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Tuesday, June 30, 2015

6/30/2015

For today’s local labor news and updates, go to dclabor.org; for up-to-date listings for labor activities, click on calendar.

Here’s today’s labor history:
The Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, was founded on this date in Chicago in 1905

In 1928, Alabama outlawed the leasing of convicts to mine coal, a practice that had been in place since 1848.

The Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, a union whose roots traced back to the militant Western Federation of Miners, and which helped found the Industrial Workers of the World, merged into the United Steelworkers of America on this date in 1967

And in 1998, up to 40,000 New York construction workers demonstrated in midtown Manhattan, protesting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s awarding of a $33 million contract to a nonunion company.

Today’s labor quote is by organizer Saul Alinsky:
“Power goes to two poles – to those who’ve got the money and those who’ve got people.”

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Monday, June 29, 2015

6/29/2015

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For today’s local labor news and updates, go to dclabor.org; for up-to-date listings for labor activities, click on calendar.

Here’s today’s labor history:

On this date in 1885, a 7-day streetcar strike began in Chicago after several workers were unfairly fired. Wrote the police chief at the time, describing the strikers’ response to scabs: "One of my men said he was at the corner of Halsted and Madison Streets, and although he could see fifty stones in the air, he couldn't tell where they were coming from." The strike was settled to the workers’ satisfaction.

In 1936, the IWW struck Weyerhauser and other Idaho lumber camps.

On this date in 1934, an Executive Order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the National Labor Relations Board. A previous organization, the National Labor Board, had been struck down by the Supreme Court.

And in 1936, Jesus Pallares, founder of the 8,000-member coal miners union, Liga Obrera de Habla Espanola, was deported as an "undesirable alien." The union operated in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

Today’s labor quote is by Eugene Debs, who said:
“I would not be a capitalist; I would be a man; you cannot be both at the same time.”

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Friday, June 26, 2015

6/26/2015

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Welcome to Union City Radio for Friday, June 26. This is Chris Garlock, with the Metro Washington Council’s round-up of local labor news, updates and history.

A co-op owned and run by Montgomery County taxi drivers took another step toward reality on Monday when the Montgomery County Council Transportation Committee approved some key proposals. “While we are happy that we’ve gotten this far, we’ll continue to fight,” said Montgomery County Professional Drivers Union president Peter Ibik. The proposals, which go to the full Council at the end of July for a final vote, include a modernized dispatch system for drivers, lower credit card rates and a voice for drivers in determining their lease rates and other fees

On today’s labor calendar, the Great Labor Arts Exchange continues today at the ATU Training and Education Center in Silver Spring, where you can join labor and community cultural workers for a weekend of workshops, films, discussion groups, slam poetry, jam sessions and open mike. Be sure to catch the Art Exchange Concert tomorrow night starting at 8pm, and on Sunday the DC chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women hosts their annual Gloria Johnson Awards Luncheon at IBEW 26; go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for details.

Here’s today’s labor history:
In 1894, members of the American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, refused to handle Pullman cars, in solidarity with Pullman strikers. Two dozen strikers were killed over the course of the strike.

And on this date in 1959, the 189-mile-long St. Lawrence Seaway opened, making the Great Lakes accessible to Atlantic shipping. Thousands of laborers toiled for decades to make it happen; indirectly and directly, the Seaway today supports 75,000 jobs in Canada and 150,000 in the U.S.

Today’s labor quote is by Eugene Debs:
“Solidarity is not a matter of sentiment but a fact, cold and impassive as the granite foundations of a skyscraper. If the basic elements, identity of interest, clarity of vision, honesty of intent, and oneness of purpose, or any of these is lacking, all sentimental pleas for solidarity, and all other efforts to achieve it will be barren of results.”

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Thursday, June 25, 2015

6/25/2015

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Teachers at Frank W. Ballou High School staged a sit-in last week to protest “reconstitution,” which requires teachers to reapply for their positions. The process has resulted in a number of layoffs, while some teachers have simply left the system entirely. WTU Local 6 President Elizabeth Davis sent a letter to DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson criticizing the way “reconstitution” is being implemented at Ballou and pointing out that “the constant teacher turnover at the school over the past five years has created an instability that is hurting student achievement.” Davis asked the chancellor to rescind the reconstitution order.

On today’s labor calendar, the Great Labor Arts Exchange starts today at the ATU Training and Education Center in Silver Spring, where you can join labor and community cultural workers for a weekend of workshops, films, discussion groups, slam poetry, jam sessions and open mike. At 11:30 this morning, check out the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust Worker Appreciation Day event and tonight at 6pm the DC National Lawyers Guild host their first annual awards reception at the Bohemian Caverns; go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for details.

Here’s today’s labor history:
In 1893, more than 8,000 people attended the dedication ceremony for The Haymarket Martyrs Monument in Chicago, honoring those framed and executed for the bombing at Haymarket Square on May 4, 1886.

On this date in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act passed Congress, banning child labor and setting the 40-hour work week.

In 1941, at the urging of black labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order barring discrimination in defense industries.

And on this date in 1994, in Decatur, Illinois, police sprayed workers with pepper-gas workers at an A.E. Staley plant gate one year into the company's two-and-a-half-year lockout of Paperworkers Local 7837.

Today’s labor quote is by A. Philip Randolph:
“Justice is never given; it is exacted and the struggle must be continuous for freedom is never a final fact, but a continuing evolving process to higher and higher levels of human, social, economic, political and religious relationship.”

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