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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(audio; chanting) “One job should be enough! One job should be enough! One job should be enough!"
Airline food workers took their nationwide struggle against their bosses public with a massive protest Tuesday afternoon that drew almost 1,000 people and virtually filled the old main hall at Washington National Airport. 
Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren walked the line, along with other political, union and community allies. Here’s Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Melinda Jorge on the challenges these workers face:
(audio) “Catering workers are there doing a very physical job: they have to be to aircraft on time, they have to give you the correct supplies, if not, the aircraft doesn’t go anywhere and nothing can stay on time, so it’s very time-sensitive and I don’t think the general public really understands what these employees actually go through just to get a nice decent service on an aircraft.” ​
 
On today’s labor calendar, locked-out musicians at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will picket this morning starting at 8am, and then at 1pm this afternoon catch this week’s edition of Your Rights At Work here on WPFW.
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 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.

Today’s labor quote is AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, at Tuesday’s airport rally. Liz Shuler, who said:
"When Marriott strikers were on the line and they started using 'One job should be enough,' I thought this captures it, this captures it for the entire economy.”

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Broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM.

Hosted Chris Garlock and Ed Smith.
DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them.

On today’s show: 
Hour 1: “One job should be enough!”; airport workers and their allies take a stand, plus Inflatable Rats and Cats, Oh My! Why bosses are so afraid of balloons. First up, we talk to an airport catering worker about why she and hundreds of her co-workers and allies – including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren – rallied at National Airport earlier this week. 
Then: why are bosses so afraid of a few balloons? We’ll talk with Chris' old pal Matt Fusco about the threat of inflatable rats and cats.  
 
Hour 2: This week marked a very dubious anniversary: it’s been 10 long years since the minimum wage last increased; going up to $7.25 an hour on July 24, 2009. We talk with economist Heidi Shierholz and journalist Harold Meyerson about the impact on America’s working men and women, and the Fight for $15 movement. Plus PAI's Mark Gruenberg with the latest labor news, and of course, listener calls: 202-588-0893 

Music: Jet Airliner (Steve Miller Band) & Minimum Wage (The Busboys)
Topic: Inflatable Rats and Cats, Oh My!

Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella
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(audio) "Nurses are the most trusted public servants in our nation. Year after year, they treat the sick, they comfort our families. They put the care in healthcare, and they deserve a voice on the job, and we’re going to make sure they get that voice."
That’s AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka last Saturday as nurses were joined by hundreds of labor and community activists outside Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, demanding that hospital officials both respect the rights of its nurses to form a union, and stop suing low-income community patients and their families for medical debt.
Here’s National Nurses United Executive Director Bonnie Castillo:
(audio) “We want to send a message to Johns Hopkins management: people over profits!”

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

In today’s labor history, on this date in 2009, the U.S. minimum wage rose to $7.25 per hour, the last time it was raised. The Fight for $15 movement began three years later when two hundred fast-food workers walked off the job in 2012 to demand $15 an hour and union rights in New York City. Today, it’s a global movement in over 300 cities on six continents.

Today’s labor quote is from the Fight for $15, which says:
“When we first took the streets, the skeptics called us dreamers. They said a $15 wage was “unwinnable.”
We’ve already won raises for 22 million people across the country – including 10 million who are on their way to $15/hr – all because workers came together and acted like a union.
And we will keep on fighting, no matter the challenge. We won’t back down.”

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Hey, did you know that AT&T waives select activation and upgrade fees for union members enrolled in the AT&T Signature Program? Visit unionplus.org/att to learn more.

American Airlines, Delta, and United made over $50 billion in combined profits in just the past five years alone, but the workers who prepare and load food and beverages onto their planes are often left living in poverty and unable to afford healthcare.
In June, thousands of airline catering workers voted to authorize strikes when released by the government. Supporters will rally in solidarity with these workers today at National Airport beginning at 4:30 PM in the Terminal B South Terrace.
Nationally, the majority of the food workers serving these airlines still earn less than $15 per hour - including some with decades of service. Meanwhile, family health insurance premiums are over $500 per month for these employees, leaving many with an impossible choice between their health and their bills.

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

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1913, Northern Michigan copper miners struck for union recognition, higher wages and the eight-hour day. By the time they threw in the towel the following April, 1,100 had been arrested on various charges and Western Federation of Miners President Charles Moyer had been shot, beaten and forced out of town.

Today’s labor quote is by anarchist Alexander Berkman, who, in an effort to avenge the Homestead massacre 18 days earlier, in which nine strikers were killed, shot and stabbed -- but failed to kill -- steel magnate Henry Clay Frick on this date in 1892. Alexander Berkman, who said:
’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.”

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(audio) “When my grandfathers first went into the coal mines, coal mining jobs weren't good jobs. And when your relatives first went in the steel mills, steel mill jobs weren't good jobs. And when our friends first went in the auto plants those weren't good jobs. Unions made those jobs into good middle class paying jobs [Applause]”
That’s AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on State of the Unions, the AFL-CIO’s podcast.
(audio) “That’s why the Pro Act is so important to be able to bring unionization and collective bargaining to more Americans.
Now MIT did a study and they said--they asked non-union workers if you’d join a union. Forty-eight percent of the existing non-union workers in the country said they’d join a union tomorrow if given the chance. That’s sixty million people that want to join a union. If we get that kind of density back then when we get a raise everybody in that industry gets a raise and not the way it is now where everybody is trying to drive your wages down; this way it’ll be a path upwards.
Collective bargaining is the answer to this. Giving people collective bargaining and correcting the imbalance in power.”
Hear more on State of the Unions, wherever you listen to podcasts.

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

In 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 give in to their demands, which included the freedom to live anywhere -- they had typically been required to live in the breweries-- a 10-hour day, six-day week, and perhaps most important of all, free beer.

Today’s labor quote is by Heywood Broun, the journalist, columnist and first president of the American Newspaper Guild, who said:
“All there is said for work as opposed to dancing is that it’s so much easier.”      

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Hey, did you know that AT&T waives select activation and upgrade fees for union members enrolled in the AT&T Signature Program? Visit unionplus.org/att to learn more.

Nurses will be joined by labor and community activists this Saturday for a major rally outside Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Rallygoers will call on Johns Hopkins to cancel all medical debt lawsuits filed against low-income patients, stop garnishing wages, and make sure that all patients are informed of the opportunity to qualify for free or reduced medical care at Johns Hopkins facilities.
The rally – from 2 to 3pm -- will also press Johns Hopkins to respect the right of RNs who want to unionize with the National Nurses Organizing Committee/NNU.

As always, 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 1848, the Women's Rights Convention opened in Seneca Falls, New York. Delegates adopted a Declaration of Women's Rights and called for women's suffrage.  

Today’s labor quote is from the 1848 Declaration of Women's Rights:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Hey, if you’re thinking about buying a new phone this summer – and there are some pretty cool ones out there -- get your activation and upgrade fees waived when you enroll in the Union Plus AT&T Signature Program. Visit unionplus.org/att.