Holiday pay...Laws ending sweatshops in the United States...Unemployment insurance...the 40-hour workweek...child labor laws. These are just a few of the 36 reasons you should thank a union, as compiled on the UnionPlus.org blog, where you’ll find all 36 reasons.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1991, more than 325,000 trade unionists and allies from around the country held a Solidarity Day demonstration here in Washington, to call for national healthcare reform, a ban on striker replacements, and full freedom of association for workers around the world. The marchers also demanded civil rights, fair trade, workplace safety, and attention to the nation’s decaying cities and infrastructure. The rally – an AFL-CIO-led coalition of more than 180 religious, environmental, civil rights and labor organizations -- was held on the 10th anniversary of the first Solidarity Day in 1981.

Today’s labor quote is by AFL-CIO president Lane Kirkland:
"We're here to insist that democratic government -- the White House, the Congress and the courts -- must assure fair play for all, not just those with the most money, the most luck or the strongest bootstraps." Lane Kirkland, who said "We're here to remind our elected representatives that they were put there to serve, not the faceless marketplace, but the aspirations of real people."
Kirkland was president of the AFL-CIO from 1979 to 1995.

An accidental explosion at the Washington Arsenal on June 17, 1864, killed at least 21 women who worked filling cartridges for the Union Army during the Civil War. It was the largest number of civilian deaths in DC during the Civil War; most of the dead were young Irish women. You can find out more about this and dozens of other local labor history sites on our Online Labor Map; go to dclabor.org and click on DC Labor Map.

On today’s labor calendar, today is AFL-CIO Day at the Maryland State Fair, from 10am until 10pm. And at 1:15pm this afternoon, there’s a Reynolds American petition delivery, when youth members of Farm Labor Organizing Committee will deliver over 20,000 petitions to Reynolds' Washington office, calling on the tobacco company to sign an agreement to improve conditions for tobacco farmworkers across the Southeast.
Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom—where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech —was held in Washington, D.C., with 250,000 participating. The AFL-CIO did not endorse the march, but several affiliated unions did.

Today’s labor quote is by Martin Luther King:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.“

D.C. workers spoke out about their experiences being unfairly fired at the Employment Justice Center’s Community Speak-Out last Saturday. The EJC workers’ committee interviewed more than 200 DC workers for their report on the impact of being fired, which they identified as an “extremely significant issue in the fight for fair treatment of workers in the District.”

On today’s labor calendar, there’s a White Gold Pre-Party demonstration starting at 6:30pm at the Uzbek Embassy; the Uzbek government operates one of the largest state-run forced labor systems of cotton production in the world. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1934, some 14,000 Chicago teachers who had gone without pay for several months finally collected about $1,400 each.

In 1950, President Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize all the nation's railroads to prevent a general strike. The railroads were not returned to their owners until two years later.

Today’s labor quote is by Harry Truman:
“The right to join a union of one's choice is unquestioned today and is sanctioned and protected by law.”

Less than a week after Senate food vendor settled a dispute regarding retaliation against workers who went on strike, a supervisor at Restaurant Associates allegedly reprimanded a worker who spoke out about her low wages. After Kim, a worker in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, told The Guardian she had to resort to dancing in a strip club for extra money because she could not make ends meet on her $10.33-an-hour wages from Restaurant Associates, she said her supervisor reprimanded her for speaking out. The altercation prompted Good Jobs Nation, a coalition of labor groups that has been organizing the federal worker strikes, to file a charge against Restaurant Associates, which runs food services in the Senate and Capitol Visitor Center, on Kim’s behalf.

On today’s labor calendar, the Communication Workers will rally in Annapolis today starting at 11am to tell Verizon and Wall Street "We Won't Settle for Anything Less" as they battle for a fair contract.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1919, Fannie Sellins and Joseph Starzeleski were murdered by coal company guards on a picket line in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania. Sellins -- a contemporary of Mary Harris "Mother" Jones -- was a United Mine Workers of America organizer and Starzeleski was a miner.

In 1970, the Women’s Strike for Equality was staged in cities across the U.S., marking the 50th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, under which women won the right to vote.  A key focus of the strike—in fact, more accurately a series of marches and demonstrations—was equality in the workplace.  An estimated 20,000 women participated, some carrying signs with the iconic slogan, “Don’t Iron While the Strike is Hot.”  Another sign: “Hardhats for Soft Broads”.

