With chants of “what would Cesar do?” teachers from the only unionized charter school in DC took to the streets last week to protest what they say is irresponsible spending by the school. Chavez Prep Middle is paying millions to a private consulting firm at the same time core classroom positions are left unfilled. The teachers voted to unionize in June, and are in the midst of negotiating a new contract.
And over at GW university, more than 20 graduate and undergraduate students sat in at Rice Hall Thursday morning to press administrators to meet with organizers aiming to start a graduate student union. The sit-in was part of a push to demand that officials drop their opposition to a graduate union that students say would grant them more affordable health care and better pay.

On today’s Labor Calendar, a two-and-a-half day Women’s Leadership Skills Conference – hosted by the Coalition of Labor Union Women -- starts today at the Tommy Douglas Conference Center;
Complete details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1927, a deadly explosion at the Everettville mine in Everettville, West Virginia, killed 109 miners, many of whom lie in unmarked graves to this day.  

Today’s labor quote is by Mary Harris “”Mother” Jones, dubbed “the miner’s angel,” who said:
“Life comes to the miners out of their deaths, and death out of their lives.” 
​
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What do Virginia wireless workers, Maryland administrative assistants, Harvard grad students and JetBlue flight attendants have in common? They were all part of last week’s historic organizing surge, as more than 10,000 workers joined unions.
The JetBlue flight attendants and Harvard grad students -- with about 5,000 each -- comprised the bulk of the wins, voting respectively to join the Transport Workers and the Auto Workers.
Local efforts contributed as well, with six Cricket Wireless workers joining CWA 2222 and over 100 administrative employees working for a Montgomery County contractor filing for an election last week with UFCW 1994 MCGEO.
Other locals, including OPEIU 2, report ongoing organizing campaigns as well. These local efforts buttress a resurgent national labor movement that has captured national headlines as teachers across the country have staged massive strikes.

On this weekend’s Labor Calendar, if you can’t wait for the annual DC Labor FilmFest to start next week, get yourself to the AFI Silver Theater this Sunday afternoon for “Who's in the Money? Warner Brothers' Musicals of 1933” where they’ll be screening “42ND STREET,” “GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933” and “FOOTLIGHT PARADE”;
Complete details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450: Security Requirements for Government Employment. The order listed “sexual perversion” as a condition for firing a federal employee and for denying employment to potential applicants.

Today’s labor quote is from James Oppenheim’s poem “Bread and Roses” published on this date in 1946 in the IWW newspaper “Industrial Solidarity” and sung here by Bronwen Lewis in the film “Pride”:
As we go marching, marching
In the beauty of the day
A million darkened kitchens
A thousand mill lofts grey
Are touched with all the radiance
That a sudden sun discloses
For the people hear us singing
Bread and roses, bread and roses

Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

Hosted by Chris Garlock, and Ed Smith
 
Listen live on WPFW 89.3FM or online. CALL IN at 202-588-0893.
Your Rights At Work is also available as a podcast! Just search for Union City Radio on iTunes, Stitcher, OverCast or wherever you get your podcasts; subscribe and you’ll get our shows right on your phone! 
 
Guests:
David Stephen, ATU 689: Latest on ongoing transit worker issues.
Ray Lee, UFCW 1994/MCGEO Organizing Coordinator: Local organizing helps lift labor to historic week: What do Virginia wireless workers, Maryland administrative assistants, Harvard grad students and JetBlue flight attendants have in common? They were all part of last week’s historic organizing surge, as more than 10,000 workers joined unions.
Will Attig, Union Veterans Council Executive Director: VA worker issues/rights – including privatization -- and VA nominee Ronny L. Jackson’s lack of job qualifications.

MUSIC:
Tony Babino - L'Internationale (swing jazz version)
Coco Briaval L'Internationale
"Workers of the World May Day Special" PSA

CREDITS: Produced by Pete Pocock and Chris Bangert-Drowns; engineered by Mandela; Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus. UnionPlus is committed to improving the quality of life of working families. Find out more at unionplus.org. 

