Over a thousand striking workers and their supporters took to the streets of downtown DC Thursday afternoon as the strike by 40,000 CWA and IBEW members entered its 37th day. The afternoon started with a massive picket line outside the F Street Verizon Wireless store, which was essentially brought to a standstill for hours.
The picket was followed by a march to the White House and a rally at Lafayette Park, where -- amid a sea of red CWA t-shirts -- local elected officials and labor allies pledged their ongoing support to the striking workers. Negotiations for a new contract continued last week. Protesting the suspension of three NIH shuttle workers, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1764 members demonstrated outside the Medical Center Metro station in Bethesda Friday morning. They called on NIH to stop union busting and demand that private contractor W&T Travel Services bargain in good faith. “The NIH and W&T are stomping on our free speech rights,” said ATU Local 1764’s Sesil Rubain. “These suspensions were retaliation and the NIH turned a blind eye to this blatant and illegal union busting.” Three NIH shuttle workers had been suspended by W&T earlier in the week for wearing union buttons. On today's labor calendar, go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for the latest list of Verizon strike picket lines. In the latest in the AFL-CIO's Brown Bag Lunch Series, Carmen Berkley and Maria Robalino shine a light on the plight of mass incarceration and advocate for making our criminal justice system fairer, today at noon at the AFL-CIO. The DC LaborFest continues tonight with a screening of the 1971 classic film "Joe Hill," introduced by Linda Zachrison, Cultural Counselor for the Embassy of Sweden. Complete details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1903, an estimated 100,000 textile workers, including more than 10,000 children, went out on strike in the Philadelphia area. Among the issues were 60-hour workweeks, including night hours, for the children. In 1934, ten thousand strikers at the Auto-Lite plant in Toledo, Ohio repelled police who had come to break up their strike for union recognition. The next day, two strikers were killed and 15 wounded when National Guard machine gun units opened fire. Two weeks later the company recognized the union and agreed to a 5 percent raise. And in 1946, a U.S. railroad strike started; it was later crushed when President Truman threatened to draft strikers. Today’s labor quote is by John Dewey "No system has ever existed which did not in some form involve the exploitation of some human beings for the advantage of others." John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer.
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Backed by the Washington Teachers’ Union, teachers from Thomson Elementary School marched earlier this week to demand that DCPS and Chancellor Kaya Henderson resume contract negotiations with their union.
The schools’ teachers, like other DCPS teachers across the city, say they want a new collective bargaining agreement that respects the work they do and includes fair compensation. Earlier this month, close to 100 teachers from Murch Elementary, Deal Middle School and Wilson High held a similar march and rally on May 6. Other marches and rallies are planned throughout the city. On today’s labor calendar, Verizon strike picket lines continue today throughout the metro Washington area; go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for the latest list of locations and times. The DC LaborFest continues today with a free noontime screening of “Love and Solidarity” at the IBEW headquarters on Seventh Street. The film is an inspiring exploration of nonviolence and organizing through the life and teachings of Reverend James Lawson, who provided crucial strategic guidance while working with Martin Luther King, Jr., in southern freedom struggles and the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike. Free popcorn for all attendees! Full details at dclabor.org; click on calendar. Here’s this weekend’s labor history: On this date in 1926, the Railway Labor Act took effect. It was the first federal legislation protecting workers’ rights to form unions. On May 21, 2004, nearly 100,000 unionized SBC Communications workers began a 4-day strike to protest the local phone giant’s latest contract offer. And on May 22, 1895, Eugene Debs was imprisoned in Woodstock, Illinois for his role in the Pullman strike. Today’s labor quote is by Eugene Debs “Ten thousand times has the labor movement stumbled and fallen and bruised itself, and risen again; been seized by the throat and choked into insensibility; enjoined by courts, assaulted by thugs, charged by the militia, shot down by regulars, traduced by the press, frowned upon by public opinion, deceived by politicians, threatened by priests, repudiated by renegades, preyed upon by grafters, infested by spies, deserted by cowards, betrayed by traitors, bled by leeches, and sold out by leaders, but, notwithstanding all this, and all these, it is today the most vital potential power this planet has ever known, and its historic mission of emancipating the workers of the world from the thralldom of the ages is as certain of ultimate realization as the setting of the sun.” Union City Radio’s Chris Garlock hosts, with DCNA Executive Director and labor lawyer Ed Smith.
This week's guests: Terry Richardson, CWA 2336, with the latest on the Verizon strike and today’s Day of Action; Liz Davis, WTU Local 6, on the latest round of demonstrations for a contract with DCPS; Kurt Stand in-studio (Busboys & Poets/Politics & Prose), on the Busboys-WPFW-LaborFest collaboration, as well as on Ban the Box and the rights of returning citizens to work after being incarcerated. Labor song of the week: George Mann "The Union Made Me Strong" Plus: Very happy to announce a $500 challenge grant from UnionPlus and another $500 challenge grant from an anonymous supporter of the show: they’ll match the first $500 we raise this hour, which means every dollar contributed is worth $3! Union Plus provides benefits and services available only to union members and their families, including savings on wireless services, discounts on travel and entertainment, financial services and much more. Click here to learn more. LIVE from the 5th & K Busboys & Poets! MAGPIE’s Terry Leonino and Greg Artzner have been singing about unions and workers for their entire career. Pete Seeger called them “…more links in the chain,” dedicating their lives and music to leaving this world a better place. From Joe Hill and the Wobblies to the miners of Appalachia to Pete Seeger, Joe Glazer, and contemporary songs by themselves and fellow writers, Greg and Terry cover more than a century of labor song with power and authenticity. A former union organizer and activist based in New York, George Mann sings songs from the last century of labor and social activism, and his own songs are powerful and funny takes on the state of the nation. His concerts are part sing-along, part history lesson, and he can make you shout for joy, send chills down your spine or bring tears to your eyes in the same set. photo by Chris Garlock/Union City |
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