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."