Dozens of summer interns networked at the second annual Labor Intern Gathering last Tuesday, representing a dozen different unions and allied organizations. Although the event was scheduled to end at 8 pm, many interns stayed over an hour later discussing international worker’s issues and building personal connections for the future. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union hosted this year’s gathering, which was organized by Christian Berk, the 2016 Rutgers Goldstein intern at the Metro Washington Council, who's been helping area labor interns plug into actions and events in the DC labor movement over the summer. Dr. Coralie Farlee, who funds the Goldstein Internship, attended the event and the young labor interns listened intently as she recounted her many years fighting for social justice. Dr. Farlee was pleased to see so many labor interns connecting and carrying the struggle forward, as folks like UFCW’s Erin Regan encouraged interns to get involved the Making Change campaign at Walmart, and national coordinators for United Students Against Sweatshops networked with interns to organize for worker justice when they return to school.
For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1921, Sid Hatfield, the police chief of Matewan, West Virginia and a longtime supporter of the United Mine Workers union, is murdered by company goons. This soon led to the Battle of Blair Mountain, one of the largest civil uprisings in American history. In 1942, the American Federation of Musicians began a strike against the major American recording companies in a fight over royalty payments. Decca Records settled with the union after one year, followed shortly by Capitol Records, while Victor and Columbia held out for another year before agreeing to the union’s terms. The strike did not affect musicians performing on live radio shows or in concerts. Today’s labor quote is by President Barack Obama, at the Democratic National Convention last week: “Our power comes from those immortal declarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago; We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that together, We, the People, can form a more perfect union. That’s who we are. That’s our birthright—the capacity to shape our own destiny. That’s what drove patriots to choose revolution over tyranny and our GIs to liberate a continent. It’s what gave women the courage to reach for the ballot, and marchers to cross a bridge in Selma, and workers to organize and fight for better wages.”
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