Thousands marched through the streets of Richmond last Saturday to demand economic justice for the 64 million Americans working for less than $15 dollars an hour. "The march brought together people from across the country working too much for too little – from Kroger associates to fast food workers to childcare providers and even college professors," reports UFCW Local 400, many of whose members turned out. The march culminated the first-ever national Fight for $15 convention, which brought together thousands of underpaid workers to strategize next steps for the growing movement. SEIU, UFCW and other unions have provided logistical and, in SEIU’s case, financial support for Fight for 15, and the marchers have in turn also demanded the right to unionize without employer interference and repression. We’ve got a more detailed report on our website at dclabor.org plus a link to lots of photos from Richmond.
On today’s labor calendar, we’ve got two great guests lined up for today’s edition of “Your Rights at Work” here on WPFW starting at 1pm: first up, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist David Cay Johnston will discuss his new book “The Making of Donald Trump,” which takes a revealingly close look at Donald Trump’s rise to power and prominence. Then we’ll talk with Georgetown University professor Joe McCartin on his recent Washington Post opinion piece about how “This election could decide the fate of American labor.” And as always, we’ll be taking listener calls about rights on the job; the show starts at 1p here on WPFW. For all the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1927, radio station WEVD, named for Eugene V. Debs, went on the air in New York City, operated by The Forward Association as a memorial to the labor and socialist leader. Debs was a labor activist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who captured the heart and soul of the nation’s working people. A founder of one of the nation’s first industrial unions, the American Railway Union, he went on to help launch the Industrial Workers of the World—the Wobblies. A man of firm beliefs and dedication, he ran for President of the United States five times under the banner of the Socialist Party, in 1912 earning over a million votes, or 6 percent of the popular vote. Today’s labor quote is by Eugene Debs “What can Labor do for itself? The answer is not difficult. Labor can organize, it can unify; it can consolidate its forces. This done, it can demand and command.”
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