Registered nurses earlier this month urged the District of Columbia Council’s Committee on Health and Human Services to promptly pass legislation to ensure that hospitals create plans and take necessary action to protect patients, health care workers, and others from violence in hospitals. “A nurse colleague and I were attacked by two family members of a patient on an evening in late 2012,” Elaine Sherman, a registered nurse at the DC VA Medical Center and a member of National Nurses United, told the committee. Hannah Roy, an NNU registered nurse at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, testified that, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration records, between 2012 and 2014, staff members at her hospital were victims of violence on the job “an average of twenty-three times per year—in other words, at a rate of almost twice a month. This is unacceptable.” Elissa Curry, a registered nurse at Providence Hospital and a member of NNU, added that “My hospital needs to strengthen its health and safety plan, particularly with respect to risks of violence against staff and we have urged management to do so, but this issue goes beyond individual hospitals.”
The DC Nurses Association also testified in support of the bill. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1897, a group of building trades unions from the Midwest met in St. Louis to form the National Building Trades Council. The Council disbanded after several years of political and jurisdictional differences. In 1910, twenty-one Chicago firefighters, including the chief, died when a building collapsed as they were fighting a huge blaze at the Union Stock Yards. By the time the fire was extinguished, 26 hours after the first alarm, 50 engine companies and seven hook-and-ladder companies had been called to the scene. Until September 11, 2001, it was the deadliest building collapse in American history in terms of firefighter fatalities. And in 1919, amid a widespread strike for union recognition by nearly 400,000 steelworkers, approximately 250 alleged “anarchists,” “communists,” and “labor agitators” were deported to Russia, marking the beginning of the so-called “Red Scare” Today’s labor quote is by Lech Walesa: "He who puts out his hand to stop the wheel of history will have his fingers crushed."
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Brandishing umbrellas against the soggy weather and bright signs asking “Are You With Us?” dozens of area activists crowded the sidewalk outside the H Street Walmart Thursday afternoon to say that “If you’re shopping here, you’re paying towards greed,” as Rev. Graylan Hagler put it. “I’m here to fight” for justice for underpaid Walmart workers, said Isaiah, himself a former Walmart worker.
AFL-CIO Deputy Organizing Director Christian Sweeney said that “This isn’t just about low wages for Walmart workers, it’s about low wages for the entire economy.” Also on Thursday, United flight attendants chanting "No Justice, No Peace on Earth!" were joined by Machinists, pilots and other labor supporters as they picketed outside the United terminal at Washington National Airport. A similar rally took place at Dulles Airport. The pickets were the local launch of an international campaign to call attention to the fact that United flight attendants have been working for more than five years -- since the merger with Continental -- without a contract. The flight attendants plan to hold weekly actions until they win a new contract. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1790, powered by children seven to 12 years old working dawn to dusk, Samuel Slater’s thread-spinning factory went into production in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, launching the Industrial Revolution in America. By 1830, 55 percent of the mill workers in the state were youngsters, many working for less than $1 per week. In 1921, the Supreme Court ruled that picketing is unconstitutional. Chief Justice (and former president) William Howard Taft declared that picketing was, in part, "an unlawful annoyance and hurtful nuisance..." Today’s labor quote is from the signs women carried during the 1912 Textile Mill Strike, which read: “We want bread and roses too.” Union leaders and political allies trying to save nearly 1,000 jobs at the Safeway warehouse in Upper Marlboro on Tuesday had their “most productive meeting yet” with top officials from Albertson’s, Safeway’s parent company. “We have a much clearer picture of what needs to happen, and it was a very productive meeting on all sides,” said Ritchie Brooks, president of Teamsters Local 730, which represents most of the workers.
Teamsters 639 and IUOE 99 also represent workers in the warehouse, and UFCW Local 400, whose members work in area Safeway stores, has also been involved in the talks, which are expected to continue. “Maryland State Senator Anthony Muse and (former Maryland Delegate) Aisha Braveboy have been a tremendous help,” Brooks added, “as has been all the solidarity we’ve received from the local labor movement.” While no actions are currently planned, area activists are urged to sign up for text updates as developments unfold: text PGJOBS to 86466 On this weekend’s labor calendar, there’s a free informational DACA clinic tonight at 6pm, the DC Coalition of Black Trade Unionists with hold their annual Shoebox Gift Wrapping party tomorrow at 11am and Transportation Security Officers will picket at 1pm at Dulles Airport. As always, go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1991, General Motors announced it was closing 21 North American plants over the following four years and slashing tens of thousands of jobs. Today’s labor quote is by Martin Luther King, Jr: "The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress." Union City Radio’s Chris Garlock and DC Nurses Association Executive Director Ed Smith discuss worker rights with local activists/organizers and take listener calls.
Today's guest: NFL Players Association Assistant Executive Director George Atallah, on Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative disease found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma. CTE is the focus of Concussion, the new American biographical sports thriller and medical drama film starring Will Smith portraying Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist who fought against efforts by National Football League to suppress his research on the brain damage suffered by professional football players. |
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