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.”
 
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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.”
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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."
 
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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.” 

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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

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