A 14-year lawsuit between Fire Fighters Local 36 and the District government was resolved Saturday when DC Mayor Muriel Bowser signed a settlement agreement. Before signing the agreement, Bowser donned firefighting gear and, along with other firefighters and with Smith at her side, entered a burning training building at the D.C. Fire and EMS Training Academy in Southwest, saying "It gives me a good appreciation for what the men and women do every single day.” The settlement helps ensure that firefighters are paid for the overtime that they have already worked and earned, said Mayor Bowser. The District will now pay Local 36 members time and a half for overtime. Union members are owed some $45 million in back pay, dating back to 2001. Local 36 president Ed Smith thanked Bowser for settling the long-running dispute, saying that "It means the world to the men and women who serve the District residents every day and night."
On today's Labor Calendar, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler will speak about the current status of working women today at 9:30am, highlighting some of the challenges working women face in the workplace today and outlining solutions. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1904, the New York City subway opened; it was the first rapid-transit system in America. More than 100 workers died during the construction of the first 13 miles of tunnels and track. In 1935, three strikes on works-relief projects in Maryland were underway today, with charges that Depression-era Works Projects Administration jobs were paying only about 28 cents an hour—far less than was possible on direct relief. Civic officials in Cumberland, where authorities had established a 50-cent-per-hour minimum wage, supported the strikers. And in 1951, the National Labor Council was formed in Cincinnati to unite Black workers in the struggle for full economic, political and social equality. The group was to function for five years before disbanding, having forced many AFL and CIO unions to adopt non-discrimination policies. Today’s labor quote is by folksinger Woody Guthrie: “Any song that points out something that is wrong, needs fixing, and shows you how to fix it – is the undying song of the working people. If it is made a little jazzy or sexy that ain’t wrong – what book could you read to a crowd that would make them dance?”
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UFCW Local 400 health care professionals working at Kaiser recently ratified a national collective bargaining agreement that increases their wages, and sets standards to improve the quality and safety of health care. “This is a sound agreement that paves the way for our local bargaining with Kaiser Mid-Atlantic that will take place in 2020," said Local 400 Secretary-Treasurer Lavoris “Mikki” Harris. "What’s been most positive about this process is how it has galvanized member activism. There is great energy and a wonderful spirit of participation. That will serve us well in implementing the contract and in improving working conditions for our members.”
The national collective bargaining agreement covers 105,000 Kaiser Permanente employees, including more than 1,000 Local 400 members. OPEIU Local 2 members who work at Kaiser had previously ratified an agreement. For the latest local labor events, go to dclabor.org and click on calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1825, after eight years and at least 1,000 worker deaths – mostly Irish immigrants – the 350-mile Erie Canal opened, linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1905, over 2 million workers were on strike throughout the Russian Empire. Following the government’s massacre of more than 1,000 workers gathered at the Tsar’s palace in January, a huge wave of strikes erupted, coordinated by workers’ councils. By late December, the military put down what became known as the Russian Revolution of 1905, crushing the strikes and imprisoning the leaders of the workers’ councils. Today’s labor quote is by poet Carl Sandburg: “I am the people – the mob – the crowd – the mass. Do you know that all the great work of the world is done through me? I am the workingman, the inventor, the maker of the world’s food and clothes.”lick here to edit. Safeway workers will leaflet a dozen area supermarkets this Sunday to protest the company's plan to close the Collingwood distribution center. Go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar for the complete list of targeted stores.
Cerberus Capital Management, Safeway’s new owner, last week abruptly announced plans to close the facility, one of the newest grocery distribution centers in the country, during the Christmas holidays, costing local workers 900 jobs. "Please come out this Sunday and help us let your neighbors know what's at stake," urges Ritchie Brooks, president of Teamsters Local 730, which represents the warehouse workers. Also affected are Safeway drivers represented by Teamsters Local 639 and building maintenance workers who are members of Operating Engineers Local 99. For the latest local labor event listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt established a fact-finding commission that suspended a nine-months-long strike by Western Pennsylvania coal miners fighting for better pay, shorter workdays and union recognition. The strikers ended up winning more pay for fewer hours, but failed to get union recognition. It was the first time that the federal government had intervened as a neutral arbitrator in a labor dispute. In 2001, postal workers Joseph Curseen and Thomas Morris died nearly a month after having inhaled anthrax at the Brentwood mail sorting center in Washington, D.C. Other postal workers had also been sickened but survived. Letters containing the deadly spores had been addressed to U.S. Senate offices and media outlets. Today’s labor quote is by Theodore Roosevelt: "If I were a factory employee, a labourer on the railroad, or a wage earner of any sort, I would undoubtedly join the union of my trade." Please support WPFW during the Fall membership drive; call 202-588-9739 or give online at wpfwfm.org; click on the big Donate Now button and be sure to select Morning Brew/Union City to show your support. The AFL-CIO's annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference will be held in Washington, D.C. January 15-18, 2016, and the Metro Washington Council has been asked to play a major role as the host city's Council; early-bird registration is now open and you'll find a link on our website at dclabor.org.
Metro Council president Jos Williams says the conference is "an opportunity to come together to learn more about the civil and human rights campaigns of today and determine how we’re going to rewrite the rules and build power for all working people." On today's Labor Calendar, at 1pm tune in today's edition of Your Rights at Work here on WPFW 89.3 FM; we'll take your calls and our guest will be Gabby Madriz, Director of the Restaurant Opportunities Center DC, which works to improve working conditions in the local restaurant industry. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1934, bank robber Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd was killed by FBI agents near East Liverpool, Ohio. He was a hero to the people of Oklahoma who saw him as a "Sagebrush Robin Hood," stealing from banks, destroying mortgage papers and sharing with the poor. Today’s labor quote is by Woody Guthrie, from "The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd": "As through this world you travel, you'll meet some funny men; Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen" Please support WPFW during the Fall membership drive; call 202-588-9739 or give online at wpfwfm.org; click on the big Donate Now button and be sure to select Morning Brew/Union City to show your support. |
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