“You Can't Eat Coal: Women's Social Justice Activism in Appalachia”; on this week's Labor History Today podcast, Working History podcast host Beth English interviews Jessica Wilkerson, Assistant Professor of History and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi, on her book, "To Live Here You Have to Fight," and the recent history of feminist social justice activism in Appalachia. The United Auto Workers and the Teamsters form the Alliance for Labor Action (ALA), later to be joined by several smaller unions. The ALA's agenda included support of the civil rights movement and opposition to the war in Viet Nam. It disbanded after four years following the death of UAW President Walter Reuther - 1968 photo: Walter Reuther takes part in a civil rights march in Washington, circa 1963. U.S. minimum wage rises to $7.25 per hour, up from $6.55. This is the last time the minimum wage was raised (The House passed a bill raising the minimum wage to $15 on July 18, 2019). - 2009 With political support from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and several Virginia state lawmakers, airline food workers took their nationwide struggle against their bosses public with a massive protest Tuesday afternoon that drew almost 1,000 people and virtually filled the old main hall at Washington National Airport.
The workers, organized by UNITE HERE, demand union recognition, better wages and benefits and an end to employer interference in their organizing drives at airports nationwide. SkyChef employs 11,000 food prep workers for American Airlines and Delta, while 4,000 more who toil for CafeGourmet, organized with the Teamsters, handle prepared food for a third airline. “One job should be enough,” was their frequent chant – the same one UNITE HERE hotel workers have used against the Marriott chain. SkyChef and CafeGourmet together control the workers’ lives, and 80% of U.S. airlines’ food preparation. They also impose rock-bottom pay, no health insurance and no pensions. But the money and the real control rests with the air carriers. “American Airlines could correct this. That’s the bottom line,” said the Rev. Graylan Hagler, the prominent and outspoken pro-worker D.C. pastor. “They’re the ones who are paying the piper.” The food prep workers “want the same benefits” other unionized airline workers get, plus a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to organize without employer intimidation, interference and lawbreaking, Dallas Skychef 4-year kitchen worker Balin Yakasa said in an interview. He makes $11.65 hourly, but knows 30-year workers there who make only $14.60. “I spend my life in the kitchen, 12, 13, sometimes 15 hours a day. I’d like to spend more of it with my family. That’s not right. We need $15 and also retirement income we can survive on,” Yakasa said. “We feed the world, but our kids go hungry,” the Teamsters’ banner said. Both the UNITE HERE and Teamsters groups have overwhelmingly approved strike authorization votes, but the National Mediation Board – which rules airline and passenger worker-boss relations – has yet to release them to strike, or to release the food firms to lock them out. National and local politicians sprang to the workers’ support, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind-Vt., the longtime worker advocate and again a Democratic presidential hopeful, as well as Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Virginia State Sen. Jennifer Boyskill and state Delegates Paul Krizek and Cathy Tran. The three Virginia Democrats also joined the picket line. “The American people are sick and tired of corporate greed,” Sanders declared. “It’s not acceptable that two-thirds of these workers are making less than $15 an hour and only one-third get company-paid health care. You can’t pay your rent, your health care or buy your food on that. We’re saying, ‘Enough is enough!’” "When Marriott strikers were on the line and they started using 'One job should be enough,' I thought this captures it, this captures it for the entire economy,” AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler told the group after Sanders spoke. “Because what we are seeing is corporate greed run amuck.” - Mark Gruenberg, PAI News; photos by Gruenberg and UNITE HERE click here for latest listings Union City Radio: 7:15a M-F; WPFW-FM 89.3 Baltimore Symphony Musicians picket line: Tue, July 23, 8a-9:30a; Thu, July 24, 8a-9:30a Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, 1212 Cathedral St, Baltimore, MD 21201 NoVA Labor candidate interviews: Tue, July 23, 10am – 12pm NoVA Labor 4536 John Marr Dr Annandale, VA 22003-3308 ‘Ghost Work’: A conversation with author Mary Gray: Tue, July 23, 12pm – 2pm AFL-CIO, 815 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20005 FREE: RSVP here Bus from NoVA Labor to DCA Airport Rally: Tue, July 23, 3pm – 4pm 4536 B John Marr Drive, Annandale, VA UNITE HERE National Airline Food Workers Informational Picket Line: Tue, July 23, 4:30pm – 6:00pm Reagan National Airport; Terminal B South Terrace Tri-County COPE: Tue, July 23, 7pm – 9pm AMERICAN LEGION, 6330 CRAIN HWY, LA PLATA, MD American Airlines, Delta, and United made over $50 billion in combined profits in just the past 5 years alone, but the workers who prepare and load food and beverages onto their planes are often left living in poverty and unable to afford healthcare. In June, thousands of airline catering workers voted to authorize strikes when released by the government. Supporters will rally in solidarity with these airline catering workers tomorrow at National Airport (DCA) beginning at 4:30 PM at Terminal B South Terrace. Nationally, the majority of the food workers serving these airlines still earn less than $15 per hour - including some with 30, 40, even 50 years of service. Meanwhile, family health insurance premiums are over $500 per month for these employees, leaving many with an impossible choice between their health and their bills. |