Operating Engineers Local 99 is staging a rally in front of the CIA this afternoon. The union is in a bargaining impasse with AECOM, and members have already authorized a strike. The local is urging “as many allies as possible to assist us” as they attempt to settle a contract and avoid a walkout. The rally starts at Langley Fork Park in McLean, Virginia, at 2:30 pm.
Yesterday, government contract workers walked off their jobs for the 13th time to call on this President – or the next – to sign a “$15 and a Union” Executive Order. Senator Bernie Sanders joined the strikers, who included workers who cook and clean for nine Presidential candidates who are current and former US Senators. And just a quick reminder that the 100th anniversary of labor martyr Joe Hill’s death is being marked this week with two local concerts. Hill was executed by a Utah firing squad in 1915 after being convicted of trumped-up charges. The Joe Hill Roadshow is celebrating the life and legacy of this iconic organizer with a series of concerts, including tonight at the Washington Ethical Society and tomorrow in Baltimore at the Unitarian Church; both shows start at 7:30 pm. For complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1892, anarchist Alexander Berkman shot and stabbed steel magnate Henry Clay Frick in an effort to avenge the Homestead massacre 18 days earlier, in which nine strikers were killed. Berkman also tried to use what was, in effect, a suicide bomb, but it didn't detonate and Frick survived. In 1913, Northern Michigan copper miners struck for union recognition, higher wages and an 8-hour day. By the time they threw in the towel the following April, eleven hundred miners had been arrested and Western Federation of Miners President Charles Moyer had been shot, beaten and forced out of town. Today’s labor quote is by Alexander Berkman: "’Man's inhumanity to man’ is not the last word. The truth lies deeper. It is economic slavery, the savage struggle for a crumb, that has converted mankind into wolves and sheep.” Anarchist Alexander Berkman, who also said “If you intend to live in peace and harmony with your fellow-men, you and they should cultivate brotherhood and respect for each other. If you want to work together with them for your mutual benefit, you must practice cooperation.”
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AFSCME, along with other public sector unions, has begun to ramp up its internal organizing efforts in response to a looming Supreme Court case which could eliminate agency shops overnight. In an agency shop, employers are free to hire union or non-union workers, and employees don’t have to join the union, but they do have to pay a fee to cover bargaining costs. The case has forced unions to take a critical look at how to involve more workers beyond just paying fees. This means letting workers know what the union does besides bargaining their contract. “It is important to convert people into actual members because it shows the strength of the union,” said Andre Powell, a shop steward with AFSCME. Since the new effort began, unions like AFSCME have organized over 100,000 workers into full-fledged union members, and defeated right-to-work laws in several southern states.
The 100th anniversary of labor martyr Joe Hill’s death is being marked this week with two concerts. Hill was executed by a Utah firing squad in 1915 after being convicted of what have now been established as trumped-up charges. The Joe Hill Roadshow is celebrating the life and legacy of this iconic organizer with a series of concerts, including this Thursday, July 23, in Washington, when Magpie, Charlie King, the DC Labor Chorus and George Mann will, perform at the Washington Ethical Society at 7:30 pm. Then on Friday in Baltimore, Magpie, Charlie King and George Mann will perform at the Unitarian Church at 7:30 pm. 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: Newly unionized brewery workers in San Francisco, mostly German socialists, declared victory on this date in 1886 after the city’s breweries gave in to their demands for free beer, the closed shop, and the freedom to live anywhere (they had typically been required to live in the breweries). They also won a 10-hour day, 6-day week, and a board of arbitration. On this date in 1916, a bomb was set off during a "Preparedness Day" parade in San Francisco, killing 10 and injuring 40 more. Tom Mooney, a labor organizer, and Warren Billings, a shoe worker, were convicted of the crime, but both were pardoned 23 years later. Today’s labor quote is by Frederick Douglass: “It is a great mistake for any class of laborers to isolate itself and thus weaken the bond of brotherhood between those on whom the burdens and hardships of labor fall.” Workers, DC residents, employers, and City Council members packed the room at a Workers’ Rights Board hearing on “just hours” last week. Workers testified on the effect of constantly changing work schedules. “This used to be a respectable business,” said Kimberly Mitchell, a UFCW Local 400 member who works at Macy’s. “Now, it seems like we don’t mean anything to these big corporations when we are the ones who are there every day, on time, any time.” The problem of unfair scheduling practices affects workers’ ability to get childcare or go to school, and having to be on-call prevents them from getting other jobs. Parents, teachers, members of legal and aid organizations also spoke out about the negative effect of this issue on communities. Council members responded with a commitment to address the problem.
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: Local militiamen were called out against striking railroad workers in Pittsburgh on this date in 1877. The head of the Pennsylvania Railroad advised giving the strikers "a rifle diet for a few days and see how they like that kind of bread." In 1964, the IWW led a strike at Hodgeman's Blueberry Farm in Grand Junction, Michigan. In 1926, radio station WCFL, owned and operated by the Chicago Federation of Labor, took to the airwaves with two hours of music. The first and only labor-owned radio station in the country, WCFL was sold in 1979. And on this date in 1984, a die-cast operator in Jackson, Michigan, was pinned by a hydraulic robot and died five days later. The incident was the first documented case in the U.S. of a robot killing a human. Today’s labor quote is by Stanley Bing: “What about passion, dedication, loyalty? Can a robot provide those? No! On the other hand, it's easier to retire a robot when its day is done.” Stanley Bing is the pen name of Gil Schwartz, a business humorist and novelist. 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: In 1899, New York City newsboys, many so poor that they were sleeping in the streets, begin a two-week strike. Several rallies drew more than 5,000 newsboys, complete with charismatic speeches by strike leader Kid Blink, who was blind in one eye. The boys had to pay publishers up front for the newspapers; they were successful in forcing the publishers to buy back unsold papers. The strike inspired the 1992 film Newsies, adapted into a Broadway musical in 2011. On this date in 1934, two were killed, and 67 wounded in the Minneapolis truckers' strike, in what came to be called “Bloody Friday." And in 1971, postal unions and the Postal Service signed the first labor contract in the history of the federal government. Today’s labor quote is by newsboy Louis Ballatt, better-known as “Kid Blink,” who had a heavy Brooklyn accent: "Friens and feller workers. This is a time which tries de hearts of men. Dis is de time when we'se got to stick together like glue.... We know wot we wants and we'll git it even if we is blind." |
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