This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Forced labour during the ”Dirty Thirties”; Last week's show: Blood, guts, and organizing. May 25 Pressured by employers, striking shoemakers in Philadelphia are arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy for violating an English common law that bars schemes aimed at forcing wage increases. The strike was broken - 1805 Thousands of unemployed WWI veterans arrive in Washington, D.C. to demand early payment of a bonus they had been told would get, but not until 1945. They built a shantytown near the U.S. Capitol but were burned out by U.S. troops after two months - 1932 photo: police clash with Bonus Army marchers. The notorious 11-month Remington Rand strike begins. The strike spawned the "Mohawk Valley (NY) formula," described by investigators as a corporate plan to discredit union leaders, frighten the public with the threat of violence, employ thugs to beat up strikers, and other tactics. The National Labor Relations Board termed the formula "a battle plan for industrial war." - 1936 May 26 Men and women weavers in Pawtucket, R.I. stage nation's first "co-ed" strike - 1824 Battle of the Overpass, Ford thugs beat United Auto Workers organizers – 1937 One hundred thousand steel workers and miners in mines owned by steel companies strike in seven states. The Memorial Day Massacre, in which ten strikers were killed by police at Republic Steel in Chicago, took place four days later, on May 30 – 1937 After nine long months, healthcare workers at Howard University Hospital finally have a new contract. The DC Nurses Association on Friday announced they’d reached an agreement with HU/HUH “that advances patient care and demonstrates the commitment to all nurses, dietitians, pharmacists and social workers to alleviate the staffing crisis.” DCNA membership ratified the agreement on Friday. The deal came after what DCNA Executive Director Ed Smith called “a lengthy and contentious 9-month battle” that including petitions, an informational picket in January and a strike in April. “It was only through the efforts and collective action of our members, with support from the community,” including local unions, the Metro Washington Labor Council, community organizations, clergy and HU students “that we were able to achieve agreement on a fair and equitable contract that recognizes our hard working healthcare professionals and their commitment to caring for patients who come to HUH for care,” said Smith. “I am profoundly proud of our members who have stood strong in solidarity throughout these long months and who, day in and day out, provide care to our patients.” photo: at April DCNA strike at HUH; photo by Chris Garlock/Union City click here for latest listings
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report Film: 9TO5: THE STORY OF A MOVEMENT (DC LaborFest): Mon, May 23, 7pm – 9pm AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Introduced by 9to5 co-founder Karen Nussbaum. "Bargaining for Decent Work and Beyond: Transforming Work and Lives through Collective Bargaining Agreements in the Honduran Maquila Sector": Tue, May 24, 11:00am – 12:30pm Film: HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941) DC LaborFest: Tue, May 24, 7pm – 9pm AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Introduced by Harold Meyerson, Editor At Large, The American Prospect. This week’s Your Rights to Work radio show: Does Buffalo end the “Lone Wolf” theory? Bill Fletcher, Mike Wilson and Mark Gaston Pearce on the racist attack on Black shoppers and workers in Buffalo: does the mainstreaming of the baseless “replacement theory” by the GOP finally debunk the equally specious “Lone Wolf” theory? Plus: Peter Dreier on Major League Rebels & Baseball Rebels. CLICK HERE to listen. NoVALabor @va_labor Love the signs at William & Mary graduation with union-buster Mellody Hobson @SBWorkersUnited
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