And in 2003, more than 1,300 bus drivers on Oahu, Hawaii, began what was to become a 5-week strike.

Today’s labor quote is by singer Anne Feeney, from her song “Fannie Sellins”:
“"She fought with tireless energy, no duty would she shirk / Though murderers cut short her life - we carry on her work."

Metro Washington Council president Jos Williams joined more than 60 people from Latin America last week in Brazil to affirm labor’s continued commitment to racial equality through a broad-based economic justice movement. The occasion was the 20th anniversary of the Inter-American Union Institute for Racial Equality, a labor coalition dedicated to fighting for racial justice in the Americas. The group has worked with trade union partners and likeminded allies across the Americas to combat racial and ethnic discrimination in the workplace and give union leaders tools to promote equality in their organizations and society since its founding in 1995 by the AFL-CIO, three Brazilian national union centers and the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas.

Today’s Cool Labor Site is politicalmoneyline.com. Political MoneyLine is the leading source of comprehensive, timely and objective campaign finance and lobbying information. Political MoneyLine helps you analyze the flow of money through the political system by providing campaign donation and expenditure data from the 1979-80 election cycle through the most recent filings.  If you want to know who gave what to which Federal candidates, politicalmoneyline.com is the place to go.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1819, Allan Pinkerton was born; Pinkerton’s strike-breaking detectives, also known as "Pinks" gave us the word "fink".  

And in 1925, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was founded at a meeting in New York City.  A. Philip Randolph became the union's first organizer.

Today’s labor quote is by A. Philip Randolph:
“The essence of trade unionism is social uplift. The labor movement has been the haven for the dispossessed, the despised, the neglected, the downtrodden, the poor.”

To get the inside scoop on all things union in our nation’s capital, check out the brand-new Washington DC edition of Labor 411. The print and online directory – now with editions in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC -- boasts more than 8,500 DC-area union listings, including hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and a vast array of consumer products whose producers treat their workers well with fair wages, good benefits and safe working conditions. “We want the average consumer to be able to focus his or her spending power in a way that advances and strengthens the middle class in America,” says Labor 411 publisher Cherri Senders. “Harnessing our consumer buying power is a powerful tool to build a stronger, fairer America,” adds Jos Williams, President of the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO. Go to labor411.org to check it out. For a printed copy of the book, call 202-974-8150.

In this week's Labor Quiz, who wrote labor's anthem, "Solidarity Forever"? Was it Woody Guthrie; Ralph Chaplin; Joe Hill; or Florence Reece? Go to unionist.com and click on Labor Quiz to submit your answer and you could be next week's winner!

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1877, the Gatling Gun Company—manufacturers of an early machine gun—wrote to B&O Railroad Co. President John W. Garrett during a strike, urging their product be purchased to deal with the "recent riotous disturbances around the country." Said the company: "Four or five men only are required to operate (a gun), and one Gatling ... can clear a street or block and keep it clear."

And in 1970, the United Farm Workers Union began their lettuce strike.

Today’s labor quote is by Cesar Chavez, who said:
“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart.” 

Union City Radio’s Chris Garlock and Ed Smith discuss worker rights with local activists/organizers and take listener calls. 

Guests on today’s show include ATU’s Elana Kessler on how local transit workers won enforcement of DC’s paid sick days law and forced their employer to re-hire unjustly fired workers, and the Employment Justice Center’s Emma Cleveland, on the upcoming Community Speak-Out about Unjust Firing. 

As WPFW’s August pledge drive -- call 202-588-9739 or pledge online at wpfwfm.org -- we have a special thank-you gift for listeners to Your Rights at Work: everyone who pledges $50 or more will get a 2015 DC LaborFest t-shirt, a real collector’s item, because these t-shirts are never available for sale; we only give them to LaborFest volunteers and now we’re making them available to WPFW supporters for a pledge of $50 or more. You’ll look great and you’ll be supporting a great community radio station! 

Garlock, Union Cities Coordinator for the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO, hosts the daily Union City Radio feature on WPFW. Smith is a labor lawyer, Executive Director of the DC Nurses Association and lead vocalist for the Judge Smith Band. Click here for an archive of previous “Your Rights At Work” preview shows. 

