 "The labor movement means just this; It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth."
Wendell Phillips (1811-1884) was an American abolitionist, orator, and attorney.  July 21 Local militiamen are called out against striking railroad workers in Pittsburgh. The head of the Pennsylvania Railroad advises giving the strikers "a rifle diet for a few days and see how they like that kind of bread." - 1877 Compressed air explosion kills 20 workers constructing railroad tunnel under the Hudson River - 1880 IWW leads a strike at Hodgeman's Blueberry Farm in Grand Junction, Mich. - 1964 Radio station WCFL, owned and operated by the Chicago Federation of Labor, takes to the airwaves with two hours of music. The first and only labor-owned radio station in the country, WCFL was sold in 1979 - 1926. In a related update, just a week ago, a group organized in part by the Chicago Federation of Labor announced the acquisition of the Chicago Sun-Times -- Chicago's oldest daily newspaper -- the Chicago Reader and the straightdope.com website, as well as Answers Media, a digital communications company. A die-cast operator in Jackson, Mich., is pinned by a hydraulic Unimate robot, dies five days later. Incident is the first documented case in the U.S. of a robot killing a human - 1984 July 22 Newly unionized brewery workers in San Francisco, mostly German socialists, declare victory after the city’s breweries give in to their demands for free beer, the closed shop, freedom to live anywhere (they had typically been required to live in the breweries), a 10-hour day, 6-day week, and a board of arbitration - 1886 (From First Contact to First Contract: A Union Organizer’s Handbook is a no-nonsense tool from veteran labor organizer and educator Bill Barry. He looks to his own vast experience to document and help organizers through all the stages of a unionization campaign, from how to get it off the ground to how to bring it home with a signed contract and a strong bargaining unit.) A bomb was set off during a "Preparedness Day" parade in San Francisco, killing 10 and injuring 40 more. Tom Mooney, a labor organizer, and Warren Billings, a shoe worker, were convicted of the crime, but both were pardoned 23 years later - 1916 July 23 Anarchist Alexander Berkman shoots and stabs but fails to kill steel magnate Henry Clay Frick in an effort to avenge the Homestead massacre 18 days earlier, in which nine strikers were killed. Berkman also tried to use what was, in effect, a suicide bomb, but it didn't detonate - 1892 Northern Michigan copper miners strike for union recognition, higher wages and 8-hour day. By the time they threw in the towel the following April, 1,100 had been arrested on various charges and Western Federation of Miners President Charles Moyer had been shot, beaten and forced out of town - 1913 Aluminum Workers Int'l Union merges with The United Brick & Clay Workers of America to form Aluminum, Brick & Clay Workers - 1981 Compiled/edited by Union Communication Services  With just a few exceptions, if you work in DC, you have the right to take paid sick days when you or a loved one is ill, to go to a doctor, or to receive services related to domestic violence or assault. “It's outrageous how many employers still violate this law on a daily basis,” says Ari Schwartz, Lead Organizer for DC Jobs With Justice. To make paid sick days for all a reality, “workers need to know their rights and have the tools to defend them,” says Schwartz, which is why the Just Pay Coalition is hosting a Sick and Safe Leave Forum and presentation on July 25, in partnership with the DC Department of Employment Services’ Office of Wage-Hour (OWH). “It's time for every employer to follow the law and for every worker to know about their right to paid sick days,” said Schwartz, who will be on WPFW's Your Rights At Work today . Click here for details and to RSVP.
photo originally posted by the Employment Justice Center Two area labor leadershave made the 2017 El Tiempo Latino Powermeter, the publication’s list of the 100 most influential people for Latinos in the metro area. SEIU Local 32BJ Vice President Jaime Contreras and Unite Here Local 25 Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Boardman made the selection, culled from more than 400 nominees. “Considered a key figure among the new generation of leaders in immigration and labor rights groups in DC,” Contreras – who also serves on the Metro Washington Council’s Executive Board -- “has been able to build alliances with a growing immigrant community in DC, Maryland, and Virginia while bridging the gap between labor and New Americans,” while Boardman “has arduously fought to help hundreds of Latino workers improve their work benefits by pushing for contracts with improved pension plans and salary wages.”
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