This Friday, labor leaders are among those joining the Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III for the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks, held in commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice. Confirmed labor participants include AFT president Randy Weingarten, Painters president Kenneth Rigmaiden, and AFSCME president Lee Saunders. At the historic 1963 march, labor leaders A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin joined with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., founder/President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), John Lewis, President of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Roy Wilkins, President of the NAACP, and James Farmer, President of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to draw the nation’s attention to racial inequality in America. With those issues of injustice still very much alive, the labor leaders and members will gather at 7:15 am Friday at the United Unions building (1750 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC 20006), before marching to the Lincoln Memorial for a program and then marching to the Martin Luther King Memorial. -- David Stephen This week’s Labor History Today podcast: A travel guide to labor landmarks Saul Schniderman takes us on a road trip to discover the markers, memorials and monuments commemorating the history and heritage of America's workers. Saul directs the Inventory of American Labor Landmarks, a project of the Labor Heritage Foundation. Plus this week’s Labor History in 2: Breaking the Glass Ceiling. Last week’s show: “The Flintstones” and class struggle; The Ford Hunger March August 24 The Mechanics Gazette, believed to be the first U.S. labor newspaper, is published in Philadelphia, the outgrowth of a strike by Carpenters demanding a shorter, 10-hour day. The strike lost but labor journalism blossomed: within five years there were 68 labor newspapers across the country, many of them dailies - 1827 The Gatling Gun Co. – manufacturers of an early machine gun – writes to B&O Railroad Co. President John W. Garrett during a strike, urging their product be purchased to deal with the "recent riotous disturbances around the country." Says the company: "Four or five men only are required to operate (a gun), and one Gatling ... can clear a street or block and keep it clear" - 1877 National Association of Letter Carriers formed - 1889 United Farm Workers Union begins lettuce strike - 1970 August 25 Birth of Allan Pinkerton, whose strike-breaking detectives ("Pinks") gave us the word "fink" - 1819 Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters founded at a meeting in New York City. A. Philip Randolph became the union's first organizer - 1925 - David Prosten Union City Radio: 7:15am daily WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report Coalition to Repeal "Right to Work": Fri, August 21, 7pm – 9pm Zoom and Social Media Training: Sat, August 22, 10am – 12pm Hosted by the Chesapeake Bay CLUW "Save the Post Office Saturday" Day of Action: Arlington, VA; Baltimore, MD; Crofton, MD; Reston, VA; Silver Spring, MD; Timonium, MD; Towson, MD; Vienna, MD; Washington, DC Sat, August 22, 11am – 1pm Details on each location/RSVP here Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are teleworking; reach them at the contact numbers and email addresses here. Missed yesterday’s Your Rights At Work radio show? Catch the podcast here; Danny Alpert, co-director of the upcoming film The Last Strike; the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s Tales of the Resistance Episode 4; It Came From R&D. |