UNITE HERE Local 23’s members are headed back to work after the government shutdown, but aren’t getting back pay. “We’re hosting another emergency set of assistance clinics for members facing utility shutoffs or other urgent financial situations and need volunteers!” reports Allison Burket. “No experience necessary, we’ll train volunteers on what resources we’re providing.” The clinics will be this Thursday, January 31, 3–6:30p and Saturday, February 2, 10a–4p, both at Local 23’s offices in Crystal City (1225 S Clark St. Arlington, VA 22202). RSVP to [email protected] with your availability, and if you’re fluent in Spanish (not necessary but helpful). Also, you can click hereto send a message to Congress demanding back pay for contractors. photo: Smithsonian cafeteria worker Pablo Lazaro explaining how financial strain of the shutdown could cost him his home Deadline for ads in the 2019 Evening with Labor program guide is this Friday, February 1. Show your appreciation and solidarity with this year’s winners -- including Golden Picket Sign winners National Nurses United (photo) by placing an ad purchasing tickets for the dinner, which is set for Saturday, March 2 at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt, MD. Click here for the ad/ticket order form. Download, complete and fax -- 202 974-8152 – mail, or email to [email protected]. “Workin' 9 to 5 What a way to make a livin' Barely gettin' by It's all takin' and no givin' They just use your mind And they never give you credit It's enough to drive you Crazy if you let it” Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast. On this week’s show: the conclusion of our interview with labor historian Erik Loomis, and for our “Cool things from the George Meany Labor Archives” feature, Ben Blake has dug into the Sam Gompers boxes and come up with some intriguing items. Plus we remember the 1917 Bath Riots on the U.S.-Mexico border. Responding to unrest among Irish laborers building the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, President Andrew Jackson orders first use of American troops to suppress a labor dispute - 1834 Six thousand railway workers strike for a union and the end of 18-hour day - 1889 Sit-down strike helps establish United Rubber Workers as a national union, Akron, Ohio - 1936 Dolly Parton hits number one on the record charts with "9 to 5," her anthem to the daily grind - 1981 The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is signed into law by President Obama. Ledbetter worked for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. at a wage rate much less than men doing the same job; the statute of limitations for filing a claim of discrimination expired by the time she learned of the unequal treatment. The Fair Pay Act stipulates that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck affected by that discriminatory action—2009 photo: Lily Ledbetter; courtesy Tory Burch Foundation |