(audio) “When my grandfathers first went into the coal mines, coal mining jobs weren't good jobs. And when your relatives first went in the steel mills, steel mill jobs weren't good jobs. And when our friends first went in the auto plants those weren't good jobs. Unions made those jobs into good middle class paying jobs [Applause]”
That’s AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on State of the Unions, the AFL-CIO’s podcast. (audio) “That’s why the Pro Act is so important to be able to bring unionization and collective bargaining to more Americans. Now MIT did a study and they said--they asked non-union workers if you’d join a union. Forty-eight percent of the existing non-union workers in the country said they’d join a union tomorrow if given the chance. That’s sixty million people that want to join a union. If we get that kind of density back then when we get a raise everybody in that industry gets a raise and not the way it is now where everybody is trying to drive your wages down; this way it’ll be a path upwards. Collective bargaining is the answer to this. Giving people collective bargaining and correcting the imbalance in power.” Hear more on State of the Unions, wherever you listen to podcasts. For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. In today’s labor history, on this date in 1886, newly unionized brewery workers in San Francisco, mostly German socialists, declared victory after the city’s breweries give in to their demands, which included the freedom to live anywhere -- they had typically been required to live in the breweries-- a 10-hour day, six-day week, and perhaps most important of all, free beer. Today’s labor quote is by Heywood Broun, the journalist, columnist and first president of the American Newspaper Guild, who said: “All there is said for work as opposed to dancing is that it’s so much easier.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Hey, did you know that AT&T waives select activation and upgrade fees for union members enrolled in the AT&T Signature Program? Visit unionplus.org/att to learn more.
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