Latasha Wood was radiant as she joined her fellow sheet metal apprentices at graduation ceremonies last Saturday at SMART local 100.  Her entire family was there to celebrate the culmination of the intense 5-year program that trained the 27 apprentices for careers in the building trades. "We hope many more women see these nontraditional jobs as a great way to support themselves and their families with family-supporting wages and life-long benefits," said Sylvia Casaro Dietert, the Program Coordinator for the Community Services Agency’s Building Futures program at the Metro Washington Council.

For the latest area labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1971, the International Alliance of Bill Posters, Billers & Distributors surrendered its AFL-CIO charter and was disbanded. Bill posters pasted up, or "posted," advertising sheets for everything from circuses and political rallies to product ad.

Today’s labor quote is by George Henry Evans, who published the first issue of the Working Man’s Advocate on this date in 1829. “Edited by a Mechanic” for the “useful and industrious classes” in New York City, Evans focused on the inequities between the, quote, “portion of society living in luxury and idleness” and those “groaning under the oppressions and miseries imposed on them,” unquote.

Union City Radio is supported by Union Plus, which offers Retiree Health Care Medicare options for union members and their families. Check it out at unionplus.org

A takeback pushed through by The Washington Post during the last round of contract negotiations is fueling a push for union membership at the Washington Baltimore News Guild.
Under the new contract, the Post no longer gives additional pay to workers who take on additional responsibilities for a higher job classification on a part-time basis.
This can mean as much as a 15-percent pay cut, according to unit co-chair Frederick Kunkle, who reminded Post workers that “the wisest way to preserve important benefits – and possibly achieve better terms and benefits in the future – is to work together. Collective bargaining is only as strong as the people who join together to push the company to do right by its employees.”

On today’s labor calendar, there are four – count ‘em, four – labor phonebanks today in the DMV, including one at the AFL-CIO that’s calling in to battleground states across the country; for complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1986, Ed Meese, attorney general in the Reagan administration, urged employers to begin spying on workers "in locker rooms, parking lots, shipping and mail room areas and even the nearby taverns" to try to catch them using drugs.  

Today’s labor quote is by writer Sebastian Junger, from his book “Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging.” Sebastian Junger, who wrote:
“Human beings need three basic things in order to be content: they need to feel competent at what they do; they need to feel authentic in their lives; and they need to feel connected to others. These values are considered ‘intrinsic’ to human happiness and far outweigh ‘extrinsic’ values such as beauty, money and status.”

Union City Radio is supported by Union Plus, which offers Retiree Health Care Medicare options for union members and their families. Check it out at unionplus.org

When Ty Owens walked into his local Social Security office in Manassas, Virginia, for help, he had to wait in line for five hours.
If Donald Trump and his Health and Human Services Secretary, former drug company executive Alex Azar, have their way, that wait could get a lot longer.
That’s because Azar’s operatives, after just one 10-minute “bargaining” session in June with the Treasury Employees, who represent 14,000 HHS workers, threw their regressive demands on the table, gave the union two weeks to yield, then got up, walked out and declared an “impasse” in negotiations.
That would let Trump’s government impose their “contract” on the union and would lead to longer lines and lesser quality service as federal workers depart in droves.
It also brought Owens, president of NTEU Local 229 at HHS headquarters and dozens of his colleagues out into the HHS driveway for a noontime protest last Thursday.
They drew dozens of sympathetic honks from passing motorists and enthusiastic support from DC Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, who promised that the future of the NTEU members, and the rest of the nation’s two million federal workers, would be far different if Democrats recapture Congress on November 6. 

On today’s labor calendar,
labor phonebanks continue today to get out the union vote; for complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1929, Wall Street crashed on what came to be known as "Black Tuesday," throwing the world's economy into a years-long crisis including an unemployment rate in the U.S. that by 1933 hit nearly 25 percent.

Today’s labor quote is by psychologist Nathan Ackerman, reporting on the impact of long-term unemployment on coal miners during the Depression. 
Nathan Ackerman, who said:
“A jobless man was a lazy good-for-nothing.... These men suffered from depression. They felt despised, they were ashamed of themselves.” 

Union City Radio is supported by Union Plus, which offers Retiree Health Care Medicare options for union members and their families. Check it out at unionplus.org

More than 1,000 DC school bus drivers and attendants will achieve pay parity with other District government employees, thanks to a new three-year contract between the city and AFSCME 1959.
Local 1959 president Corey Upchurch said it was “an exciting day for all of us,” calling the deal “the foundation on something we can build on collectively moving forward.”
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser added that the contract “recognizes and rewards” the bus drivers and attendants “for the important work they perform year-round.” The contract also offers benefits consistent with other district employees or drivers.

