AFSCME Council 26 Executive Director Carl Goldman was disappointed that he wasn't able to go to the rallies in DC last Wednesday. That’s because he was in a congressional committee meeting where he reports that Republicans were pushing a bill designed to weaken, and maybe ultimately destroy federal unions. After the hearing, Carl reports, “I had to jump in a taxi to go back to my office to write an email to update the 17 local union presidents I work with. First we drove by the Supreme Court where folks were gathering to protest, next I passed the Department of Labor where people were gathering for the ‘Women Workers Rising’ rally and then onto the park next to the Canadian Embassy where a stage was set up and more folks were waiting to speak out. Seeing all of this reminded me of the connection between all of our struggles and made me feel a little better after the hearing on the Hill.”
Carl is being recognized as Outstanding Trade Unionist of the Year at the annual Evening with Labor coming up March 25; order tickets on our website at dclabor.org; click on Evening with Labor. On today’s labor calendar, weather permitting, I’m pleased to welcome Pam Parker to this month’s edition of Labor Live@5, 5pm here on WPFW. Pam will be joined by John Cusick, Ethan Philion and Steve Jones for what I’m sure will be a great hour of music and talk. That’s assuming we don’t all get snowed in; be sure to check our website at dclabor.org for the latest updates. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1863, fabled railroad engineer John Luther “Casey” Jones was born in southeast Missouri. A member of the Railroad Engineers, he was the sole fatality in a wreck near Vaughan, Mississippi on April 29, 1900. His skill and heroics prevented many more deaths. In 1914, Henry Ford announced the new continuous motion method to assemble cars. The process decreased the time to make a car from 12 and a half hours to 93 minutes. Goodbye, craftsmanship, hello, drudgery. And in 1954, the movie “Salt of the Earth” opens. The classic film centers on a long and difficult strike led by Mexican-American and Anglo zinc miners in New Mexico. Real miners perform in the film, in which the miners’ wives—as they did in real life—take to the picket lines after the strikers are enjoined. Today’s labor quote is by Martin Luther King, Jr “New economic patterning through automation is dissolving the jobs of workers in some of the nation's basic industries. This is to me a catastrophe. We are neither technologically advanced nor socially enlightened if we witness this disaster for tens of thousands without finding a solution. And by a solution, I mean a real and genuine alternative, providing the same living standards which were swept away by a force called progress, but which for some is destruction. The society that performs miracles with machinery has the capacity to make some miracles for men—if it values men as highly as it values machines.” Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus. UnionPlus is committed to improving the quality of life of working families; find out more at unionplus.org.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Union City Radio is proud to be supported by UnionPlus, which has been working hard for union families since 1986.
Union City Radio is part of The Labor Radio/Podcast Network
Listen now...UC Radio airs weekdays at 7:15a on WPFW 89.3 FM; subscribe to the podcast here. |