In response to the growing list of scandals under Scott Pruitt’s watch, the American Federation of Government Employees hosted a noontime rally yesterday outside EPA headquarters.
“Since becoming Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,” said AFGE, “Scott Pruitt has worked to dismantle the agency, silence workers, and enrich himself and private corporations.”
(audio clip) Chant:
I don’t know what you’ve been told
EPA will not fold
It’s our duty to serve and protect
We won’t stand for no neglect

On today’s Labor Calendar,
Our guests on Your Rights at Work here on WPFW starting at 2pm are David Stephen from transit workers local 689 and Will Fischer at VoteVets.
Tonight at 6:30 catch a screening of Marx Reloaded at the Goethe Institute;
also at 6:30, there's a Ward 7 Town Hall on DC’s high water bills (Ward 7)
Complete details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1944, the U.S. Army seized the Chicago headquarters of the unionized Montgomery Ward department store after management defied the National Labor Relations Board.
​
Today’s labor quote is by Daniel Webster, Congressman, Senator and Secretary of State, who said:
“Labor is the great producer of wealth: it moves all other causes.”

Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

After 22 days on strike and nearly a year at the bargaining table, CWA members in West Virginia and Virginia have voted to ratify a new union contract with Frontier Communications. “This is a major achievement, and it shows what working people can do when they join together to stand up for themselves and their communities,” reported CWA District 2-13.
And just as Frontier workers are celebrating their victory, other CWA members are pledging to “turn it up” as they bargain for a new contract with AT&T Legacy. Despite an overwhelming vote authorizing a strike after their old contract expired, the bargaining team is facing management proposals they feel have “no gains” for members.

Today’s Labor Calendar is jam-packed, including CWI’s Meeting on Working Women, Pay Equity and Union Bargaining, a DC LaborFest Sneak Preview at the Shirlington Busboys and Poets, a Ward 8 Town Hall on DC’s high water bills and a Tri-County COPE meeting.
Complete details, as always, at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1999, the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union halted shipping on the West Coast in solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Philadelphia journalist whom many believed was on death row because he was an outspoken African-American.

Today’s labor quote is by Mumia Abu-Jamal, who said:
“Very few people in prison have voices that go beyond the wall. It's my job to do the work for them because they have no one.”
 
Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

Five years after the disaster that killed over a thousand Bangladesh garment workers, the horror of the incident spurred international action and resulted in significant safety improvements in many of the country’s garment factories. But union organizers say employers often are not following through to ensure worksites remain safe, and the government is doing little to ensure garment workers have the freedom to form unions to achieve safe working conditions. Find out more from the Solidarity Center on our website at dclabor.org

On today’s Labor Calendar, DC Jobs With Justice hosts its first “Lunch With Justice” today at noon, focusing on Public Housing funding, NEAR Act Funding and Fair Budget Coalition priorities. Then, there’s a celebration of longtime Tri-County COPE Chair Bill Grooms' life from 2-4pm and 6-8 tonight; Grooms died last Sunday.
Complete details, of course, at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1886, The New York Times declared the struggle for an eight-hour workday to be “un-American” and called public demonstrations for the shorter hours “labor disturbances brought about by foreigners.” Other publications declared that an eight-hour workday day would bring about “loafing and gambling, rioting, debauchery and drunkenness.”
​
Today’s labor quote is by Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, arrested on this date in 1969 while picketing a Charleston, South Carolina hospital in a demand for union recognition. Ralph David Abernathy, who said:
"Bring on your tear gas, bring on your grenades, your new supplies of Mace, your state troopers and even your national guards. But let the record show we ain't going to be turned around."
 
Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

Macy’s workers and their supporters rallied for a new contract last Thursday. Here’s UFCW local 400 member Bianca Morris on last week’s "Your Rights at Work" show: (audio) “I feel we deserve better pay, better hours, better schedules, better everything.”
And Local 400 mobilization director Alan Hanson added: (audio):
“Negotiations are slow going, but we’ve made it very clear to Macy’s that our goal is to take the time to get the deal that our members have earned.”
Local 400 coordinated with Seattle sister local 21, which also represents hundreds of Macy’s associates, to hold simultaneous rallies on Thursday.

