Union City Radio’s Chris Garlock and Hannah Kane of the Employment Justice Center discuss worker rights with local activists/organizers and take listener calls.

With guests Jaime Contreras, SEIU 32BJ, and Marilyn Irwin, CWA 2108. 

The show for all you workers out there. It's about the rights you have on the job: what they are, how to use and protect them. And it's about the rights you don't have, and how to get them.

Garlock, Union Cities Coordinator for the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO, hosts the daily Union City Radio feature on WPFW. Kane is a EJC Employment Justice Organizer and has worked extensively in the area as an organizer and social worker. Engineer: Mike Nasella

The notion that unionization and higher wages decrease income inequality is a fundamental premise of the Solidarity Center and other labor allies.
But now a surprising source has reached the same conclusion. The International Monetary Fund says that “The decline in unionization is related to the rise of top income shares and less redistribution, while the erosion of minimum wages is correlated with considerable increases in overall inequality.” The IMF study examined 20 advanced economies between 1980 and 2010. Long a bastion of pro-employer policies, the IMF is not willing to go so far as to recommend the obvious. Acknowledging its findings can “suggest that higher unionization and minimum wages can help reduce inequality,” the IMF dodges the logical conclusion to pursue such policies, saying its data “do not constitute a blanket recommendation for more unionization or higher minimum wages.”

For more on the latest 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 1970, members of the National Football League Players Association began what was to be a 2-day strike, their first. The issues: pay, pensions, the right to arbitration and the right to have agents.

In 1981, a fifty-day baseball strike ended.

And in 1999, the Great Shipyard Strike of 1999 ended after Steelworkers at Newport News Shipbuilding ratified a breakthrough agreement which nearly doubled pensions, increased security, ended inequality, and provided the highest wage increases in company and industry history to nearly 10,000 workers at the yard. The strike lasted 15 weeks.

Today’s labor quote is by Israelmore Ayivor:
“Don't give up! It seems difficult to you, right? Why not do something little about it every day? A little strike each day can chop down big trees. Give it a try!”
Israelmore Ayivor, born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, is a youth leadership coach, leadership entrepreneur, author and speaker.

Last week, Democrats introduced a bill, the Schedules That Work Act, which would push employers in fields with known scheduling abuses to create predictable and stable schedules and would protect workers who ask for schedule changes. While the bill is not expected to get anywhere in the GOP-controlled Congress, the issue is also being pushed on the local level, including here in the District.

In international labor news, the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe recently upheld a decision that companies can now terminate workers’ contracts at any time, without offering them layoff benefits, simply by giving them three months’ notice. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions is vowing to hold street protests until the government addresses the ruling, which they say destroys the gains "achieved over the past 35 years."
For more on the latest 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 1903, a preliminary delegation from Mother Jones' March of the Mill Children from Philadelphia arrived at President Theodore Roosevelt's summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, publicizing the harsh conditions of child labor. They were not allowed through the gates.

In 1956, nineteen firefighters died while responding to a blaze at the Shamrock Oil and Gas refinery in Sun Ray, Texas.

And in 1970, following a 5-year table grape boycott, Delano-area growers filed into the United Farm Workers union hall in Delano, California, to sign their first union contracts.

Today’s labor quote is by United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez:
“It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.”

Registered nurses and other allies of guaranteed health care for all will rally at the US Capitol today at 9:30 am. They’re joining actions in over 25 cities across the country today to honor Medicare and Medicaid's 50th anniversary with a National Day of Action celebrating the theme "Medicare is as American as Apple Pie." Senator Bernie Sanders will join the rally to urge policy makers to protect, improve, and expand Medicare to cover everyone with a single standard of quality care, not just based on ability to pay. The Washington action starts at 9:30 am in Upper Senate Park this morning.
For more on the latest 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 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Social Security Act of 1965, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.

In 1975, former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa disappeared. Declared legally dead in 1982, his body has never been found.

And in 1999, United Airlines agreed to offer domestic-partner benefits to employees and retirees worldwide.

Today’s labor quote is by Jimmy Hoffa:
“I've said consistently that no employer ever really accepts a union. They tolerate the unions. The very minute they can get a pool of unemployment they'll challenge the unions and try to get back what they call managements prerogatives, meaning hire, fire, pay what you want.”