Calling it “a big step in the right direction,” UFCW Local 400 on Tuesday hailed DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s announcement that the District is expanding the criteria for COVID-19 testing to include critical infrastructure workers with a history of exposure to a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patient.
This includes grocery store workers, essential government employees, and other workers who continue to report to work in the District.
“Our hard-working union members in grocery stores interact with hundreds of customers per day and thousands in a week,” said Local 400 Director of Political and Community Affairs Dyana Forester. “Every day, they come to work knowing they are putting themselves and their families at risk in order to keep District residents fed. It is critical that they have access to testing to ensure the safety of our grocery stores and food supply chains. We support any effort to increase the availability of free testing as we work toward our goal to provide access to free testing for 100% of grocery workers.”

For the latest local labor events, almost all of which are taking place online, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 2012, the Obama Administration’s National Labor Relations Board implemented new rules to speed up unionization elections. The new rules were largely seen as a counter to employer manipulation of the law to prevent workers from unionizing, and were subsequently undone under the Trump administration in December 2019.  

Today’s labor quote is by Barack Obama, who said
“When you make sure everybody gets a fair shot and a fair shake, and you're fighting for decent wages for workers, and making sure they've got decent benefits, when you reward people who are playing by the rules — that's how everybody does better.”

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

The Metro Washington Council’s Health Committee on Monday called on the DC Department of Health to intensify contact tracing for frontline healthcare workers who have been exposed to COVID-19.
“If the District of Columbia is going to ‘flatten the curve,’ we must put in place a robust process of notifying potential asymptomatic carriers of the virus,” said committee Chair Djawa Hall of 1199 SEIU United Heathcare Workers East.
In a letter to the DC Department of Health, the Metro Council’s committee demanded new guidelines for hospitals, community-based health organizations, and long term care facilities, which would require them to implement in-house contact tracing epidemiology programs, create guidelines for notifying workers within 48 hours when a patient or employee tests positive for coronavirus, and reinstate furloughed workers and train them to fill critical contact tracer positions.
“Frontline workers,” said Hall, “cannot and should not be expected to unknowingly put their lives on the line, without being able to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves and their families.“

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1894, Coxey’s Army of 500 unemployed civil war veterans reached Washington, DC.

Today’s labor quote is by a top ER doctor in Manhattan, who committed suicide this weekend, after describing horrific scenes from the Coronavirus crisis to her family. "She tried to do her job, and it killed her," her father said.

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

Today is Workers Memorial Day, and I hope you’ll join me in observing it, as we mourn for the dead, and fight for the living.
50 years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job. Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality—winning protections that have made jobs safer and saved lives. But our work is not done. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more suffer injury or illness because of their jobs.
Decades of struggle by working people and our unions have improved working conditions and made jobs safer. But the Trump administration and business groups have launched an all-out assault on workers’ rights and protections. We must fight back and continue to push forward.
On Workers Memorial Day, write your Congressional representative and tell them to sign on and support the COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020. You can also share a Workers Memorial Day graphic on social media and tag us; we’re @dclabor on Facebook and Twitter.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1914, a coal mine collapsed at Eccles, West Virginia, killing 181 workers. Ten years later, in 1924, on this exact same date, 119 died in the Benwood, West Virginia coal mine disaster.

Today’s labor quote is from “We Just Come to Work Here,” written by longshoreman Harry Stamper and sung here by Anne Feeney:
Mary Harris Jones was a tough organizer and her words still inspire today
And if she took a look at our working conditions, I think I know what she would say
If you’re talking about a Workers Memorial Day mourn the dead while you’re ringing the bell
Just remember Mother Jones, when it comes to the living and you know we gotta fight like hell.