On today’s Labor Calendar, there’s a "Free Lula!" demonstration today at noon at the Brazilian Consulate on 15th Street; for details go to dclabor.org, and click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1993, United Farm Workers of America founder Cesar Chavez died in San Luis, Arizona at age 66.

Today’s labor quote is by Ida Mae Stull, the country’s first woman coal miner, who died on this date in 1980. Ida Mae Stull, who said:
“I’ve got no business baking cookies and mending clothes. I’m a coal miner.” 

Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

As UFCW Local 400 negotiates its next union contract with Macy’s, the local says they’re “fighting for better pay, better schedules, and better healthcare.”
Yesterday, Local 400 and their allies took to the streets to take a stand, “not just for Macy’s workers here in the Washington Metropolitan region,” they said, “but across the country.” Local 400 teamed up with UFCW Local 21in Seattle to hold simultaneous coast-to-coast actions at noon, including two in the metro DC area.

For the latest local Labor Calendar, go to dclabor.org, and click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1912, 10,000 demonstrators celebrated textile workers’ win of a 10-percent pay hike and grievance committees after a one-month strike in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Today’s labor quote is by Woody Guthrie, from his song Ludlow Massacre. On this date in 1914, the Colorado state militia, using machine guns and fire, killed about 20 people—including 11 children—at a tent city set up by striking coal miners: 
You struck a match and in the blaze that started,
You pulled the triggers of your gatling guns,
I made a run for the children but the fire wall stopped me.
Thirteen children died from your guns.

From Ludlow Massacre by Woody Guthrie

Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

Hosted by Chris Garlock and Damon Silvers 

Listen live on WPFW 89.3FM or online. CALL IN at 202-588-0893.
Your Rights At Work is also available as a podcast! Just search for Union City Radio on iTunes, Stitcher, OverCast or wherever you get your podcasts; subscribe and you’ll get our shows right on your phone!
 
Guests: 
Bob Moses, voting rights organizer, and founder of The Algebra Project , on the connection between voting rights and math. Bob will be speaking at the Washington Teachers Union’s Shared Vision Conference this Saturday, April 21, which runs 8am to 3pm and is open to the public (Kellogg Conference Hotel at Gallaudet, 800 Florida Ave. NE).  

Alan Hanson, UFCW 400 mobilization director, with Macy’s worker Bianca Morris on the noontime Rallies for a Fair Contract at Macy’s on Thursday, April 19 at two DC-area Macy’s stores and in Seattle, WA.

PLUS: remembering Paul Booth; today’s memorial service is streaming live on Facebook: look for "Celebrating Paul Booth"

Today’s music:
Exponents Song (All About the Base); parody of Meghan Trainor's smash hit, "All About the Bass"

Three Times Table Song (Cover of Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars) by Mr. DeMaio

CREDITS: Produced by Pete Pocock and Chris Bangert-Drowns; engineered by Mike “The Man” Nasella; Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus. UnionPlus is committed to improving the quality of life of working families. Find out more at unionplus.org. And we’re supported by you, our listeners.

A new campaign making a “national call for moral revival” was given a rousing endorsement at the Metro Washington Council delegate meeting Monday night.
The Poor People’s Campaign builds on the 1968 Poor People’s March on Washington  -- being organized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was assassinated in 1968 -- which sought to “dramatize the plight of America’s poor” and demand better jobs, homes, and education in addition to full civil rights.
The new campaign will launch with a 40-day series of demonstrations across the country beginning on May 13, Mother’s Day, through June 21, in an effort to confront the “inseparable evils” of racism, poverty, war, and ecological disaster. The Metro Council is urging union members, leaders and allies across the metro Washington area to get involved in the campaign.

On today’s Labor Calendar, catch Your Rights at Work this afternoon at our new time, 2pm here on WPFW, when our guests will include legendary voting rights organizer Robert Moses.
Then at 6:30 tonight there’s a Ward 5 Town Hall on DC’s high water bills.
Complete details, as always, at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1995, an American domestic terrorist’s bomb destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people, 99 of whom were government employees.

​Today’s labor quote is by Jennifer Granholm, an American politician, educator, author, and political commentator. Jennifer Granholm, who said:
"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." 
 
Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!