![]() John Boardman, the longtime leader of UNITE HERE Local 25, has stepped down from his role as Executive Secretary-Treasurer. Over more than four decades, Boardman built Local 25 into a powerful force for hospitality workers in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, as the local won groundbreaking contracts, major political victories, and brought thousands of workers into the union. “John is a person who is always trying to help everybody else,” said Lucy Biswas, a Local 25 leader and room attendant at the Washington Hilton for over forty years, “and the contracts he has won with us do exactly that.” Local 25 President Linda Martin called Boardman “an incredible friend, mentor, and leader to me and all of us these past years.” “Thanks to what John has built,” said Paul Schwalb, Local 25’s new Executive-Secretary Treasurer, “we stand ready to bring new members into the union, strengthen our already strong contracts, and continue raising the bar regionwide for hospitality workers.” Schwalb led UNITE HERE’s 100,000 member Food Service Division and most recently served as Local 25 Chief of Staff. “I am proud of our past and confident in our future,” said Boardman. Read more here. On July 1, 1929, some 1,100 streetcar workers struck in New Orleans, spurring the creation of the po’ boy sandwich by a local sandwich shop owner and one-time streetcar man. "Whenever we saw one of the striking men coming," Bennie Martin later recalled, "one of us would say, ‘Here comes another poor boy.’" Martin and his wife fed any striker who showed up.
![]() This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Working People’s Hidden Histories; Last week's show: Labor history at the AFL-CIO & Labor Notes. July 1 Homestead, Pennsylvania steel strike. Seven strikers and three Pinkertons killed as Andrew Carnegie hires armed thugs to protect strikebreakers - 1892 One million railway shopmen strike - 1922 Copper miners begin a years-long long, bitter strike against Phelps-Dodge in Clifton, Ariz. Democratic Gov. Bruce Babbitt repeatedly deployed state police and National Guardsmen to assist the company over the course of the strike, which broke the union - 1983 July 2 President Johnson signs Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, forbidding employers and unions from discriminating on the basis of race, color, gender, nationality, or religion - 1964 July 3 Children, employed in the silk mills in Paterson, N.J., went on strike for 11-hour day and 6-day week. A compromise settlement resulted in a 69-hour work work week - 1835 July 4 AFL dedicates its new Washington, D.C. headquarters building at 9th St. and Massachusetts Ave. NW. The building later became headquarters for Plumbers and Pipefitters and the exterior of the building is now part of the Marriott Washington. - 1916 - David Prosten For several months, Washington Teachers Union Local 6 has been in negotiations with the District for a new contract. Yesterday, teachers rallied on Freedom Plaza to express their frustration with ending the school year without securing a contract. “Our contract team is made up of classroom teachers who sit at the table day and night negotiating on behalf of our members in addition to their responsibilities as classroom teachers,” said WTU Local 6 president Jacqueline Pogue-Lyons (top right, with mic) at the noontime rally. WTU made it clear they are not just fighting for their members but all DCPS employees and students. “We want safe and healthy working conditions which ultimately are learning conditions for students and all workers,” Pogue-Lyons said. “But one thing we better know that the future holds for us is unity, not just as this teacher's union, but unity with everyone that works in the school building.” “Whenever you all are in a fight, we are in a fight,” promised Metropolitan Washington Labor Council president Dyana Forester (bottom left, with mic). “And at the end of the day, I believe you will get the contract you deserve."
photos by Chris Garlock/Union City |
2022
|