listing nearly 200 Council affiliates representing a broad cross-section of 150,000 area workers, from athletes to writers, government workers to the construction trades. For a free copy, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Metro Council at 815 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20006. The annual Directory -- also available online and in a PDF version -- has been completely updated with the latest information on the Council’s nearly 200 affiliated locals, as well as Council allies in the community and constituency groups. Directory sponsors this year include American Income Life, the Union Plus Mortgage Company, Labor 411, and Union Plus. Former AFL-CIO Chief Economist Ron Blackwell died Sunday, February 25, in Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., after a series of illnesses. Ron began his service to the AFL-CIO in 1996 as the Director of Corporate Affairs. He was appointed Chief Economist at the Federation in 2004, and retired in 2012. “He was highly respected not only in the AFL-CIO, but among union economists around the world,” said Marge Tracey of the National Capitol Area Union Retiree Club, where he was a member. “We will all miss tremendously his wisdom, generosity, and friendship.” At Ron's request, no public memorial service is planned. Click here to read AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka's remembrance. "I loved Mammy. I think I understood her because my own grandmother worked on a plantation not unlike Tara." McDaniel, a Screen Actors Guild member, was the first black woman to win an Academy Award (see Today's Labor History) Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast, featuring labor historian Joe McCartin, former AFSCME Council 26 Executive Director Carl Goldman and CWA researcher Debbie Goldman, hosted by Chris Garlock, with music from the film "Soundtrack for a Revolution." Available now on iTunes, Stitcher and Overcast; search for Union City Radio!
U.S. Supreme Court finds that a Utah state law limiting mine and smelter workers to an 8-hour workday is constitutional - 1898 (Actually Leap Year Feb. 29) The minimum age allowed by law for workers in mills, factories, and mines in South Carolina is raised from 12 to 14 - 1915 Members of the Chinese Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union in San Francisco’s Chinatown begin what is to be a successful four-month strike for better wages and conditions at the National Dollar Stores factory and three retail outlets – 1938 (Actually leap year Feb. 29) Screen Actors Guild member Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African-American to win an Academy Award, honored for her portrayal of “Mammy” in “Gone with the Wind” - 1940 In response to the layoff of 450 union members at a 3M factory in New Jersey, every worker at a 3M factory in Elandsfontein, South Africa, walks off the job in sympathy - 1986 Compiled/edited by Union Communication Services |