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," screening 2/27 at the Shirlington DC LaborFest Bread and Roses series. Available now on iTunes, Stitcher and Overcast; search for Union City Radio!
Congress OKs the Contract Labor Law, designed to clamp down on "business agents" who contracted abroad for immigrant labor. One of the reasons 19th-century unions supported the measure: employers were exploiting foreign workers to fight against the growing U.S. labor movement, primarily by deploying immigrant labor to break strikes - 1885 Bethlehem Steel workers strike for union recognition, Bethlehem, Pa. - 1941 A coal slag heap doubling as a dam in West Virginia’s Buffalo Creek Valley collapsed, flooding the 17-mile long valley. 118 died, 5,000 were left homeless. The Pittston Coal Co. said it was "an act of God" - 1972 A 20-week strike by 70,000 Southern California supermarket workers ends, with both sides claiming victory - 2004 Compiled/edited by Union Communication Services Vowing to make this the first day in a long war against corporations and the 1 percent, hundreds of unionists gathered in downtown D.C. on Feb. 24 to campaign for workers’ rights and specifically against a looming threat to them – the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus case. The justices will hear the case, pushed by the rabid anti-union National Right to Work Committee, its legal defense arm and its corporate backers, on Feb. 26. The case will decide whether every state and local government worker in the U.S. could become a potential “free rider,” using union services, but not having to pay a cent for them. A High Court anti-union ruling – widely expected -- could cost unions thousands of members and millions of dollars – and the looming threat brought workers into the streets around the country two days before, including the hundreds of unionists at Freedom Plaza downtown. “We are workers, we have a voice and we will use it!” declared Jackie Jeter, president of the Metropolitan Washington Central Labor Council and of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which represents Metro’s workers. “We use our power to defend our freedom and demand an end to the rigged economy the rich have put on workers’ backs,” she added, gazing out over a sea of signs, many of which read “Unrig the rigged economy.” Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Janus vs. AFSCME. The outcome of this case will directly impact nearly 20 million public-sector workers across the country, disproportionately affecting black women, who make up a significant percentage of public-sector workers. That’s why thousands of DC-area activists are turning out tomorrow at the Working People’s Day of Action (see Calendar at right) to tell the U.S. Supreme Court to protect working people’s right to organize. Black women have traditionally faced a double pay gap―a gender pay gap and a racial wage gap. Research by the Economic Policy Institute has shown that black women are paid only 65 cents of the dollar that their white male counterparts are paid. However, unions help reduce these pay gaps. The Working People’s Day of Action will help shine a spotlight on attempts by corporate interests to undermine working people’s right to collectively negotiate a fair return on our work. To learn more about how unions champion freedom and equality, RSVP to attend the Washington Teachers' Union teach-in happening immediately after Saturday's action.
Members of the Laborers’ union demonstrated outside Walter Reed Hospital last week to demand back pay after their former employer defied a federal ruling in the workers’ favor. The employer, Asbestos Specialist Inc. (ASI), underpaid 127 workers and lost their case, but is delaying by appealing the court’s ruling. “ASI workers will do what it takes to get their back pay now,” said Felix Rodriguez, LIUNA Local 11 member. Strikes and pickets at other potential ASI job sites are planned. Click here to read more. |