Wednesday’s Janus ruling by the Supreme Court effectively makes every state and local government workplace – from schools to fire departments, police stations and more – right-to-work sites when current union contracts expire.
​The court’s decision culminates a long campaign by employers to “defund the left” by cutting off its cash. Organized labor is a key source of people and contributions for progressive causes, and justice Elena Kagan warned that the Janus ruling “will have large-scale consequences.”
As National Domestic Workers Alliance Executive Director Ai-jen Poo put it so eloquently, “This decision is a blow to every working person that has ever felt unheard, unseen, or hurt at the hands of unchecked power.”
But as UAW President Gary Jones said, “You cannot silence the voice of so many American families who want a seat at the bargaining table.”
Here on Union City Radio we’ll continue to report on the efforts by working men and women to stand up and fight for their rights.

On today’s labor calendar,
A weeklong run of the "The Workers Cup" begins today at the Angelika Pop-Up; for details – and all the latest labor calendar postings -- go to dclabor.org, and click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an Executive Order establishing the National Labor Relations Board. Hear more on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast platform, just search for Union City Radio. 

Today’s labor quote is by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who said:
“It is now beyond partisan controversy that it is a fundamental individual right of a worker to associate himself with other workers and to bargain collectively with his employer.”

​Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

Hosted by Chris Garlock, with Ed Smith 
 
Listen live on WPFW 89.3FM or online at wpfwfm.org; CALL IN at 202-588-0893.
Your Rights At Work is also available as a podcast! Just search for Union City Radio on iTunes, Stitcher, OverCast or wherever you get your podcasts; subscribe and you’ll get our shows right on your phone! 
 
Today's topic: Effects of the Supreme Court's Janus decision on all workers  

Guest(s): Matthew Ginsburg, Associate General Counsel at the AFL-CIO, Andrew Washington, Executive Director, AFSCME Council 20, Harold Meyerson, executive editor of The American Prospect. 

MUSIC: Tom Morello, "Union Town" 

Adam Sobel Producer/Director, "The Worker's Cup" which is having a DC run 6/29-7/5 at the Angelika Pop-Up; details here. 

CREDITS: Produced by Pete Pocock and Chris Bangert-Drowns; engineered by Mike “The Man” 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.

Metro-area unions reacted defiantly to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Janus vs AFSCME yesterday. The Court ruled, 5-4, that public-sector unions should not be allowed to collect “fair share” fees from the workers they represent.
“This is not going to kill public sector unions,” said Andrew Washington, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 20, which represents DC city workers. In fact, Washington said, “It will make us stronger, as we continue to connect directly with our members about the importance of their union.”
And while Eric Bunn, AFGE District 14 National Vice President, said the ruling was a “devastating blow to working class Americans,” he insisted “the American labor movement isn’t going no damn where. We’ll keep fighting, not only for our members, but for all workers standing up against attacks from the bosses and the right wing.” 
Metro Washington Council president Jackie Jeter said she’s “disappointed that the Supreme Court has failed to protect workers rights,” but added that “I am excited about the unexplored possibilities that we have to mobilize and energize our members.” Jeter called the decision “a self serving ruling that’s clearly meant to keep workers unorganized and to maximize power and profit for big business, but no court can dilute the power of workers, united.”

On today’s labor calendar, we’ll have the latest on the historic Janus Supreme Court ruling on “Your Rights At Work” at 2pm here on WPFW, plus your calls.
For all the latest labor calendar postings, go to dclabor.org, and click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation declaring Labor Day an official U.S. holiday.
Hear more on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast platform, just search for Union City Radio. 

Today’s labor quote is by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who said:
“I should like to see our country unionized to the hilt.”

​Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!
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Last week, FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, awarded the 2026 World Cup to a joint bid from Canada, Mexico and the United States. That’s cause for celebration by soccer fans throughout North America, but it’ll also be a test of FIFA’s human rights commitment. You see, the bidding process requires strong commitments to human rights for World Cup hosts, and all three 2026 host countries have problematic records. The International Trade Union Confederation’s 2018 Global Rights Index gave Canada a rating of "2," which signifies repeated violations of rights, the United States got a "4," meaning there are systematic rights violations, and Mexico scored a "5," denoting that there is no guarantee of rights in the country. This means that not only will working people be watching the 2026 World Cup, we'll be watching the lead-up to make sure that FIFA lives up to its commitments.

On today’s labor calendar, Washington Post columnist Joe Davidson discusses President Trump’s “Unwavering Attack” on Federal Unions and Employees​ today at noon at The Whittemore House;
For complete details, go to dclabor.org, and click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the "Wobblies," was founded at a convention in Chicago. The Wobblie motto is "An injury to one is an injury to all."  
Hear more on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast platform, just search for Union City Radio. 

Today’s labor quote is by Emma Goldman, women's rights activist and radical, born on this date in 1869. Emma Goldman, who said:
“When we can't dream any longer we die.”

​Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

Workers at the World Bank Group cafeterias voted overwhelmingly last Wednesday to join Unite Here Local 23. “Of 226 workers, 192 participated in the election and 89% voted YES to join the Union!” reports Local 23. “Thanks to all for the solidarity!”

