"The democratic way of life within the nation can be defended successfully only with the help and support of all groups."
- from a statement accompanying the order banning discrimination in defense industries (see Today's Labor History, below Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast. On this week's show: Joe McCartin – on the eve of the Supreme Court’s Janus decision -- looks back at two previous important dates in Court history…Karen Senaga talks about the 1990 strike by 900 workers at Delta Pride Catfish in Indianola, Mississippi…Saul Schniderman remembers the dedication of The Haymarket Martyrs Monument in Chicago…our History Object of the Week is the Black Congressional Caucus Coalition’s Harold Washington Award for Excellence in coalition-building…This week’s labor music is "8 Hours Work, 8 Hours Sleep, 8 Hours for What We Will" by Jonny 8 Track. Union City Radio's Chris Garlock hosts; interviews by Patrick Dixon. More than 8,000 people attend the dedication ceremony for The Haymarket Martyrs Monument in Chicago, honoring those framed and executed for the bombing at Haymarket Square on May 4, 1886 - 1893 Fair Labor Standards Act passes Congress, banning child labor and setting the 40-hour work week - 1938 At the urging of black labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, Franklin Roosevelt issues an executive order barring discrimination in defense industries - 1941 Congress passes the Smith-Connally War Labor Disputes Act over President Franklin Roosevelt’s veto. It allows the federal government to seize and operate industries threatened by strikes that would interfere with war production. It was hurriedly created after the third coal strike in seven weeks - 1943 A total of 21 workers are killed when a fireworks factory near Hallett, Okla., explodes - 1985 Decatur, Ill., police pepper-gas workers at A.E. Staley plant gate one year into the company's two-and-a-half-year lockout of Paperworkers Local 7837 - 1994 Compiled/edited by Union Communication Service Workers at the World Bank Group cafeterias voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to join Unite Here Local 23. “Of 226 workers, 192 participated in the election and 89% voted YES to join the Union!” reports Local 23. “Thanks to all for the solidarity!”
photo courtesy UNITE HERE 23 Union service workers from across the East Coast will converge on George Washington University Hospital tomorrow at 2:30pm to “fight for dignity and respect” for hospital employees, who have been bargaining for a fair contract for almost a year and a half. GWUH dietary workers have been cheated out of tens of thousands in back wages and housekeepers must ask supervisors for permission to use restrooms, says 1199 SEIU, which represents the workers. “This is an insult to the workers,” said the union. Hospital workers and their supporters rallied on Valentine’s Day, demanding that GWUH “put the heart back in healthcare.”
photo from Valentine's Day rally, courtesy 1199SEIU |