Hosted by Chris Garlock 
 
STR is the term of art for Short Term Rentals – think Airbnb. Illegal, commercially operated STRs affect the breadth of the DC housing market, from affordable units to luxury housing, and DC Attorney General Karl Racine just announced that he was looking into potentially illegal STRs at 33 different D.C. buildings operated by 19 different entities. 

Here are a few eye-popping stats to consider:
• 67% of Airbnb Listings Are Illegal – Of the 5,295 Airbnb listings (as of  July 20 2018, there were 7,788 listings), 67% are likely illegal entire-home/apartment listings (that percentage is now 68.4%). These units remove housing from the rental market.
• 37% of Listings Are From Commercial Operators – Nearly 2,000 listings, or 37%, are commercial listings rented out by operators with multiple listings.
• The majority of Airbnb’s Profits Are From Commercial & Illegal Listings – 52% of Airbnb’s total annual revenue was generated by commercial hosts, and 82% of revenue came from likely illegal entire-home listings.
 
A new campaign – “It’s Time, D.C.” -- is calling on the DC city council to pass short-term rental law to protect housing. Here’s a short video they released last week 
 
This week’s guests: 
Yukia Hugee, single mother featured in video 
Kenyan McDuffie, Ward 5 Councilmember, bill sponsor “Short-term Rental Regulation and Affordable Housing Protection Act of 2017” 
Andrew Cassedy, Bartender, St. Regis, Unite Here Local 25 member 
 
CREDITS: Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike “The Man” Nasella 

Transit workers refused to speak at yesterday's WMATA Board meeting after the board decided to extend General Manager Paul Wiedefeld's contract and award him a raise with virtually no public notice. 
ATU Local 689 called the move "a slap in the face" for Metro riders and workers frustrated with delays and safety issues. 
The union attended the meeting but said it would not participate in the public comment portion because, they said, "the WMATA Board does not listen to its riders or its workers." 

On today's labor calendar, 
I’ll be hosting "Arise!” here on WPFW from 9 to 10am this morning, when we’ll discuss the “It’s Time, D.C.” campaign, which is calling on the DC city council to pass legislation to protect housing threatened by thousands of short-term rentals like Airbnb, many of which are illegal.
At 10am the American Federation of Teachers hosts a discussion and coffee with Fin Shigang and Li Wen, labor activists and authors of "Striking To Survive: Workers’ Resistance to Factory Relocation in China."
Details, as always, on our website, dclabor.org, click on calendar.

​Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1864, the International Workingmen’s Association was founded in London. It was an international organization trying to unite a variety of different left-wing, socialist, communist and anarchist political groups and unions. The Association functioned for about 12 years, growing to a membership of eight million, before being disbanded at its Philadelphia conference in 1876, victim of infighting brought on by the wide variety of members’ philosophies.

Today’s labor quote is from the Inaugural Address of the International Workingmen’s Association, written by Karl Marx, which concludes with these stirring words: 
“Proletarians of all countries, unite!” 

Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith
 
On today's show: Reaction to the Kavanaugh hearing; Metro workers object to Wiedefeld contract and raise.
 
Today's guest(s):
Reaction to the Kavanaugh hearing by Carol Rosenblatt, Executive Director of the Coalition of Labor Union Women.
ATU 689's David Stephen on why Metro workers object to WMATA GM Wiedefeld's extended contract and raise.
PLUS listener calls...
 
Your Rights At Work is also available as a podcast! Just search for Union City Radio on iTunes, Stitcher, OverCast or wherever you get your podcasts; subscribe and you’ll get our shows right on your phone! 
 
CREDITS: Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike “The Man” Nasella

The Montgomery County Professional Drivers Union Coop is launching a new taxi cooperative -- Anytime Taxi -- this Saturday at an all-day Open House.
The coop's first vehicles are all brand-new union-made, wheelchair accessible taxis. The drivers lobbied for – and won -- a successful reform of Montgomery County's taxi code that levels the regulatory playing field for drivers, provides vehicle licenses for the driver cooperative, mandates dramatic increases in the number of accessible taxis, and earmarks county revenue from a tax on Uber rides for accessible transit. 
Find out more at anytimeuniontaxi.com

On today’s labor calendar,
The Coalition of Labor Union Women is urging participation in this morning’s National Day of Action to support Dr. Blasey Ford, starting at 8am at the Supreme Court…
then at 2 pm catch this week’s edition of “Your Rights at Work” when Ed Smith and I will take your calls about workplace rights and discuss the latest news affecting working people. That’s “Your Rights at Work” here on WPFW 89.3 FM from 2 to 3pm
And tonight catch a free screening of the film “Dolores” at 6pm in Upper Marlboro, presented by the Coalition of Labor Union Women’s Chesapeake Bay Chapter in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Complete details, as always, at dclabor.org, click on Calendar

In today’s labor history, on this date in 2002, twenty-nine west coast ports locked out more than 10,000 workers in response to what management said was a worker slowdown in the midst of negotiations on a new contract.  The ports were closed for 10 days, reopening when President George W. Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act.

Today’s labor quote is from the Coalition of Labor Union Women, whose motto is:
“A woman’s place is in her union.”