Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Local labor news updates: Members of UFCW Local 400 working at Shoppers Food and Pharmacy on November 25 overwhelmingly ratified a new, three-year contract...Longtime local labor activist Roger Newell’s life was celebrated last Saturday at a memorial service at Plymouth Congregational Church. A third-generation Washington native, Newell – who died of a heart attack on November 14 -- was involved with a wide variety of community activities and a leader in struggles for economic and social justice since the 1960’s. 

Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 2001, arrests began in Middleton, New Jersey of teachers striking in violation of a no-strike law. Ultimately 228 educators were jailed for up to seven days before they were released following the Middleton Township Education Association's agreement to take the dispute to mediation. 

Today’s labor quote is by Robert F. Kennedy: "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."