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

We have two organizing wins to report today:
In the first, backstage workers at Signature Theater have filed for an election to certify their union and join IATSE 22. "Folk are organizing across the DC area to raise standards, wages and benefits for everyone employed in the arts/entertainment and trade show industries," said Local 22.
And last week the staff members of the National Women’s Law Center announced they have unionized with NPEU, the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union. Management voluntarily recognized the union, NWLC United.
“We highlight how unions give women and other marginalized workers the power to create more equitable workplaces in our everyday work,” said the NWLC United Organizing Committee members. “By forming our union, we are living NWLC’s long-held values and affirming (it’s) role as a leader in advancing economic justice and worker power.”

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1825, Boston carpenters carried out the first strike for a 10-hour day.
Today’s labor quote is from James Oppenheim’s poem “Bread and Roses,” sung here by DC choral group SongRise:
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses.

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

Renita Harrison, UNITE HERE Local 23 member and a single mom with three teens, is a cook for government contractor Sodexo who’s been laid off due to the Covid-19 economic crisis.
The Community Services Agency’s Emergency Assistance Fund, Renita says, “benefited me and my family by keeping my electricity on and helping me to juggle my other bills despite my not having a job; it helped me to breathe."
"Renita is one of tens of thousands of workers needing assistance,” said CSA Executive Director Sonte DuCote. “That’s why we are so grateful to our affiliates and partners for their generous contributions." Contributions to CSA’s Emergency Assistance Fund can be made online at communityservicesagency.org

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1944, on the orders of President Roosevelt, 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 Bonnie Castillo, Registered Nurse and Executive Director of National Nurses United. Bonnie Castillo, who said last week”
“We are tired of the excuses, the waiting, and the false hope. We need PPE now: All our lives are on the line.”

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

Local nurses got some good news this week. On April 21, Masks for America donated N95 masks to United Medical Center and Howard University Hospital, reports DC Nurses Association Executive Director Ed Smith. “DCNA also received approximately 100 face shields for our nurses working at United Medical Center from DC Mutual Aid,” said Smith, who told me that the equipment is essential for the nurses as they work to save lives and limit the spread of the virus. Masks for America is trying to raise a quarter of a million dollars to buy two million masks and as of yesterday had passed the $150,000 dollar mark. We’ve got a link on our website at dclabor.org or just search for masks, the number 4, america.

In 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 Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, a COVID19 survivor who said of the Masks for America effort:
“They are doing what the federal government is supposed to be doing: providing the resources and the equipment to protect you.

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

Local food service workers have been among the hardest-hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anthony Randolph is a longtime food service worker and a member of UNITE HERE Local 23 who’s been a leader in organizing his fellow workers, especially in response to the pandemic. WPFW reporter Chris Bangert-Drowns caught up with Anthony earlier this week…
(audio) During this crisis, we are actually reaching out to all the food service contractors such as Sodexo, a competence, Aramark asking them to continue paying into their medical and to the pension contribution. And at the same time, we reaching out to the client, which is at the university level, like at Howard, or at American university or at Georgetown university, asking them to support us as well, because at the end of the day, the workers didn't ask for it and at the same time, these corporations are getting all kinds of subsidies, so we're like, they're not losing, it's the hourly employees that's losing.
Anthony Randolph, a longtime food service worker and a member of UNITE HERE Local 23.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1999, the Longshoremen’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:
“Politics is the art of making the people believe that they are in power, when in fact, they have none.”

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them. 

Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith

This week's guests:
ANTHONY RANDOLPH from UNITE HERE LOCAL 23; Tens of thousands more laid off workers filed for unemployment assistance in the DMV last week, for a total of nearly half a million claims over the last five weeks. A small fraction of those workers are lucky enough to be members of a union, and at American University that membership might literally mean life or death. When Compass Group, an American University subcontractor, laid off campus food service workers, UNITE HERE Local 23 sprang into action to ensure members continued to get pension and medical benefits. Without those medical benefits, laid off workers would have little means to access care if they got sick. WPFW reporter Chris Bangert-Drowns spoke with AU employee and UNITE HERE 23 member Anthony Randolph on Monday to get the details.

