Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast. August 31 John Reed forms the Communist Labor Party in Chicago. The Party’s motto: "Workers of the world, unite!" - 1919 10,000 striking miners began a fight at Blair Mountain, West Virginia, for recognition of their union, the United Mine Workers of America. It was the nation’s single largest armed uprising since the Civil War and its most violent labor insurrection. Sheriff Don Chafin hired private airplane pilots to fly over the miners and drop homemade bombs on them and newspapers from around the country sent war correspondents to cover the battle. Federal troops were eventually sent in, and miners were forced to withdraw five days later, after 16 deaths. The Blair Mountain Battlefield was just re-listed on the National Register of Historic Places in June of this year after a long battle to save it from being destroyed by mining companies - 1921 The Trade Union Unity League is founded as an alternative to the American Federation of Labor, with the goal of organizing along industrial rather than craft lines. An arm of the American Communist Party, the League claimed 125,000 members before it dissolved in the late 1930s - 1929 "Solidarity" workers movement founded as a strike coordination committee at Lenin Shipyards, Gdansk, Poland. The strike launched a wave of unrest in the Soviet Union that ultimately led to its dissolution in 1991 - 1980 An estimated 325,000 unionists gathered in Washington, D.C., for a Solidarity Day march and rally for workplace fairness and healthcare reform - 1991 Detroit teachers begin what is to become a 9-day strike, winning smaller class sizes and raises of up to 4 percent - 1999 CLICK BELOW FOR SEPTEMBER 1 & 2 HISTORY Union City Radio
Weekdays, 7:15am WPFW-FM 89.3 or click here Rally to Keep Providence Hospital Open Thu, August 30, 11am – 12pm Outside Providence Hospital, 1150 Varnum Street N.E. Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work Thu, August 30, 2pm – 3pm WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online This week's guests: Elizabeth Falcon, DC Jobs with Justice; Vaughn Newman, Providence Hospital surgical tech Registered nurses, doctors, hospital workers and community leaders will rally today (see Calendar) to keep Providence Hospital in Northeast DC open. The recent announcement by Ascension, one of the nation’s biggest hospital chains and the nation’s largest Catholic nonprofit health system, that it plans to close or restructure Providence shocked the community. “Doctors share the dismay of patients that Ascension is trying to close or dramatically downgrade the care provided at Providence Hospital, because members of this community rely on us for their health care needs,” said Lester M. Miles, MD, President of the Medical-Dental Staff of Providence Hospital. Unions affected include National Nurses United and 1199DC NUHHCE/AFSCME. photo: 2014 rally at Providence over short staffing; photo by Korey Hartwich Rain and heat don’t deter construction workers and thunderstorms and humidity last week didn’t discourage two dozen Building Futures students who visited the Douglass Memorial Bridge construction site to hear workers' stories and learn more about design and safety. "I never thought I would've ended up where I did," Safety Manager and 2011 Building Futures graduate Jameka White told students, "but I'm glad I had the tools to get here." This was the first opportunity to be out in the field for many of the students, where they witnessed everyday construction activities like welding, piledriving, and ironworking. The trip marked the halfway point for the current Building Futures class. Contact Sylvia Casaro Dietert at [email protected] for more information. - Chris Bangert-Drowns; photo by Natalie Colonna |