Unions and community allies reacted with disappointment and anger after the DC City Council on Tuesday rejected an amendment to reinstate the Heroes Pay Act. “It is completely outrageous that the Council refused to compensate essential workers after all that they have done for us,” said Metro Washington Labor Council AFL-CIO president Dyana Forester. “The Council showed a profound disregard for the sacrifices these heroes have made. Essential workers have risked their lives to keep the rest of us safe.” DC Jobs with Justice joined the unions in expressing their appreciation to Councilmembers Elissa Silverman, Brianne Nadeau and Janeese Lewis George for their support of the Heroes Pay Act, which would have provided Hero Pay to tens of thousands of essential workers. Candidate endorsement interviews in Northern Virginia will take place by Zoom on Thursday July 22nd, Friday July 23rd and Monday July 26th. “Union members of affiliated unions are all welcome to participate,” says NoVA Labor president Virginia Diamond. If you would like to participate in the interviews, contact [email protected] for the link.
“When workers can organize and unions are strong, working families can thrive. It's time to pass the PRO Act.”
Kirsten Gillibrand is the junior United States Senator from New York State. This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Houston, We Have a Labor Dispute. Last week’s show: Dramatizing The Murals. The Memphis Fire Fighter Strike of 1978. Compressed air explosion kills 20 workers constructing railroad tunnel under the Hudson River - 1880 Radio station WCFL, owned and operated by the Chicago Federation of Labor, takes to the airwaves with two hours of music. The first and only labor-owned radio station in the country, WCFL was sold in 1979 - 1926 IWW leads a strike at Hodgeman's Blueberry Farm in Grand Junction, Mich. - 1964 A die-cast operator in Jackson, Mich. is pinned by a hydraulic Unimate robot, dies five days later. Incident is the first documented case in the U.S. of a robot killing a human - 1984 - David Prosten |