As The Baltimore Sun‘s newsroom heads toward negotiations with management over a new contract, staffers -- members of the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild -- went on social media Tuesday to highlight one of their top priorities: pay raises. Reporters posted pictures holding the green balloons with an upward-pointing arrow and the words “Rai$e Our Pay Now.” In a couple photos, the balloons appeared to be tied to nearly every desk in the paper’s Port Covington newsroom. “I’m making the same pay as I did four years ago, despite increased responsibility, a more visible beat and continually improving my skills as a journalist,” wrote reporter Pamela Wood on Twitter. “@baltimoresun journalists deserve a raise from @tribpub.” - adapted from a report in the Baltimore FishBowl “Bring on your tear gas, bring on your grenades, your new supplies of Mace, your state troopers and even your national guards. But let the record show we ain't going to be turned around.” Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast. On this week’s show: Fifty years ago, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and 100 others were arrested while picketing a hospital in Charleston, South Carolina in a demand for union recognition. Charleston was – and still is -- a notoriously difficult place to organize, and our guest Leon Fink says it “stirred the soul of the whole city.” Matthew Hild and Keri Leigh Merritt’s new book, “Reconsidering Southern Labor History,” explores the nexus of race, class and power in the history of labor in the South, and how a new generation of southern labor scholars are changing our understanding of labor's past, present and future in the region. Beth English talked with Keri Leigh and Matthew on a recent episode of the Working History podcast. The New York Times declares the struggle for an 8-hour workday to be “un-American” and calls public demonstrations for the shorter hours “labor disturbances brought about by foreigners.” Other publications declare that an eight-hour workday would bring about “loafing and gambling, rioting, debauchery and drunkenness” - 1886 IWW Marine Transport Workers begin West Coast strike - 1923 The Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and 100 others are arrested while picketing a Charleston, S.C., hospital in a demand for union recognition - 1969 Supreme Court rules that employers may not require female employees to make larger contributions to pension plans in order to obtain the same monthly benefits as men - 1978 Labor history courtesy Today In Labor History. graphic by Ricardo Levins Morales click here for latest listings Union City Radio: 7:15a; WPFW-FM 89.3 UPCOMING Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, April 25, 1pm – 3pm WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online Rally to Fund Our Future (WTU 6): Thu, April 25, 4pm – 6pm Freedom Plaza Pennsylvania Ave. NW—across from the Wilson Building IS YOUR SCHOOL FACING CUTS? Take Action Now! Let’s Tell Councilmembers They Must Fully Fund Our Neighborhood Public Schools. Sign the Petition for Full Funding. |