Today’s guests:
Lynn Rhinehart, AFL-CIO Co-General Counsel, on the implications of Justice Scalia’s Death on Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Jonathan Williams, Communications Manager for UFCW 400, on the Right to Work override in West Virginia: (301) 577-5836 Union City Radio’s Chris Garlock hosts, with DCNA Executive Director Ed Smith. Labor song of the week: “Union Thru and Thru” by the Eureka’s, Rob Mitchell and Ken Walther, written for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, Australia's main trade union in construction, forestry and furnishing products, mining and energy production. This Week’s Quiz: On January 1, 2016, 14 states and several cities raised their minimum wage. How long has it been since the National minium wage was raised? 2 years; 10 years; 1 year; 6 years. Click here and you could be next week's winner of a labor-themed prize! Please show your support for Union City and WPFW by pledging now at 202-588-9739 or 1-800-222-9739. Or you can easily donate online, just go to WPFWFM.org and click on the big “Donate Now” button. Thank you!
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Here's another story from the files of the Claimant Advocacy Program, in “The Case of the Necessary Leave.”
A longtime employee at one of the large universities in DC -- we'll call her Jane, not her real name -- anyway, Jane got sick with cancer and required extended leave to treat the disease. Before her leave ended, Jane contacted the university to let them know that she was still weak from the medical treatment and could not yet work a full time schedule. However, the employer denied Jane's request for a part-time schedule, placed her on unpaid leave and within two weeks, notified Jane that her failure to return to work full-time was the same as quitting. The Metro Council's Claimant Advocacy Program was able to win unemployment compensation for Jane by citing her fifteen years of service without any attendance issues, documenting her medical condition, and providing evidence of prior temporary job accommodations made to two senior staff members for issues like a broken leg and back surgery. The Claimant Advocacy Program -- part of the Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO -- is a free legal counseling service available to workers who file unemployment compensation appeals in the District of Columbia. Call 202-974-8150 for more info. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1834, one of the first American labor newspapers, The Man, was first published in New York City. It cost a penny, and, according to The History of American Journalism, “died an early death.” In 1918, faced with 84-hour work-weeks, 24-hour shifts and pay of 29¢ an hour, fire fighters formed The International Association of Fire Fighters. Some individual locals had affiliated with the American Federation of Labor beginning in 1903. Today’s labor quote is by Jennifer Granholm "Those who purify your water, inspect your meat, and test your kids' toys, as well as a huge number of nurses, teachers, and our soldiers, are public employees. The firefighters who don't hesitate to rush toward danger while you run away from it - they are all public employees." American politician, educator, author, and political commentator Jennifer Granholm as Attorney General and Governor of the State of Michigan. In a partisan vote, the West Virginia legislature last Friday voted to override Governor Tomblin’s veto of the “Workplace Freedom Act,” commonly known as “right to work.” Mark Federici, President of UFCW Local 400, blasted the move, saying that “Every West Virginia state legislator who supported passing this bill should be ashamed of themselves."
In other local labor news, the new D.C. Taxi Rider app lets you hail a cab through your smartphone. “Drivers see the app as a tool they can use to provide customers the service they desire,” according to Royale Simms, a union leader representing taxi drivers associated with the Teamsters. Search for "DC Taxi Rider" in the App Store now. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1937, sixty-three sit-down strikers, demanding recognition of their union, were tear-gassed and driven from two Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation plants in Chicago. Two years later the U.S. Supreme Court declared sit-down strikes illegal. The tactic had been a major industrial union organizing tool. In 1992, two locals of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union at Yale University struck in sympathy with 1,300 graduate student teaching assistants at Yale who were demanding the right to negotiate with the university. Today’s labor quote is by Hattie Minor "We're one for all and all for one. They supported us, and I wish them well." Hattie Minor was an administrative assistant in the Yale department of public health, and a member of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union, which struck in support of graduate student teaching assistants trying to organize a union. MontCo Union Taxi last Wednesday won nearly a million dollars in grants, contributions and loans to enhance transportation for seniors and individuals with disabilities in Montgomery County.
The co-op intends to put 50 additional accessible taxis on the road in June doubling the number of wheelchair-accessible taxis operating in the County. The bulk of the funds comes from the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, along with matching funds loans from Regency Taxi. Regency hailed the project -- expected to begin in about a year – as one that will “benefit the elderly and disabled community, providing them with safe and reliable transportation,” said president David Mohebbi. MontCo Union Taxi is affiliated with the National Taxi Worker Alliance. On today’s labor calendar, The AFL-CIO hosts a free book event at noon today, as author Deepa Iyer leads a discussion based on her book "We Too Sing America" about how South Asian, Arab, Muslim and Sikh Immigrants shape our multiracial future. Go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar for complete details. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1870, Leonora O’Reilly was born in New York. The daughter of Irish immigrants, she began working in a factory at 11, joined the Knights of Labor at 16, and was a volunteer investigator of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911. She was a founding member of the Women’s Trade Union League. In 1926, 12,000 New York furriers began a 17-week general strike, in which Jewish workers formed a coalition with Greek and African American workers and became the first union to win a 5-day, 40-hour week. In 1936, Rubber Workers began a sit-down strike at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. And on this date in 2011, all public schools in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin were closed as teachers called in sick to protest Governor Scott Walker’s plans to gut their collective bargaining rights. Today’s labor quote is by Leonora O’Reilly, who told US Senators in 1912: "You cannot or will not make laws for us; we must make laws for ourselves. We working women need the ballot for self-protection; that is all there is to it." |
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