Union City Radio for Wednesday, April 26

“I like to be where the action is,” Joyce Graham says. If anything, that’s an understatement. But it goes a long way toward explaining why the UFCW Local 400 member has kept working as a nurse at Kaiser Permanente into her late 70s, and is only now retiring this May. The decision wasn’t easy because Joyce loves nursing, her employer and her union so much. “It’s so nice to take care of people and see them get better, it’s rewarding,” she said. You can read our complete story at dclabor.org

On today's labor calendar:
Join Senator Bernie Sanders, progressive leaders, and striking low-wage workers for a rally this morning at 9:15am to “Tell Trump: workers need $15 and a union!” at First and Constitution Ave in Northeast DC.
Then at 11:30, check out “Muslim Americans in the Workplace: Melting Pot or Boiling Cauldron?” at the Woman's National Democratic Club. Tickets for the DC Labor and Employment Relations chapter luncheon are $30; go to dclera.org to order.
Last but not least, the 2017 DC LaborFest launches next Monday and you can get full details on the line-up of films, labor arts tours, musical performances and more at dclabor.org, click on LaborFest.
Monday night’s screening at AFI in Silver Spring is the brand-new film “In Dubious Battle,” based on the John Steinbeck novel and starring James Franco. And Tuesday don’t miss the free R&B and Jazz Night with Bev Holton and Lee Anderson at the Takoma Busboys and Poets.
Details, links and trailers on our website at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1924, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution No. 184, a constitutional amendment to prohibit the labor of persons under 18 years of age. The Senate approved the measure a few weeks later, but it was never ratified by the states and is still technically pending.  
In 1944, on the orders of President Roosevelt, the U.S. Army seized the Chicago headquarters of the unionized Montgomery Ward company after management defied the National Labor Relations Board.

Today’s labor quote is from “In Dubious Battle,” by John Steinbeck:
"They didn't hate a boss or a butcher. They hated the whole system of bosses, but that was a different thing. It wasn't the same kind of anger. And there was something else, Mac. The hopelessness wasn't in them. They were quiet, and they were working; but in the back of every mind there was conviction that sooner or later they would win their way out of the system they hated."

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