On today’s labor calendar, headlining a day full of labor-to-labor canvasses, there’s a big “Labor for Ben Jealous” rally tomorrow morning in Baltimore starting at 9:30. There are also three labor-themed films tomorrow, including Sankofa, The Long Ride and Bisbee ’17; for complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In 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.

Today’s labor quote is by labor historian Joe McCartin, who talks about the Erie Canal workers on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast app:
“They had no idea of the human toll that the work would take, over time. In fact, that they couldn’t find enough Americans to do the work.” 

Richard Melville Hall -- better known as the musician Moby -- once said
"It's heartbreaking that so many hundreds of millions of people around the world are desperate for the right to vote, but here in America people stay home on election day."
With that in mind, let me remind you that early voting starts today in Maryland and runs through Thursday, November 1.
In DC, early voting began on Monday and goes through November 2. There’s no early voting in Virginia, but you can vote absentee in-person if you have a valid excuse for not being able to vote on Election Day.
We have complete details – including where you can vote early or get an absentee ballot, on our website at dclabor.org

On today’s labor calendar,
catch this week’s edition of Your Rights At Work right here on WPFW starting at 1pm today; we’ll get an update on the Marriott strike and then at 2 we’ll visit with the hosts of “State of the Unions,” the AFL-CIO’s brand-new podcast; plus of course your calls with questions about your rights at work; for complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1899, what many believe to be the first formal training on first aid in American history took place at the Windsor Hotel in Jermyn, Pennsylvania, when Dr. Matthew J. Shields instructed 25 coal miners on ways to help their fellow miners. Upon completion of the course each of the miners was prepared and able to render first aid. The training led to decreases in serious mining injuries and fatalities.
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Today’s labor quote is by Oliverio Gomez, a worker at the Bonus Car Wash in Santa Monica, California. After a two-year fight, workers there won a union contract in 2011 calling for pay increases, better breaks and other gains.
Oliverio Gomez, who said “They didn’t treat us like people.” 

Hosted by Chris Garlock and Peter Pocock

DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them. 

On today’s show:
Hour 1 (local)
Unite Here 7 organizer Tracy Lingo on the Marriott strike, now almost 3 weeks old.
Alex Baptiste, from the National Partnership for Women and Families, on “Miscarrying at Work: The Physical Toll of Pregnancy Discrimination.” Here are two resources on pregnancy rights from the National Partnership: Know Your Rights and background on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which marks its' 40th anniversary on October 31.
Plus: "Union Blood" the latest song by SpudWrench, AKA Michael Peterson, the singing elevator engineer.

Hour 2 (national)
Tim Schlittner, co-host of the AFL-CIO's new “State of the Unions.” podcast. 
Georgetown University graduate student workers Hailey Huget and Kevin Carriere, members of the Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE). 
Plus: "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton.
 
Produced by Chris Garlock and Peter Pocock; engineered by Mike “The Man” Nasella

In the largest multi-city hotel worker strike in American history, nearly 8,000 workers at Marriott have walked off the job in recent weeks.
From Boston to Hawaii, Oakland to Detroit, and in San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose, workers – members of the Unite Here! union -- are fighting for Marriott to raise pay so that one full time job is enough to live on in these cities.
They’re also striking for basic job security around automation in the industry, and for an end to the unsafe workplaces created by the so-called “Green Choice” program.
Locally, workers at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront are organizing for a fair process to decide on union representation at the largest and richest hotel company on the planet.
Find out more at unitehere.org

On today’s labor calendar, labor to labor phonebanks continue throughout the area; complete details are at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1940, the 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act, signed by President Roosevelt two years earlier, and which also required employers to pay the minimum wage and imposed several child labor provisions.

Today’s labor quote is by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he signed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. FDR, who said
“Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day… tell you… that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry.”

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at UnionPlus, this week offering an Accident Only Pet Insurance Plan. Help your pet receive the best care without worrying about the financial cost. Find out more at unionplus.org 

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Workers at the American Red Cross prevented takeaways and made some important national gains in a recent agreement.
The workers won cumulative across-the-board wage increases of more than 8% over three years, significant wins on health care and benefits, standard-setting health and safety protections for members, and agreement by the Red Cross to engage collaboratively on key issues with the coalition of unions representing 4,500 Red Cross workers.