Next time you’re in Mt. Olive, Illinois, be sure to check out the new Mother Jones Museum. The museum’s website includes the local connection to Jones, who often came to the Washington D.C. area. She not only had friends who took care of her in the final days of her life but she came to D.C. with the army of the unemployed in 1894, returned in 1897 with petitions to President McKinley and refused to leave until he saw her. After 1907, she testified before Congress and met with Presidents, advocating the release of labor prisoners and Mexican revolutionists. Also noted is the annual May 1 wreath-laying at the Mother Jones Marker in Silver Spring, which is part of the DC Labor Fest.

On today’s Labor Calendar, there’s a Community Speak-Out tomorrow, Saturday, August 22, about unjust firings in the District, from 3 – 4pm in Lamont Park. For complete details on this and other upcoming local labor activities, go to dclabor.org and click on calendar.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1831, the slave revolt led by Nat Turner began in Southampton County, Virginia.

Today’s labor quote is by Mary Harris “Mother” Jones:
“I will tell the truth wherever I please.” Mother Jones, who said “I'm not a humanitarian, I'm a hell-raiser.”

Local transit workers won two major victories recently. After the Amalgamated Transit Union filed a grievance against private contractor First Transit over its violation of DC’s paid sick days law, First Transit agreed to bring its policies into compliance with the law, retract disciplinary points from current employees, and re-hire workers who were unjustly fired. And after years of bargaining attempts, MetroAccess Call Center workers employed by private contractor MV Transportation ratified a new contract this week that includes pay raises, hourly guarantees for full-timers, and more. Workers at both companies are members of ATU Local 1764.

On today’s Labor Calendar, there’s a lecture on "The Poetry of Everyday Life" this afternoon from 4 – 5pm at the Library of Congress James Madison Building; the lecture is followed by two short films, "Boom and Bust - America's Journey on the Erie Canal" and "The Grand Generation," starting at 5pm. Then at 7pm, NoVA Labor is holding a Common Sense Economics workshop in Annandale, Virginia. For complete details on these and other upcoming local labor activities, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1986, deranged postal service carrier Patrick “Crazy Pat” Henry Sherrill shot and killed 14 coworkers, and wounded another six, before killing himself at an Edmond, Oklahoma postal facility. Supervisors had ignored warning signs of Sherrill’s instability, investigators later found; the shootings came a day after he had been reprimanded for poor work. The incident inspired the objectionable term “going postal.”

Today’s labor quote is from the Bible, Proverbs 31, verses 8 and 9:
‘Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of the helpless. Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and the needy.”

Welcome to Union City Radio for Wednesday, August 19. This is Chris Garlock, for the Metro Washington Council.

The 1992 film “Fast Food Women” has been nominated for consideration this year by the National Film Registry, which honors “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films.” The selected films are considered “works of enduring significance to American Culture.” Go to dclabor.org to show your support for this labor film classic, written and directed by Anne Lewis. “It means a lot to me in all kinds of ways and I am proud about this nomination,” Lewis says. “But it also means that the film will be preserved. I do think “Fast Food Women” remains current in the lives of fast food workers.” 

For the latest local labor news and updates, go to dclabor.org; for up-to-date listings for labor activities, click on calendar.

Here’s today’s labor history:
The first edition of the IWW’s Little Red Song Book was published on this date in 1909.

In 1983, Phelps-Dodge copper miners in Arizona were confronted by tanks, helicopters, and hundreds of state troopers and National Guardsmen brought in to walk strikebreakers through picket lines in what was to become a failed 3-year fight by the Steelworkers and other unions.

And on this date in 2005, more than 4,000 mechanics, cleaners and custodians, members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association at Northwest Airlines, struck over job security, pay cuts and work rule changes. The 14-month strike failed, with most union jobs lost to replacements and outside contractors.

Today’s labor quote is by Angel Rodriguez, former president of Morenci Miners Local 616, explaining why his members belonged to the union:
“The union became the vehicle for Mexican Americans to run for political office and win elections to city, county and school boards and in some cases, state offices. It instilled the value and importance of being registered and voting in elections to elect their supporters to public office. Membership in the union was an empowering experience that gave the miners and their families the ability to stand up and fight…What workers could accomplish once they felt the power a union could bring them!”