(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.
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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. (audio) “Part of the problem is--is that we say we lost jobs. We didn’t lose jobs; you lost people.”
That’s Mark Fernapsis, a member of Steelworkers Local 979 in Cleveland, Ohio. He’s one of the workers who spoke out during the AFL-CIO’s recent trade tour to discuss the future of NAFTA. “They should got a picture of all those people walking out of there and their families and what’s happened to the community and everything else that’s happened here. There’s no face to this anymore. I see people; when this plant closed down I saw thousands of people without a job. They lost their homes. There were suicides. They lost their healthcare. But nobody put a face on it. We need to make sure we identify it’s not about the number, it’s not about the money; it’s about those people.” Hear more on State of the Unions, wherever you listen to podcasts. On today’s labor calendar, catch this week’s edition of Your Rights at Work Today at 1pm 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 1919, 35,000 Chicago stockyard workers went out on strike. Today’s labor quote is by Mary Moultrie, a nurse’s assistant who rose to public recognition in 1969 as an organizer of the Charleston hospital strike that year. Mary Moultrie, who, when strikers finally won a historic marker for the 1969 hospital strike, said, “the only way to do this historical marker justice is to recognize that the struggle for equality, fairness, and democracy is continuous.” 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 waived activation and upgrade fees when you enroll in the Union Plus AT&T Signature Program. Visit unionplus.org/att. Broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM.
Hosted Ed Smith and Peter Pocock DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them. Hour 1 Guests: NALISHHA MEHTA, Program Officer at Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO, on labor and meditation. Ethan Michaeli is the award-winning author of “The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America.” He worked at the Chicago paper as a copy editor and investigative reporter from 1991 to 1996, covering politics, public housing and criminal justice issues. After leaving The Defender Ethan founded the Residents’ Journal, a magazine written and produced by the tenants of Chicago’s public housing developments. Giving voice to the voiceless, the Chicago Defender condemned Jim Crow, catalyzed the Great Migration and focused the electoral power of black America. Robert S. Abbott founded The Defender in 1905, smuggled hundreds of thousands of copies into the most isolated communities in the segregated South, and was dubbed a "Modern Moses," becoming one of the first black millionaires in the process. Drawing on dozens of interviews and extensive archival research, Ethan Michaeli brings to life the reporters who braved lynch mobs and policemen’s clubs to do their jobs. Guest: Mark Gruenberg, PAI Union News Service, with reports on recent events involving labor and workers. Music: Sweet Home Chicago (Albert King) HOUR 2 Latest labor news, plus listener calls: 202-588-0893 Guest: Yael Averbuch, Executive Director, NWSLPA Two-time national collegiate champion at the University of North Carolina, member of the US National Team, member of the Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League and just took over the helm as the NWSL Players’ Association Executive Director. Click here to see a pretty quick goal at UNC! Music- Rebel Girl – Bikini Kill CREDITS: Produced by Peter Pocock and Ed Smith; engineered by Mike Nasella Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus, FIND OUT MORE AT UNIONPLUS.ORG |
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