Union City Radio for Wednesday, May 31

By forcing workers to make hard decisions on matters of life or death, financial ruin or stability, Maryland Governor Hogan’s veto of Paid Sick Leave legislation is "channeling the spirit of President Trump right here in Maryland,” said SEIU 32BJ's Jaime Contreras last week.
“People will go broke, get sicker and maybe even die on Governor Hogan’s watch,” added Paul Brown, a security officer in downtown Baltimore and a member of SEIU 32BJ. “I am lucky to be alive after having a heart attack that could’ve been prevented if I had paid sick leave," said Brown. "Both my brother and sisters died of cancer and I couldn’t afford time off to care for them."
Brown called on the Maryland Legislature to override the Governor’s veto as soon as they come back in January.

On today's labor calendar, this year's DC LaborFest wraps up tonight with a screening of Hidden Figures at 7 pm at the AFI Silver. The film -- nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture -- tells the story of the brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who battled racism and sexism. Hidden Figures provides a window into the growth of the federal workforce during and after World War II after President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which banned "discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin."
Complete details, as always, at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

​Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1889, more than 2,200 people died in the Johnstown Flood when a dam holding back a lake at a private resort burst upstream of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  The resort was owned by wealthy industrialists including Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick.  Neither they nor any other members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were found guilty of fault, despite the fact the group had created the lake out of an abandoned reservoir.
In 1997, Rose Will Monroe, popularly known as Rosie the Riveter, died in Clarksville, Indiana.  During World War Two she helped bring women into the labor force.

Today’s labor quote is by Lyn Childs, a wartime shipyard worker featured in the documentary film "Rosie the Riveter." Lyn Childs, who said
"We'd never had any opportunity to do that kind of work. Do you think that if you did domestic work all of your life where you cleaned somebody's toilets and did all the cooking for some lazy characters who were sitting on top, and you finally got a chance where you can get a dignified job, you wouldn't fly through the door?"

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