Marcelus Turner, citing his time in prison, says “I was once just a number.” Now, Turner says, "I am a new man with new opportunities and a chance to build something with my life.” Turner was one of fourteen Building Futures students who graduated last week from a six-week intensive pre-apprenticeship program run by the Metro Washington Council's Community Services Agency. For many of the students and their families, last week's graduation was the latest stage of an emotional journey leading to fresh opportunities in the region’s construction industry. Recruitment has now begun for the summer program; applications are due July 18th and you can apply online at dclabor.org, click on Community Services Agency.
On today's labor calendar, author Daina Ramey Berry will discuss her new book ‘The Price for Their Pound of Flesh’ today at noon at the AFL-CIO. The book is a groundbreaking look at slaves as commodities through every phase of life, from birth to death and beyond, in early America. Complete details on our website at dclabor.org, click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1918, 86 passengers on a train carrying members of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus were killed, and another 127 injured in a wreck near Hammond, Indiana. Five days later the dead were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois, in an area set aside as Showmen’s Rest, purchased only a few months earlier by the Showmen’s League of America. Today’s labor quote is by writer Karin Lowachee, who said “Society has made it so I have to get paid in order to do basic things like eat and be indoors and not be naked. Once that's happened, morality's bound to get slippery.” Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which is committed to improving the quality of life for all working families; find out more at unionplus.org.
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Hosts: Ed Smith and guest co-host Damon Silver; JOIN US AT 202-588-0893
Also, if you miss our live show – or want to hear a past show – Your Rights At Work is now available as a podcast! Just search for Union City Radio on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts; subscribe and you’ll get our shows right on your phone! This week’s guest: Labor Song: CREDITS: Produced by Peter Pocock, engineered by Mike 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: call 202-588-9739 or 1-800-222-9739 or pledge online at wpfwfm.org. Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1924, the Ku Klux Klan attacked members of the Industrial Workers of the World at the IWW’s meeting hall in San Pedro, California, during a benefit for the families of two workers killed in a railroad accident. The KKK beat many of the 300 members; kidnapped, tarred, and feathered others; destroyed everything inside the building; and scalded two children by burning them with a pot of coffee. In 1911 striking transport workers in Liverpool, England called for a general strike when the employers’ Shipping Federation refused to negotiate with the unions affiliated with the Transport Workers Federation. The strike was a success and within weeks the workers’ demands were met, inspiring a wave of similarly successful strikes by other industries in the city over the following months. Today’s labor quote is by the Industrial Workers of the World “The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life.” Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which is committed to improving the quality of life for all working families; find out more at unionplus.org. Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1893, the American Railway Union, headed by Eugene V. Debs, was founded. Dedicated to uniting all rail workers "into one, compact working force for legislative as well as industrial action," the American Railway Union had a metoric rise and fall in the space of a couple short years. It led a successful walkout by employees of the Great Northern Railroad in April 1894, and quickly grew to 150,000 members, but just a year later the union was defunct and Debs was serving a short prison sentence for contempt of court. The union had launched a nationwide boycott of all trains that included Pullman cars in July 1894, supporting striking Pullman employees, and the railroads, acting in close collaboration with Attorney General Richard Olney, persuaded federal judges to grant an injunction prohibiting virtually all activities by the American Railway Union in support of the boycott. ARU officers were arrested, and when Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor refused to call for a general strike to support the boycott, the ARU admitted defeat. Today’s labor quote is by Eugene Debs, who said "I never had much faith in leaders. I am willing to be charged with almost anything, rather than to be charged with being a leader. I am suspicious of leaders, and especially of the intellectual variety. Give me the rank and file every day in the week." Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which is committed to improving the quality of life for all working families; find out more at unionplus.org. |
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