In a significant assault on worker rights in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky last week signed into law legislation that deprives around 73 percent of workers of their right to union protection and collective bargaining. With martial law prohibiting workers from public protest and strikes, Ukrainian unions say they will challenge the law in Ukraine’s Constitutional Court, the International Labor Organization and other international and European bodies. Find out more at Solidarity Center. This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Mother Jones and Fannie Sellins. Last week’s show: Scabby The Rat; Smoking at Work; Which Side Are You On? (Encore). Delegates from several East Coast cities meet in convention to form the National Trades' Union, uniting craft unions to oppose "the most unequal and unjustifiable distribution of the wealth of society in the hands of a few individuals." The union faded after a few years - 1834 President Franklin Roosevelt's Wealth Tax Act increases taxes on rich citizens and big business, lowers taxes for small businesses - 1935 OSHA publishes scaffold safety standard, designed to protect 2.3 million construction workers and prevent 50 deaths and 4,500 injuries annually - 1996 click here for complete and latest listings
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report Rally for a Fair Contract for Shoppers workers (UFCW Local 400); Wed, August 17, 4:45pm – 5:45pm Shoppers College Park, 4720 Cherry Hill Rd, College Park, MD 20740 Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, August 18, 1pm – 2pm WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online. Union City is taking a summer break; look for our next edition on August 30. On The Air: Click here to catch this week’s Your Rights At Work radio show (WPFW 89.3FM, Thursdays 1-2p): Mike Wilson (UFCW 400) with an update on contract negotiations at Shoppers; Kentucky AFL-CIO president Bill Londrigan with the latest on labor’s efforts to provide disaster relief to those impacted by the recent Kentucky floods, plus a chant remix from Tuesday’s rally by striking MetroAccess workers. After a nine-day strike, ATU Local 689 MetroAccess workers have reached a tentative contract agreement with private contractor Transdev. The more than 200 paratransit drivers, utility workers, dispatchers, maintenance workers, and road supervisors, who walked off the job on August 1 after months of intense negotiations, are expected to vote to ratify the contract in the coming days. The new three-year contract with Transdev includes substantial wage increases and improved benefits, including better sick leave, a more secure retirement plan, additional holidays, and other improvements. The workers successfully fought off the company's proposal to offer members less than what their counterparts in Baltimore make and their refusal to enter into a three-year agreement. “We must still address the issue of privatization of our most vital services like paratransit,” said Local 689 president Raymond Jackson. “WMATA needs to reconsider its relationship with private contractors. It’s not working, and transit workers and riders are being left behind.” Last year, Local 689 MV Call Center workers went on a one-day strike and were successful in winning a fair contract that helped improve their wages, benefits, and rights on the job. Three weeks ago, Local 689 members at the MetroAccess Hubbard Road facility also voted to strike, if necessary, to win a fair contract. The Local says that privatization is a misguided approach to public transit, especially for vital services like MetroAccess. |