Workers of the nation's only Lipton tea plant overwhelmingly voted to approve their first union contract on Monday.
The workers joined UFCW Local 400 last year. The contract covers 240 workers at the Suffolk, Virginia facility and includes significant improvements to working conditions and healthcare benefits. Mechanic Philip Surace said his first experience with a union was when he called Local 400 last spring. “I didn’t know much about unions, but I knew something had to be done,” he says. Philip quickly pulled together a meeting with his coworkers to learn about their rights to form a union. “Two months later, we had our union. I would encourage anyone who wants to make their workplace better to do the same thing we did.” Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, abolishing racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces. Labor leader A. Philip Randolph had successfully pressed President Franklin D. Roosevelt to ban discrimination in the defense industries during World War II and after the war he pressured Truman to end segregation in the armed services. In 1992, the Americans With Disabilities Act took effect on this date. The ADA requires employers to offer reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities and bans discrimination against such workers. Today’s labor quote is by A. Philip Randolph, who said: "Justice is never given; it is exacted, and the struggle must be continuous, for freedom is never a final fact, but a continuing evolving process to higher and higher levels of human, social, economic, political and religious relationship." 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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A new study shows Metro workers’ pay and benefits are in line with those of other major transit systems, blunting long-standing criticism of the agency’s labor costs, the Washington Post reported last week.
“Basically what we’re finding is both wages and benefits [at Metro] are average for the transit industry,” said consultant Roy Kienitz, who conducted the study for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. We've got a link to the Post story on our website at dclabor.org On today's labor calendar, there's a Sick and Safe Leave Forum tonight at 6 pm at La Casa in Mt. Pleasant. Also at 6, catch a screening of "The Trotsky," an "inspired, often-dangerously-funny" comedy, at the Busboys and Poets in Takoma Park. You'll find complete details on both at dclabor.org, 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 8,000 federal troops and deputized special police killed at least eighteen people in skirmishes around the city. Today’s labor quote is by Brooks Atkinson, who said: "Don't be condescending to unskilled labor. Try it for half a day first." 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. “There is a child, a laid off worker, a struggling family who is able to eat a nutritious meal today because the labor community did not forget them,” says Kathleen McKirchy, executive director of the Metro Washington Council’s Community Services Agency.
With hunger a continuing problem in the metro DC area, McKirchy thanked generous staff at both American Income Life and the Bank of Labor for donating food to the agency last week. If you want to help, details are on our website at dclabor.org, click on Community Services. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 2009, the U.S. minimum wage rose to $7.25 per hour, where it remains. Since 2012, the "Fight for $15" movement has pushed for an increase in the minimum wage and a growing number of local governments across the country, including here in the metro area, have passed laws that will gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Today’s labor quote is by former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who said: "If the minimum wage in 1968 had simply kept up with inflation it would be more than $10 today. If it also kept up with the added productivity of American workers since then, it would be more than $21 an hour…" 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. Two area labor leaders have made the 2017 El Tiempo Latino Powermeter, the publication’s list of the 100 most influential people for Latinos in the metro Washington area.
SEIU Local 32BJ Vice President Jaime Contreras and Unite Here Local 25 Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Boardman were chosen from more than 400 nominees. “Considered a key figure among the new generation of leaders in immigration and labor rights groups in DC,” Contreras – who also serves on the Metro Washington Council’s Executive Board -- “has been able to build alliances with a growing immigrant community in DC, Maryland, and Virginia while bridging the gap between labor and New Americans,” while Boardman “has arduously fought to help hundreds of Latino workers improve their work benefits by pushing for contracts with improved pension plans and wages.” Here’s today's labor history: On this date 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. In a related update, just a week ago, a group organized in part by the Chicago Federation of Labor announced the acquisition the Chicago Sun-Times -- Chicago's oldest daily newspaper -- the Chicago Reader and the straightdope.com website, as well as Answers Media, a digital communications company. Today’s labor quote is by Wendell Phillips: "The labor movement means just this; It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth." 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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