This week’s Labor History Today podcast: “Politics of the Pantry”; “We Just Come to Work Here” “This period of time in the Thirties struck me as a period of great innovation and resilience that women organized around the need to provide certain services. And I see that happening in my community today around the pandemic.” Emily Twarog, author of “Politics of the Pantry: Housewives, Food, and Consumer Protest in Twentieth Century America.” Her study of how women used institutions built on patriarchy and consumer capitalism to cultivate a political voice resonates strongly today in the midst of both the COVID-19 pandemic and an election year. Joyce McCawley talked with Twarog on the Heartland Labor Forum, the labor radio show airing weekly in Kansas City on KKFI. Plus: Ben Grosscup with a new version of “We Just Come to Work Here” and Joe Glazer on the Memorial Day Massacre. Last week’s show: “The Long Deep Grudge: A Story of Big Capital, Radical Labor, and Class War in the American Heartland” The Ladies Shoe Binders Society formed in New York - 1835 Fifteen women were dismissed from their jobs at the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia for dancing the Turkey Trot. They were on their lunch break, but management thought the dance too racy - 1912 At least 30,000 workers in Rochester, N.Y. participate in a general strike in support of municipal workers who had been fired for forming a union - 1946 - David Prosten Union City Radio: 7:15am daily WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report The Disproportionate Impact of Covid-19 on African American Workers: Wed, May 27, 12pm – 1pm (Via Zoom) Labor Arts Caucus (NoVA Labor): Wed, May 27, 3pm – 4pm via Zoom Alexandria Dems Labor Caucus: Wed, May 27, 7:30pm – 8:30pm Zoom Safely re-opening America’s schools: Thu, May 28, 11am – 12pm Hosted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Zoom link will be provided upon REGISTRATION Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, May 28, 1pm – 2pm WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online Arlington Dems. Labor Caucus: Thu, May 28, 6pm – 7pm Zoom Musical: "Mother Jones in Heaven": Thu, May 28, 8pm – 10pm Watch on YouTube Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are teleworking; reach them at the contact numbers and email addresses here. Latest DC-area labor news, delivered daily: tell a friend and help build our Union City! Over a thousand cars are expected to join the Workers First Caravan next Wednesday in Washington, DC. "The time has come for action," says the AFL-CIO, which is coordinating the effort with a number of affiliated unions. Since the AFL-CIO adopted the 5 Economic Essential Goals, "tens of thousands have died, hundreds of thousands have been infected with Coronavirus, millions of working people have lost their jobs, and an entire nation has become infected with fear and uncertainty." RSVP here for the June 3 caravan, which will gather at 11a (location TBA) before proceeding to the U.S. Capitol. "It is time for us to fight for the 5 Economic Essentials here in Washington and around the country," said the AFL-CIO. “Shout out to the folks at NATCA (National Air Traffic Controllers Association), which coordinated a food drive out of NoVA Labor to help our unemployed sisters and brothers,” reports NoVA Labor president Virginia Diamond. The NATCA food drive was led by Brian Schmelzel along with numerous volunteers. "We didn’t count individual pieces but every table in the NOVA Labor Federation office was piled two or three feet high," said NATCA retiree Matt Sullivan. Unite Here Local 23 is working with NATCA to coordinate the delivery of the food to laid off workers at Southern Towers in Alexandria, the center of the "cancel rent" movement. |