Hosted by Chris Garlock This award-winning hard driving bluegrass band has only been together since January 2018, but they’ve already won the 2018 Mid-Atlantic Bluegrass Band Competition. Made up of of five of the most promising up-and-comers on the D.C. bluegrass scene, Moonlight Drive mixes progressive bluegrass, country, and traditional American music with a solid dose of the traditional bluegrass the band members grew up immersed in. Led by Shannon Bielski’s driving vocals and fiddle, Moonlight Drive features Kyle Windbeck on mandolin, Rob Benzing on banjo, Parker Gondella on guitar and Greg Mulley (AFGE member) playing bass. Together they deliver a hard hitting bluegrass performance that is sure to please any audience. Find out more on their Facebook page Labor Live@5 produced by Jason Roe; engineering by Ciera Shine and Robin Smith; photo by Chris Garlock.
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Alex Falsinotti has been working at Safeway number 1365 in Fairfax, Virginia for almost two years.
Officially he works in the Seafood Department, but on most days whoever is scheduled to work the Meat Department leaves early, and Alex is forced to cover both departments until they officially close at 8pm. “I’m expected to clean the counter and help customers and close down the department by myself,” he says. “I try not to get frustrated, but doing this for ten months you get overwhelmed." Alex didn’t know this was a violation of his union contract, but his UFCW local 400 union rep did. Bertha McKiver noticed a pattern and filed grievances at five stores throughout Virginia, resulting in back pay awards totaling $11,000 dollars for Alex and nine other Safeway employees. You can read more – and see a photo of Alex with his check for back pay – on our website at dclabor.org In today's labor history, on this date in 1900, Bay Area mill employers locked out 8,000 workers because they demanded the 8 hour day and a daily wage of $3. The San Francisco Building Trades Council established a large union-operated mill to continue to make union-milled lumber available. Eventually, mill owners agreed to the 8 hour day. Today’s labor quote is by A. Philip Randolph, the civil rights leader and union president who on this date in 1963 strongly protested the AFL-CIO Executive Council's failure to endorse the August 28 "March on Washington." The march was organized by black labor activists who called not only for an end to prejudice, but also for a federal jobs program, equality at work, and increasing the minimum wage. Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech at the 1963 march, which was a factor in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. A. Philip Randolph, who said: “We must develop huge demonstrations, because the world is used to big dramatic affairs. They think in terms of hundreds of thousands and millions and billions... Billions of dollars are appropriated at the twinkling of an eye. Nothing little counts.” Official participation by national or local labor organizations in counter-protests for Sunday’s "Unite the Right" white supremacists rally has not been confirmed but there are reports that area union members and staff are planning to participate in the counter-protests.
Jews United for Justice is hosting two community gatherings after Sunday’s neo-Nazi rally, and is also sharing a variety of community responses, including an "Antisemitism discussion and art build," a Teach-In and Interfaith Vigil with DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, and a Shabbat service, "A Shabbat of Peace." We have links on our website, dclabor.org, for details on the counter-protests and the community gatherings. In today's labor history, on this date in 2010, President Barack Obama signed a $26 billion dollar bill designed to protect hundreds of thousands of teachers, police and others from layoffs spurred by budgetary crises in states hard-hit by the Great Recession; check out our conversation about this with historian Jon Shelton on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available wherever you listen to podcasts, just search for Union City Radio. Today’s labor quote is by AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, who said: "There's no evil that's inflicted more pain and more suffering than racism - and it's something that we in the Labor Movement have a special responsibility to challenge. It's our special responsibility because we know, better than anyone else, how racism is used to divide working people. We've seen how companies set worker against worker - how they throw whites a few extra crumbs off the table - and how it's black and Latino workers who get the dirtiest, most dangerous jobs. But we've seen something else too. We've seen that when we cross that color line and stand together no one can keep us down." Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith Today’s guests: AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre reports on Tuesday’s big win against Right to Work in Missouri. DC Attorney General Karl Racine (right) and OAG lawyer Randy Chen (left) discuss the AG’s lawsuit against Power Design for wage theft against over 500 DC workers (read more here in The Washington Post). How to Report Wage Theft Violations: Workers can report wage theft or other wage and hour violations to OAG’s Housing and Community Justice Section at (202) 442-9854. CLICK HERE to learn more about workers’ rights in the District and how to get help if those rights are being violated. MUSIC: Get Up Stand Up - Bob Marley Thanks to all the callers who pledged their financial support today during the Summer Drive. Special thanks to local labor lawyers Ed James, Wendy Kahn and Jules Bernstein, for their challenge grants. Ed James is a Partner at James and Hoffman; Wendy L. Kahn is “Of Counsel” to the firm of Zwerdling, Paul, Kahn & Wolly, P.C.; Jules Bernstein of Bernstein & Lipsett P.C. has advocated for workers’ rights for more than a half-century. He's a big supporter of “Your Rights At Work,”the DC LaborFest and also serves on the board of directors of Interfaith Worker Justice and the National Employment Law Project. Call 202-588-9739 or 1-800-222-9739 or pledge online to make your contribution; be sure to click on “Your Rights At Work” in the drop-down menu! |
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