Metro workers are rallying Saturday at noon over funding and safety issues. Led by ATU Local 689, other unions as well as political and community allies are expected to turn out to support demands for dedicated funding for Metro to ensure long-term maintenance, upkeep, and expansion and make Metro safe for riders and workers.  “No one knows the system better than our members, who are the front line workers of the system,” says Jackie Jeter, president of Local 689.   Among those speaking tomorrow are Dion Baker, a Metro Train Operator who will talk about the faulty and outdated radio equipment he's forced to use, and DC Circulator Bus Operator “Tiny” Burke who has witnessed dangerous cost cutting while the outsourced company he works for makes a profit. The rally will be held at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation at 213 East Capitol Street Northeast.

For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and 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 to President Theodore Roosevelt's summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, publicizing the harsh conditions of child labor, arrived but 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 Cesar Chavez
"The name of the game is to talk to people. If you don't talk to people, you can't get started...You knock on twenty doors or so, and twenty guys tell you to go to hell, or that they haven't got time. But maybe at the fortieth or sixtieth house you find the one guy who is all you need. You're not going to organize everything; you're just going to get it started.”

Union City Radio’s Chris Garlock hosts, with co-host Ed Smith, Executive Director of DCNA. 

This week's guests: 
Joseph Geevarghese, Director, Good Jobs Nation, on Tuesday’s $1M win for Senate cafeteria workers
Renato Mendoza, Advocacy Specialist - Housing and Economic Development at CASA; chair of the Guild unit at CASA; on fighting the deportation of CASA worker – and Guild member—Wendy Contreras.
David Stephen, ATU 689, on the big rally tomorrow for transit funding 

Labor Song of the Week: Danny Gatton Mystery Train 

Senate cafeteria workers will receive more than a million dollars in back wages after a Department of Labor investigation found their employers intentionally underpaid them. “This shows that when workers act, workers can win,” said Joe Geevarghese, Director of Good Jobs Nation, which has been organizing the workers. But Geevarghese warned that “criminal activity at the U.S. Capitol is just the tip of the iceberg,” noting that “If federal contractors feel free to break federal law right under the noses of lawmakers, they probably feel free to violate the rights of workers all across America.” Top Senate Democrat Harry Reid called Restaurant Associates “despicable” and said the Senate should terminate its contract.

On today’s “Your Rights At Work” at 1pm here on WPFW, our guests will be Joe Geevarghese, Director of Good Jobs Nation, discussing Tuesday’s million-dollar win for Senate cafeteria workers; also joining us will be ATU 689’s David Stephen on Saturday’s big transit rally, as well as CASA’s Renato Mendoza, on the fight to prevent the deportation of CASA worker – and Guild member -- Wendy Contreras.
For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1869, women shoemakers in Lynn, Massachusetts created the Daughters of Saint Crispin, demanding pay equal to that of men.

In 1901, Harry Bridges was born in Australia. He came to America as a sailor at age 19 and went on to help form and lead the militant International Longshore and Warehouse Union for more than 40 years.

And on this date in 1932, federal troops burned the shantytown built near the U.S. Capitol by thousands of unemployed World War One veterans, camping there to demand a bonus they had been promised but never received.

Today’s labor quote is by Harry Bridges
“I would have worked with the devil himself if he'd been for the six hour day and worker control of the hiring hall.”

Protesting Fairfax County's failure to oversee private contractor MV Transportation, dozens of bus operators, mechanics, and other Fairfax Connector transit workers planned to flood the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1764, which represents most of the nearly 600 transit employees at the Fairfax Connector, says that despite a contract with the county that included funding to provide retirement security, MV has failed to provide its employees with a viable retirement plan.
"We are the only county workers who will devote their lives to Fairfax and walk away with nothing to retire on," said Sesil Rubain, ATU Local 1764 trustee. Adding insult to injury, Rubain says that union members forfeited a 2% pay raise in 2012 to help fund the still non-existent pension plan. "MV has pocketed taxpayer money and the workers' deferred raises and is sending the profits back to Texas,” Rubain said. “It's unconscionable."

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

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1869, William Sylvis died. Sylvis is best remembered as a founder of the Iron Molders' International Union and the National Labor Union, the latter being one of the first American union federations attempting to unite workers of various crafts into a single national organization. The founding convention of the National Labor Union in August 1866, was attended by 60 delegates, representing 43 local unions, 11 trade assemblies, four Eight-hour Leagues, and two national or international unions. Ironically, Sylvis was unable to attend the gathering due to illness. He became president of the National Labor Union in 1868 and advocated international labor cooperation and independent political action. At the time of his death at the age of 41, he was urging the formation of a national Labor Reform party.

Today’s labor quote is by William Sylvis
"I love this Union cause. I hold it more dear than I do my family or my life. I am willing to devote to it all that I am or have or hope for in this world."

A young Fredericksburg mother and union member is facing deportation back to the abuse that she fled 14 years ago. Wendy Contreras, a Washington-Baltimore News Guild member who works at CASA de Maryland, is in deportation proceedings after being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently. She fled Spain in 2002 after enduring years of abuse from her alcoholic stepfather. She's now married and has two young children born here in the United States. CASA is leading a campaign on Contreras' behalf, reaching out to organizations and institutions she has worked with for letters of support and on Sunday the Guild sent a letter of support to the Department of Homeland Security. "Wendy has been a model employee at CASA fighting for the benefits of all people," wrote Guild Executive Director Cet Parks, "Wendy is a huge contributor to our American community." Metro Council Executive Director Carlos Jimenez has also sent a letter of support and nearly 500 people have already signed a petition supporting Contreras. You'll find that petition on our website at dclabor.org

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

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1877, 30 workers were killed by federal troops in Chicago, and more than 100 wounded at the "Battle of the Viaduct" during the Great Railroad Strike.

