This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Julia Reichert: ‘We Don’t Just Interview People Once’; Montgomery Ward busted; May Day and Mother Jones Oscar-winning director Julia Reichert, interviewed by 9 to 5 founder Karen Nussbaum; the AFL-CIO’s Damon Silvers on how the Montgomery Ward CEO was busted for unionbusting; Saul Schniderman celebrates May Day and Mother Jones’ birthday. Last week’s show: Sacco & Vanzetti at 100; What happened to MLK’s dream? Coal mine collapses at Eccles, W.Va., killing 181 workers - 1914 119 die in Benwood, W.Va. coal mine disaster - 1924 Congress creates OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The AFL-CIO sets April 28 as “Workers Memorial Day” to honor the hundreds of thousands of workers killed and injured on the job every year - 1970. First “Take Our Daughters to Work Day,” promoted by the Ms. Foundation, to boost self-esteem of girls with invitations to a parent’s workplace - 1993 - David Prosten Union City Radio: 7:15am daily WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report NoVA Labor Airport Union Caucus: Mon, April 27, 2pm – 3pm Via Zoom DC Labor FilmFest: Space Jam: Tue, April 28, 7pm – 9pm via Zoom; FREE; register here Introduced by journalist Steven Perlberg; post-screening Q&A with Tom Zaniello, author of Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff: An Expanded Guide to Films about Labor. A bill to freeze rent increases in Montgomery County during the COVID-19 emergency passed the County Council unanimously on Thursday. Bill 18-20 was supported by the Renter's Alliance and the local labor movement. "Protecting renters and keeping rental housing affordable and stable is always critical for working families, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Gino Renne, president of UFCW Local 1994, which represents more than 8,000 county employees. "The passage of Montgomery County's Bill 18-20 requiring landlords to keep rent increases to the county guidelines will help ensure that our workers who live in rental housing won't be prompted to move when staying at home and social distancing remain critical to public health." The bill would still allow landlords to charge late fees. Councilmember Tom Hucker also offered an amendment that codifies the County's voluntary Rent Increase Guidelines to cap rent increases at 2.6% and would extend the provisions of this measure for 180 days after the emergency has been lifted.
- David Stephen Staff members of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) have unionized with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU). NWLC management voluntarily recognized the union, NWLC United. “We highlight how unions give women and other marginalized workers the power to create more equitable workplaces in our everyday work for NWLC,” said the NWLC United Organizing Committee. “Our vision of a just workplace extends to every worker in this country, including those who work at NWLC,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of NWLC. NWLC United will now work with management to collectively bargain a union contract. |