For UFCW Local 400 member and Kroger meat cutter “Pete” Dickerson, justice was a long time coming. But when it arrived, it was sweet—to the tune of nearly thirty-two thousand dollars.
Pete’s ordeal started more than eight years ago, when he transferred from his Kroger store in Richmond to one in in Appomattox, Virginia. He needed to help care for his brother who had cancer and be closer to his family.
Eventually, Pete became aware something was wrong. “My pension seemed awfully low,” he said. It turned out he was being paid as a clerk, not a meat cutter. It wasn’t until his UFCW Local 400 rep filed a grievance that Kroger finally agreed to reimburse Pete for the pay he had rightfully earned as a meat cutter.
“It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t had my union there to help me,” Pete said. “Local 400 repaired Pete’s past and fixed his future,” added Local 400 rep Phil Frisina.

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

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1970, members of the National Football League Players Association began their first strike. Issues in the two-day walkout included pay, pensions, the right to arbitration and the right to have agents. And on this date in 1981, a fifty-day baseball strike ended.

Today’s labor quote is by hockey player Dave Brown, talking about players carrying signs during a brief 1992 hockey strike. Dave Brown, who said:
"Well that should be easy, we already have the sticks."

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(audio) ““...At our recent convention, I said you know we’ll have a lot of successes but we’ll have some failures…”
That’s UNITE HERE President D. Taylor (photo, in cap), who talks about learning from failure on the latest edition of the AFL-CIO’s State of the Unions podcast…
(audio) “And it’s not a question of whether you have a failure: The question is what do you do after? When you get knocked down do you get back up?…[T]aking risks means not being afraid to lose, but it also means working hard enough to win. …[W]e’re so afraid of losing we don’t want to take the risk of winning…[O]ur greatest victories are always in situations when we didn’t know whether we were going to win or not.”
Hear more on the latest edition of State of the Unions, available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1999, United Airlines agreed to offer domestic-partner benefits to employees and retirees worldwide.

Today’s labor quote is by American educator and writer Frank Moore Colby, who said that
“I have found some of the best reasons I ever had for remaining at the bottom simply by looking at the men at the top.”
 
Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. You know, going out to get your summer movie fix doesn’t have to be expensive: Union members get exclusive movie ticket discounts with Union Plus. Visit unionplus.org/movies for up to 37% off.

(audio) “Their rallying cry is ‘We’re humans, and not robots,’ but in many ways their working conditions are like if they were robots.”
That’s writer and longtime labor organizer Dave Kamper, talking about Amazon workers on WPFW’s Monday Morning QB show last week.
(audio) “You have employees at these plants, who have to keep a bottle handy in case they have to go to the bathroom, because they have to move so many boxes in an hour, and if they don’t, they’re starting on the road to being fired, and walking to the bathroom and back is counted against that quota.”
The Amazon workers struck earlier this month, and we’ve got Kamper’s whole interview – and a link to his terrific article in Jacobin -- posted on our website at dclabor.org, click on Union City Radio. You can also check out last week’s Monday Morning QB show at wpfwfm.org, under the “Archived Shows” tab (or click below).

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

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1970, after a five-year boycott of table grapes, 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 leader Cesar Chavez, who said that “The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.”
 
Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. You know, going out to get your summer movie fix doesn’t have to be expensive: Union members get exclusive movie ticket discounts with Union Plus. Visit unionplus.org/movies for up to 37% off.

(audio) “This campaign really epitomizes what’s wrong with America and what can be right with America.”
That’s UNITE HERE President D. Taylor, who talks about activism, risk-taking and work on the latest edition of the AFL-CIO’s State of the Unions podcast…
(audio) We have low-wage airline catering workers who, in many cases, live in poverty and can't afford housing in an industry that is reaping billions with the big three airlines: American, United and Delta. We want to lift these people out of poverty to have a job where one job should be enough, so they can be part of our communities in a productive way and not just work to survive, but work to live."
Taylor also talks about the #OneJob campaign and UNITE HERE’s goal of organizing 100,000 new members over the next five years.
Don’t miss this conversation with one of the most successful labor leaders in the movement on the latest edition of State of the Unions, available wherever you listen to podcasts.

On the labor calendar, UNITE HERE 7 will picket the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront tomorrow at 3:30pm; for details on this and all the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

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

Today’s labor quote is by strikers in Pittsburgh during the 1877 Railroad strike, who told National Guard troops that:
"We will have bread or blood. We will wade up to our waists in blood before we leave."
 
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