(audio) “My name is Jack Sablitch; I’m a steelworker down here in the steel mill and I’ve been down here for about 20 years.”
Last month, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka held town halls in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan to discuss the proposed new NAFTA and what it means for working people. This week, we’ll hear voices from those communities on the AFL-CIO’s latest episode of “State of the Unions.” (audio): “From 2001 to 2008 we probably lost more manufacturing jobs in Ohio than I’ve--I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. When I graduated high school you know we went right into the factories, a lot of us, and you know you could--you could go to one factory today and you know maybe the conditions weren't so well. And tomorrow you could walk next door and have another job at another factory. There was plenty of union jobs out there. My grandfathers were union organizers and you know I--I grew up in a union household. And so you know it’s unbelievable to see what has happened because those jobs that were there, those manufacturing jobs that paid good wages are gone. And a guy like me who has got kids and--and bills and stuff like that, you can't make it on a Walmart paycheck. I hope, too, that the unions get out and start organizing a hell of a lot more because the--the--this country needs unions more now than we ever did before. Thank you.” Hear more on “State of the Unions” wherever you listen to podcasts. On today’s labor calendar, the locked-out Baltimore Symphony musicians are out on the picket line today from 8 am to 9:30 am in Baltimore; For details and the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. In today’s labor history, on this date in 1959, a half-million steelworkers began what would become a 116-day strike that closed down nearly every steel mill in the country. When it appeared the walkout would be prolonged, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower invoked the back-to-work provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, anti-union legislation passed by Congress in 1947. Today’s labor quote is by Eleanor Roosevelt, reacting to the passage of the Taft-Hartley law, who said: “Instead of clamping down on the labor movement, Americans should be extremely grateful to unions.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Thinking about buying a new phone this summer? Get waived activation and upgrade fees when you enroll in the Union Plus AT&T Signature Program. Visit unionplus.org/att.
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