Montgomery County workers are preparing for contract bargaining for nearly all of UFCW Local 1994’s bargaining units. And with the ongoing push for privatization of many county services, Local 1994 President Gino Renne says "We’ll need every member actively supporting the union to reach a favorable deal." Phillip Simmons, a first-time bargaining team member from the County's Housing Opportunities Commission, called his experience on the bargaining team “eye opening.” “It was interesting to see how management viewed me at first,” said Phillips. “To management, we don’t work enough…It was like they could only see mistakes that had been made. It was like they weren’t even listening. And then, when we got on their level, we got their attention.”
On today's Labor Calendar, catch a program of short labor films tonight at the Takoma Park Busboys and Poets, starting at 6pm. The free program features three short labor films selected from labor film festivals across the country, introduced by the directors of those film festivals, in town for the fifth annual Conference of Labor Film Festival Organizers. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1985, more than 1,100 office workers struck Columbia University in New York City. The mostly female and minority workers won union recognition and pay increases. In 1998, the National Basketball Association canceled regular season games for the first time in its 51-year history, during a player lockout that lasted 204 days. Player salaries and pay caps were the primary issue. And in 2000, hundreds of San Jose Mercury News newspaper carriers ended their 4-day walkout with victory. Today’s labor quote is by economist John Maynard Keynes: "Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for the nastiest of reasons, will somehow work for the benefit of all." 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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Medical marijuana workers in Maryland have unionized. UFCW Local 400 has reached an agreement with Bethesda Biomedical to represent the workers once the state approves the company’s license to operate. “By signing this agreement, Bethesda Biomedical has shown that they are dedicated to developing this industry in a way that provides good middle-class jobs with living wages and proper benefits for a well-trained and qualified workforce,” said Local 400 President Mark Federici. The agreement guarantees high wages, healthcare, a retirement pension and other benefits to future employees of Bethesda Biomedical. UFCW already represents thousands of workers in the medical marijuana industry across the country.
The Metro Washington Council’s offices are closed today in observance of the federal holiday. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for the latest local labor events. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1898, company guards killed at least eight miners who were attempting to stop scabs in Virden, Illinois. Six guards also were killed, and 30 persons wounded. In 1902, 14 miners were killed and 22 wounded by scab herders at Pana, Illinois. In 1933, 2,000 workers demanding union recognition closed down dress manufacturing in Los Angeles. And in 1976, more than a million Canadian workers demonstrated against wage controls. Today’s labor quote is by Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third President of the United States: “Take not from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” DC Council chambers were crowded with babies, moms and dads Tuesday as the Universal Paid Leave Act of 2015 was introduced. The bill would provide paid family and medical leave for everyone who lives or works in the District; the first city in the nation to do so.
“I’ve met countless new parents across the city who work in low-wage jobs and were forced to return to work before they were ready or fully able,” said Sheena Wadhawan, Advocacy Director of the DC Employment Justice Center. “As a new mom myself, that breaks my heart,” Wadhawan said. “We need policies that support working families, particularly during the kinds of life challenges we all face from time to time." The bill -- introduced by Council members David Grosso and Elissa Silverman -- would allow working people to take up to 16 weeks of paid leave to care for a new child, an ailing family member, or deal with a personal illness. “DC continues to stay on the cutting edge in the fight to improve the lives of working families,” said Metro Washington Council president Jos Williams. “Organized labor will continue to work with our community allies to ensure that this bill becomes a reality.” On today’s labor calendar, Transit Workers Local 689 invites you to join them at 6pm tonight for a free screening of the film "10,000 Black Men Named George" starring Andre Braugher and Mario Van Peebles in the dramatic story of the struggle to organize railway porters in 1920s America. For complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1888, the United Hebrew Trades was organized in New York by shirt maker Morris Hillquit and others. Hillquit would later become leader of the Socialist Party. In 1997, retail stock brokerage Smith Barney reached a tentative sexual harassment settlement with a group of female employees. The suit charged, among other things, that branch managers asked female workers to remove their tops in exchange for money and one office featured a "boom boom room" where women workers were encouraged to, quote unquote, "entertain clients." The settlement was never finalized: a U.S. District Court judge refused to approve the deal because it failed to address the workers’ complaints. And in 2003, more than 3,000 sanitation workers working for private haulers in Chicago won a 9-day strike featuring a 28-percent wage increase over five years. Today’s labor quote is by A. Philip Randolph, who organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly African American labor union: “At the banquet table of nature, there are no reserved seats. You get what you can take, and you keep what you can hold. If you can't take anything, you won't get anything, and if you can't hold anything, you won't keep anything. And you can't take anything without organization.” This quote is on the bust of Randolph that’s in Union Station; look for it next to the Starbucks. Union City Radio’s Chris Garlock and the labor lawyer Ed Smith (Executive Director of the DC Nurses Association) discuss worker rights with local activists/organizers and take listener calls.
Guests on today’s show include local filmmaker Mike Blain about his new film “Dear Walmart, and Hans Johnson, of Progressive Victory, who talks about LGBTQ worker rights. Click here for an archive of previous “Your Rights At Work” preview shows. |
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