In 1894, President Grover Cleveland appointed a United States Strike Committee to investigate the causes of the Pullman strike and the subsequent strike by the American Railway Union. Later that year the commission issued its report, absolving the strikers and blaming Pullman and the railroads for the conflict. 

In 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, directing equality of opportunity in armed forces. 

And on this date in 1992, the Americans With Disabilities Act took effect. It requires employers to offer reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities and bans discrimination against such workers.

Today’s labor quote is by president George Herbert Walker Bush, when he signed the Americans With Disabilities Act 
"Many of our fellow citizens with disabilities are unemployed. They want to work, and they can work."

The DC Zoning Commission took an important step last week to expand affordable housing in the District, with a vote to strengthen the city’s Inclusionary Zoning program.
The Commission’s action largely adopts the recommendations of the DC Campaign for Inclusionary Zoning, a group of affordable housing advocates and supporters.
Carlos Jimenez, Executive Director of the Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO, said that “By strengthening this affordable housing policy, the Zoning Commission helps ensure working people can still call DC home."
As a result of the Commission’s action, IZ will generate over 2,600 affordable apartments for low-income families over the next five to ten years, based on the pace of new development which has climbed to a 25-year high.

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

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1877, workers staged a general strike—believed to be the nation’s first—in St. Louis, in support of striking railroad workers. The successful strike was ended when some 3,000 federal troops and 5,000 deputized special police killed at least eighteen people in skirmishes around the city.  

In 1937, fifteen “living dead women” testified before the Illinois Industrial Commission. They were “Radium Girls,” women who died prematurely after working at clock and watch factories, where they were told to wet small paintbrushes in their mouths so they could dip them in radium to paint dials. A Geiger counter passed over graves in a cemetery near Ottawa, Illinois still registers the presence of radium.

Today’s labor quote is by Frederick Douglass
“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

​Jennifer Bryant and Chris Garlock sit in for Bill Fletcher on "Arise!"

Guests include:
Ken Zinn, National Nurses United (DNC delegate serving on the Rules Committee) discusses this week's Republican Convention and previews next week's Democratic Convention.
Kate Miller-Byrne, Organizer, Kentucky Workers League, Steering Committee Member, DNC Socialist Convergence: previews plans for the DNC
Desiree Kane, Democracy Spring: previews plans for the DNC

Union City Radio’s Chris Garlock hosts, with co-host Ed Smith, Executive Director of DCNA. 

This week's guests: 
Adam Yalowitz, Unite Here 27: D.C. airport food and retail workers and Ethiopian community leaders held rallies Tuesday at National Airport
Julius Getman, author of the new book “The Supreme Court on Unions: Why Labor Law is Failing American Workers” (he also wrote “The Betrayal of Local 14”) 

Labor Song of the Week: The Supremes “These Boots Are Made for Walking”

As the strike by workers who care for the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery entered its second day on Wednesday, the workers’ employers agreed to return to the bargaining table. “It’s a positive development that the employers have agreed to return to negotiations,” said Larry Doggett, Business Manager of Laborers Local 572 and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. “What these workers are seeking is reasonable.” The walkout is believed to be the first strike by workers at the cemetery.

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

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1886, newly unionized brewery workers in San Francisco, mostly German socialists, declared victory after the city’s breweries gave in to their demands. Those demands included free beer, the closed shop, a 10-hour day, 6-day week and the freedom to live anywhere; they had typically been required to live in the breweries. 

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 Suzy Kassem
“In another thirty to fifty years, the demand for cheap labor will have produced even more machines over the employment of actual humans. And in that time frame, humans will have lost their voice, their power, all freedoms, and all worth. It is inevitable that machines will one day become the ultimate enemies of mankind. We are not evolving or progressing with our technology, only regressing. Technology is our friend today, but will be our enemy in the future.” 
― Suzy Kassem is an American writer, film director, philosopher, author, and poet. 

Airport workers rallied at National Airport on Tuesday, the same day that groundkeepers at nearby Arlington National Cemetery went on strike.
The airport workers, members of Unite Here 23, are upset about poor working conditions at both National and Dulles airports, which have an outsized impact on the D.C. area’s Ethiopian community. Some sixty percent of the retail and food workers at the D.C. airports are Ethiopians and many say they have experienced discrimination at their current job. DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton joined Tuesday's protest to show her support for the workers.
The groundkeepers at Arlington National Cemetery struck after eight months of delays in reaching a new contract. Arlington County Board members Christian Dorsey and Katie Cristol joined more than 25 contract groundskeepers on the picketline Tuesday morning. The workers are members of Laborers Local 572. “This is about workers and their ability to provide for their families and their ability to live,” said Dorsey. “You really can’t do so if your wages don’t keep up with the cost of living.” The workers, who are jointly employed by the Davey Tree Expert Company and Greenleaf Services, are looking for sick leave time and a pay raise of 4 percent from their current rate of about $13 per hour.

On today's labor calendar, catch Julius Getman on "Your Rights At Work" here on WPFW at 1pm this afternoon; Getman is the author of the new book “The Supreme Court On Unions: Why Labor Law is Failing American Workers.”
For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1877, local militiamen were called out against striking railroad workers in Pittsburgh. 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. 
And in 1984, a die-cast operator in Jackson, Michigan was pinned by a hydraulic Unimate 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 Walter Reuther
Touring a new highly-automated factory, Henry Ford the second asked the auto workers president "Walter, how are you going to get those robots to pay your union dues?"
Reuther replied: "Henry, how are you going to get them to buy your cars?"