For the latest labor calendar, go to dclabor.org, and click on Calendar.

​Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1941, at the urging of labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, president Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order barring discrimination in defense industries.  
Hear more on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast platform, just search for Union City Radio. 

Today’s labor quote is by president Franklin Roosevelt, in a statement accompanying the Order banning discrimination in defense industries.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who said:
"The democratic way of life within the nation can be defended successfully only with the help and support of all groups."

Union service workers from across the East Coast will converge on George Washington University Hospital today at 2:30 pm to “fight for dignity and respect” for hospital employees, who have been bargaining for a fair contract for almost a year and a half. GW Hospital dietary workers have been cheated out of tens of thousands in back wages and housekeepers must ask supervisors for permission to use restrooms, says 1199 SEIU, which represents the workers. “This is an insult to the workers,” said the union. Hospital workers and their supporters rallied on Valentine’s Day, demanding that GW Hospital “put the heart back in healthcare.”

On today’s labor calendar, in addition to the GW Hospital rally, the annual Great Labor Arts Exchange continues today, out at the Tommy Douglas Conference Center in Silver Spring. Highlights of the schedule include a “50 Years Civil Rights Commemoration,” and the “Joe Hill Award and Song Contest” tonight, and tomorrow night at 8pm catch “March, Sing, Resist: A Free Concert for the 99%”

For complete details, go to dclabor.org, and click on Calendar.
Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1918, eighty-six 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.
Hear more on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast platform, just search for Union City Radio. 

​Today’s labor quote is by John T. Dunlop, U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1975-1976.
John T. Dunlop, who said:
“A good contract with a good union is good business.”

Nearly 1,000 game dealers at MGM National Harbor have become the newest members of UAW Region 8. “Dealers at MGM National Harbor were eager to form their own union and worked hard to do just that,” said UAW Region 8 Director Mitchell Smith. “We are happy to welcome them into the UAW family and look forward to them bargaining their first contract.” Region 8 covers 12 states in the Southeast, plus DC and four Pennsylvania counties.

On today’s labor calendar, the annual Great Labor Arts Exchange begins today out at the Tommy Douglas Conference Center in Silver Spring. This four-day event includes labor workshops, films, music, spoken word, jam sessions and open mike. Everyone’s encouraged to bring your instrument, voice, beat box, song, poem, story or just yourself!
For complete details, go to dclabor.org, and click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1997, 100,000 unionists and other supporters marched in solidarity with striking Detroit News and Detroit Free Press newspaper workers. Hear more on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast platform, just search for Union City Radio. 

Today’s labor quote is by Joe Hill, the Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter, who said:
“A pamphlet, no matter how good, is never read more than once, but a song is learned by heart and repeated over and over. And I maintain that if a person can put a few common sense facts into a song and dress them up in a cloak of humor, he will succeed in reaching a great number of workers who are too unintelligent or too indifferent to read.”       

​Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

Workers at the Washington Post have released an open letter calling on publisher Jeff Bezos, one of the wealthiest men in the world, to, quote, “show the world that you not only can lead the way in creating wealth, but that you also know how to share it with the people who helped you create it.”
The workers, members of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, have been negotiating a contract at the Post for more than a year now and are frustrated that their successful efforts to improve the Post are not being recognized. Despite doubling digital subscriptions and boosting online traffic, Post workers have gotten nowhere in their quest for raises, equal pay, retirement benefits, and job security. “It’s been more than a year,” the workers said in a video released last week. “We deserve more and we deserve better.”

For the latest local labor calendar, go to dclabor.org, and click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1943, striking African American auto workers were attacked by KKK, National Workers League, and armed white workers at Belle Isle amusement park in Detroit. Two days of riots followed, during which 34 people were killed, and more than 1,300 arrested. Hear more on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast platform, just search for Union City Radio.  

Today’s labor quote is by Eleanor Roosevelt, who said:
"Courage is more exhilarating than fear, and in the long run it is easier." 

​Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!       

This year Juneteenth coincides with an important date for the Compass cafeteria workers at the World Bank. These workers have fought for a union for months and will vote tomorrow. UNITE HERE Local 23 and supporters joined the workers yesterday afternoon for a “Juneteenth Independence Day standout to show these workers that they are not fighting alone and to encourage them to exercise their right to vote.”

On today’s labor calendar, rampant corporate environmental hooliganism, labor exploitation, and union-busting by one of the nation’s largest meat producers are the topic tonight as author Lynn Waltz and Smithfield organizer Gene Bruskin discuss Waltz’ new book “Hog Wild: The Battle for Workers’ Rights at the World’s Largest Slaughterhouse” tonight at 6pm at the Takoma Busboys and Poets; free but RSVP at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1937, the Women’s Day Massacre took place in Youngstown, Ohio, when police used tear gas on the women and children, including at least one infant in his mother's arms, during a strike at Republic Steel.
Find out more on our Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast app; just search for Union City Radio.  

​Today’s labor quote is by a union organizer who witnessed the 1937 Women’s Day Massacre, who said:
"When I got there I thought the Great War had started over again. Gas was flying all over the place and shots flying and flares going up and it was the first time I had ever seen anything like it in my life..."
 
Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!