An international delegation of union leaders – including Metro Washington Council president Jos Williams -- traveling in Swaziland last week called on the government to guarantee the rights of workers to freely form unions and exercise freedom of speech and assembly.
“The government must meet the demands” of the International Trade Union Confederation, Williams said. Delegation members also sought to visit political prisoners, some of whom have been held for two years, but they “got the run-around” in efforts “to see our comrades in jail and look at the conditions,” Williams said. Given the level of harassment and repression, Williams said he “came here seeking to encourage” union leaders, but instead found that “they are standing tall in the face of adversity.” Read more on our website at dclabor.org On today's labor calendar, there’s a free Teamsters History Tour today at noon where you’ll find out how the horses on the Teamster logo got their names and lots of other fascinating Teamster labor history. Then at 7:15pm at AFI, catch a DC LaborFest screening of Northern Lights, which dramatizes the organizing efforts of the Nonpartisan League, an early 20th-century progressive movement originating among North Dakota farmers. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details and to sign up. In today's labor history, the Railway Labor Act took effect today in 1926. It was the first federal legislation protecting workers’ rights to form unions. And in 1933, some 9,000 rubber workers struck in Akron, Ohio. Today's labor quote is by IWW organizer Joseph Ettor: “The power of the capitalists is based on property, they have the laws, the army, everything! In spite of all that, the workers have something still more powerful. The workers’ power…is the common bond of solidarity.” Known as “Smiling Joe,” Ettor was an Italian-American trade union organizer who, in the middle-1910s, was one of the leading public faces of the Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW. Help WPFW collect a $1,000 challenge grant, pledge today and mention Union City Radio and your contribution will go twice as far: call 202-588-9739. This is Chris Garlock, with Union City Radio’s Your Rights at Work tip of the day (click below) D.C. workers have the right to 24 hours of unpaid parental leave every year to attend school events for a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew. To take advantage of this right, you have to give your employer at least 10 days notice before the event. Find out more about your rights at work from the Employment Justice Center, at DCEJC.ORG or call 202-828-9675.
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