Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast, featuring The Memorial Day Massacre, striking Walt Disney animators, and the Labor History Object of the Week (UFW banner).
Animators working for Walt Disney begin what was to become a successful 5-week strike for recognition of their union, the Screen Cartoonists' Guild. The animated feature Dumbowas being created at the time and, according to Wikipedia, a number of strikers are caricatured in the feature as clowns who go to "hit the big boss for a raise" – 1941 A contract between the United Mine Workers and the U.S. government establishes one of the nation's first union medical and pension plans, the multi-employer UMWA Welfare and Retirement Fund – 1946 The United Farm Workers of America reaches agreement with Bruce Church Inc. on a contract for 450 lettuce harvesters, ending a 17-year-long boycott. The pact raised wages, provided company-paid health benefits to workers and their families, created a seniority system to deal with seasonal layoffs and recalls, and established a pesticide monitoring system – 1996 UAW members at General Motors accept major contract concessions in return for 17.5 percent stake in the financially struggling company – 2009 Compiled/edited by Union Communication Services In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton urged Pompeo to reconsider the May 1st layoff of 17 contracted cleaners following budget cuts from the Department’s Procurement Office. In addition, hundreds of State Department employees signed a petition delivered to Contracting Officer Pete Jones that reads “Don’t reduce services when it could cost my health. Keep R & R fully funded and stop the layoffs of our cleaners.” Norton said she’s “deeply disturbed” by the layoffs, adding that “Putting these cleaners out of work will not solve budgetary challenges, but it will hurt their children and our communities.” Summer's coming, which means the annual Labor Night at the nats isn't far off either. "Don't miss out!" urges Sonté DuCote, Executive Director of the Community Services Agency of the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO. Tickets are $15 each and can be ordered by sending a check or money order to "Community Services Agency" c/o Sonte DuCote, 815 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20006 CEO pay for major companies in the United States rose nearly 6% in the past year, as income inequality and the outsourcing of good-paying American jobs have increased. According to the new AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch, the average CEO of an S&P 500 Index company made $13.94 million in 2017—361 times more than the average U.S. rank-and-file worker. The AFL-CIO says the average wage -- about $38,613 last year -- has remained stagnant for more than 50 years. "This year’s report provides further proof that the greed of corporate CEOs is driving America’s income inequality crisis," said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, adding that the federation plans to use high exec pay as a campaign issue this year. “When executive pay is out of control and wages for workers aren’t going up, that makes for an angry and energized populace."
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