On today’s labor calendar, if you missed the terrific film “Teacher of the Year” last week, we’re screening it again tonight – for free -- at the Shirlington Busboys and Poets, starting at 6pm. Complete details are at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 2001, local postal workers Joseph Curseen and Thomas Morris Jr. died after inhaling anthrax at the Brentwood mail sorting center in Washington, D.C. Other postal workers were also made ill. Letters containing the deadly spores had been addressed to U.S. Senate offices and media outlets. During the anthrax crisis, more than 700,000 postal workers demonstrated uncommon courage by just showing up for work each day. In honor of the fallen postal workers, the Brentwood facility was renamed the Curseen-Morris mail sorting center. Read more here

Today’s labor quote is by Thomas Morris Jr., from a 911 call he placed just hours before his death. Thomas Morris Jr., who told the 911 operator:
"They never let us know whether this thing was anthrax or not… My breathing is labored; my chest feels constricted. I am getting air, but I -- to get up and walk and what have you -- it just feels like I'm going to pass out if I stay up too long."

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at UnionPlus, this week offering an Accident Only Pet Insurance Plan. Help your pet receive the best care without worrying about the financial cost. Find out more at unionplus.org 

Keep Union City Radio on the air by pledging your financial support to WPFW 89.3 FM now: call 202-588-9739 or 1-800-222-9739 or pledge online https://pledge.wpfwfm.org. Thank you!

IBEW Local 1900 knows the importance of giving back. That's why volunteers recently gathered at the union’s office to get out a mailing to over 1,500 members letting them know how they can help through the United Way, DC One Fund, Combined Federal and Maryland Charity Campaigns. "I believe that the basic foundation of organized labor is to help people in their time of need,” said Local 1900 president Jim Griffin as he helped stuff envelopes with information urging support for the labor-sponsored United Way agencies. Last year, the Community Services Agency helped over 300 union members stay in their homes, keep the lights on and put food on the table. Worksite giving campaigns are now underway throughout the region: to give to CSA you can use the following campaign numbers: 8253 for United Way and DC One Fund: 19579 for the Combined Federal Campaign: and 9320 for Maryland Charity.

On today’s labor calendar, phonebanks to get out the union vote are up at both the AFL-CIO and the Machinists; for complete details go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In 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." People throughout the area were losing their farms to the banks, who wanted the land for the expansion of farming and its profits. While robbing the banks, Floyd would destroy or steal the mortgages to the local farms to prevent the banks from taking the land. He used money from the bank robberies to buy food and distribute it to members of the community.

Today’s labor quote is by Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd, who hated the nickname and was never called "Pretty-Boy" by anyone who knew him well, most of whom called him "Chock."
The "Robin Hood of the Cookson Hills," who said:
"I have robbed no-one but moneyed men."

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at UnionPlus, this week offering an Accident Only Pet Insurance Plan. Help your pet receive the best care without worrying about the financial cost. Find out more at unionplus.org 

It was in the winter of 2013. The weather was brutally cold and snow was on the ground.
A young woman working in the salad bar at Giant in Temple Hills, Maryland had fallen on hard times and lost her home.
Fortunately, her UFCW Local 400 shop steward was Bernadette Hopkins-Christian.
“I walked up to her,” Bernadette said, “and asked, ‘Where are you going to stay tonight? It’s cold, you can’t stay outside.’ I told her she can stay at my home—we have an extra room in the basement with a bathroom. She lived with us for two and a half years. Now, she’s doing well. She has her own apartment with a friend and is back on her feet.”
Bernadette, who works as a cashier, wasn’t done with her extraordinary acts of generosity, opening up her home to two more co-workers in recent years.
Bernadette takes the same approach in her work as shop steward at Giant. She’s always been active in her union and was a member of the Contract Action Team during bargaining in 2016, organizing and participating in rallies and store actions. “It was exciting and very moving to be involved,” she said. “You don’t think people pay attention, but our customers sure did, because we are their families, too.”
Read more – and see a photo of Bernadette -- at dclabor.org, where you can also find out how the Metro Washington Council’s Community Services Agency helps needy families.

Our weekend labor calendar includes eleven labor canvasses, a Coalition Labor Union Women’s luncheon with Prince George’s County Executive Elect Angela Alsobrooks, and the monthly NoVA Labor Lox & Bagels Brunch discussion group;
complete details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1980, the J.P. Stevens textile company was forced to sign its first union contract after a 17-year struggle in North Carolina and other southern states.
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Today’s labor quote is by Diana Wilson, a young African American anti-poverty activist who testified at national labor law reform hearings in 1977. Diana Wilson, who said:
"People's concerns with union campaigns today are like what black Southerners experienced during the early civil rights days."