JOE UEHLEIN with the Labor Network for Sustainability https://www.labor4sustainability.org/ on Earth Day at 50; labor and the environmental movement. The first Earth Day in 1970 had very significant support from the United Automobile Workers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which included money, staff time, printing, and other related resources. Denis Hayes, organizer of the first Earth Day told Labor Network for Sustainability President Joe Uehlein that the first Earth Day would not have happened without labor support. Some of the larger Earth Day planning retreats/meetings were held at the UAW’s Black Lake training center in upstate Michigan. 

JACK KELLY: "The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age, and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America”
At the peak of the Gilded Age a conflict in one of America’s largest factories exploded into the most extensive and threatening labor uprising in American history. The Edge of Anarchy tells the story of this epoch-making event. The book transports the reader from the fabulous White City of the 1893 World’s Fair to the nation’s industrial heartland, where unprecedented hard times are brewing rage across the continent. In the summer of 1894, more than half a million desperate railroad workers went on strike. Riots broke out in Chicago and other major cities. The nation’s commerce ground to a halt—famine threatened isolated towns. The U.S. Attorney General declared the country to be on “the ragged edge of anarchy.”

Music: You Can't Giddy Up By Sayin' Whoa: The U-Liners (with Joe Uehlein).

Produced by Chris Garlock; engineering by Michael Nasella and Shepsu Baker

Registered Nurses protested in front of the White House on Tuesday to call attention to the tens of thousands of health care workers nationwide who have become infected with COVID-19 due to lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).
The nurses, including local members of National Nurses United, the largest union of RNs in the country, read aloud the names U.S. nurses who are known to have died of COVID-19.
Nurses have been demanding that the Trump administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration promulgate an emergency temporary standard so that health care workers are provided with the optimal PPE.
The nurses are also demanding that President Trump use his authority under the Defense Production Act to order the mass production of PPE, including N95 respirators, face shields, gowns, gloves and shoe coverings, as well as ventilators and COVID-19 testing kits.

Today’s labor history comes to us from Saul Schniderman:
On April 23rd, 1980 Ida Mae Stull died. She was recognized nationally as the country's first woman coal miner who in 1906 when she was a young child followed her father into the mine, and helped her father, as best she could. Now Ida Mae, like a lot of coal miners was a fighter, so after she was booted out of the mine, she hired an attorney and she filed for reinstatement and she became somewhat of a cause celebre. She entered the mines again, and retired in 1944. Unfortunately, she died in poverty. but she left an important legacy for today's women miners…Ida Mae Stull, America's first woman miner.

Today’s labor quote is by Ida Mae Stull, who
(Saul audio) allegedly said, “It's my desire to use a pick handle because it feels better than a broom handle to me.”  

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more. 

Too often, Americans are asked to choose between jobs and the environment. But as we face increasingly severe impacts of environmental challenges like climate change and adapt to an interconnected global economy, we can no longer choose one or the other. The BlueGreen Alliance believes we can and must choose both.
The BlueGreen Alliance unites America’s largest labor unions and its most influential environmental organizations to solve today’s environmental challenges in ways that create and maintain quality jobs and build a stronger, fairer economy.
The Alliance argues that the actions we take to create quality jobs and to protect working people and the environment must go hand-in-hand, and that together, we will build clean, thriving and fair economy.
The Alliance’s work is centered around three key objectives: clean jobs, clean infrastructure and fair trade.
Find out more about their work at bluegreenalliance.org

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1938, one of the worst disasters in Virginia mining history occurred at the Red Jacket Coal Corporation mine near Grundy in Buchanan County. All 45 men in the mine at the time died when coal dust ignited, causing blasts that were felt two miles away.

Today’s labor quote is by AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, who said:
“Time after time we're told corporations should have freedom from pesky job safety regulations, environmental protections and labor standards - giving working people the freedom to be crushed in collapsing mines, choke on filthy air and get paid too little to live on.”  

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many families are being hit with increased financial burdens. For those struggling with their credit, the Union Plus Credit Counseling program is still operating online and over the phone. Visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling to find out more.