Union Made captures the blood, sweat, tears, as well as the courage, love, and solidarity that animates a union organizing drive. The new book by Eric Lotke, an attorney at the National Education Association, provides a window into the challenges faced by workers who are fighting for dignity and a more humane workplace. Lotke’s second work of fiction takes place in Richmond, Virginia, with a storyline anchored between two narratives: Catherine Campbell and the workers who are organizing Pac-Shoppe, and Nathan Hawley, an accountant working for a company planning a hostile takeover. Catherine’s story takes the reader inside the dynamics of organizing high stake meetings with Pac-Shoppe employees and strategic direct actions around the city as they band together to fight for higher wages, predictable work shifts, and dignity on the job. The other storyline opens a window into the cold calculation of finance capitalism, as we follow Nathan’s heroic journey away from a lonely accountant dealing with the banality of tracking spreadsheets and positive growth curves to a dialectic with Catherine that grows his class consciousness and creates a beautiful interplay as Nathan falls in love with both the movement and Catherine. Union Made is published by Tim Sheard’s Hardball Press. You can also watch an interview with Lotke here. - reviewed by Evan Papp of Empathy Media lab. Read a labor-related book and want to review it for Union City? Email us at [email protected]! in response to the Atlanta shootings:
"As the people who educate children, care for patients and keep our communities safe, we must continue to teach tolerance and acceptance, and to take a stand against the injustices that continue affecting the lives of so many people we love." This week’s Labor History Today podcast: The Hardhat Riot. Last week’s show: We Were There; Pins and Needles; Dust for Blood. Ohio makes it illegal for children under 18 and women to work more than 10 hours a day - 1852 Sam Walton, founder of the huge and bitterly anti-union Wal-Mart empire, born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He once said that his priority was to “Buy American,” but Wal-Mart is now the largest U.S. importer of foreign-made goods—often produced under sweatshop conditions - 1918 “Battle of Wall Street,” police charge strikers lying down in front of stock exchange doors, 43 arrested - 1948 click here for latest listings
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report Music, Resistance and Social Movements: Fri, March 26, 4pm – 5pm Join A Yęmisi Jimoh, Tom Juravich and Jerry Levinsky in a conversation about how music has been and continues to be a vital part of social movements. Teamsters Food Drive - D.C. and Dulles: Sat, March 27, 8:15am – 10:00am Teamsters Local 639 and the Society of St. Andrews host a food basket program every Saturday morning starting at 8:15 am at 3100 Ames Place NE., in Washington. The union has been delivering the food to laid off workers at Dulles Airport. For more information and to volunteer, contact John Estes: [email protected]. Hate Crimes and the AAPI Community: Standing up to Racist Attacks by White Supremacists and the Far Right: Sat, March 27, 4pm – 5pm Presented by the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and United Against Hate. Payroll Protection Program: Unions are now eligible!Mon, March 29, 11am – 12pm The American Rescue Plan (Rescue Plan) expands eligibility for first and second draw loans for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. The expansion includes labor unions. Find out what requirements must be met before before applying for a loan. Labor Radio Podcast Network livestream PodExtra: Women’s History Month; Long Island migrant labor camps with Dora Cervantes (General Secretary Treasurer of the Machinists Union) and Mark Torres (author, “Long Island Migrant Camps: Dust for Blood,” Teamster, and labor lawyer). |