News: Union members are happier with their lives than nonunion workers, according to a new study. The study, by two university researchers, concludes that “union members are more satisfied with their lives than those who are not members and that the substantive effect of union membership on life satisfaction is large and rivals other common predictors of quality of life.”
The study was conducted by Patrick Flavin, an assistant professor at Baylor University, and Gregory Shufeldt, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. They say that in the United States, “union membership boosts life satisfaction across demographic groups regardless if someone is rich or poor, male or female, young or old, or has a high or low level of education. These results suggest that organized labor in the United States can have significant implications for the quality of life that citizens experience.” Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1913, some 10,000 clothing workers struck in Rochester, New York, for the 8-hour day, a 10-percent wage increase, union recognition, and extra pay for overtime and holidays. Daily parades were held throughout the clothing district and there was at least one instance of mounted police charging the crowd of strikers and arresting 25 picketers. Six people were wounded over the course of the strike and one worker, 18-year-old Ida Breiman, was shot to death by a sweatshop contractor. The strike was called off in April after manufacturers agreed not to discriminate against workers for joining a union. In 1936 in Allegany County, Maryland, workers with the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal era public works program employing unmarried men aged 18-25, were snowbound at Fifteen Mile Creek Camp when they received a distress call about a woman in labor who needed to get to a hospital. 20 courageous CCC volunteers dug through miles of snow drifts until the woman was successfully able to be transported Today’s labor quote is by Howard Zinn: “I've always resented the smug statements of politicians, media commentators, corporate executives, who talked of how, in America, if you worked hard, you would become rich. The meaning of that was, if you were poor, it was because you hadn't worked hard enough. I knew this was a lie—about my father, and millions of others: men and women who worked harder than anyone.” Howard Zinn was a historian, playwright, and social activist. He was a shipyard worker and Air Force bombardier before he went to college under the GI Bill and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University.
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News: Teamsters Local 639 president Thomas Ratliff will be awarded the JC Turner Award for Outstanding Trades Unionist of the Year at the Metro Washington Council’s 38th annual Evening with Labor Awards Dinner/Dance on Saturday, March 14. The event will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel beginning at 6:30p with a cash bar reception, followed by dinner and awards at 7:30p sharp. Click here to see the complete list of awardees and to reserve ad space in the Evening with Labor program book or reserve tickets.
Today’s labor calendar includes a memorial service at 4:30pm for Gregory See, a longtime officer of the postal workers; an author talk at 5pm with Thomas Geoghegan on "Only One Thing Can Save Us"; and the Metro Washington Council’s delegate meeting at 6:30. Click on calendar for complete details. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1695, In what could be considered the first workers’ compensation agreement in America, pirate Henry Morgan pledged his underlings 600 pieces of eight or six slaves to compensate for a lost arm or leg. Also part of the pirate’s code, according to the late Roger Newell: shares of the booty were equal regardless of race or sex, and shipboard decisions were made collectively… In 1850, Samuel Gompers, the first president of the American Federation of Labor, was born in London, England. He emigrated to the U.S. as a youth… And on this date in 1937, workers won a two-day sit-down strike at the Brooklyn electric plant that powered the city's entire subway system. Today’s labor quote is by Samuel Gompers: “Labor needs to be strong in numbers, in effective organization, in the justice of its cause, and in the reasonableness of its methods. It relies on moral suasion.” News: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that "President Obama eloquently and forcefully advocated for working families throughout his State of the Union Address," on Tuesday night. The president’s focus on raising wages through collective bargaining, better paying jobs, a fairer tax code, fair overtime rules, and expanded access to education and earned leave sent the right message at the right time, Trumka added. So did his embrace of union apprentices and immigrants who want to achieve the American Dream. Now it’s time for politicians to champion a Raising Wages agenda that ties all the pieces of economic and social justice together, said Trumka.
Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1826, Indian field hands at San Juan Capistrano mission refused to work, engaging in what was probably the first farm worker strike in California In 1849, Terence V. Powderly, leader of the Knights of Labor, was born. On this date in 1890, the United Mine Workers of America was founded in Columbus, Ohio, with the merger of the Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union. And in 1932, five hundred New York City tenants battled police to prevent evictions Today’s labor quote is by Terence V. Powderly: “The necessity for organization among producers becomes clearly discernible when one takes note of the tendencies toward centralization of power in the hands of those who control the wealth of the country.” This quote is from Powderly’s autobiography, published 125 years ago in 1889. News: Striking Teamsters at TW Perry got a welcome boost from community and labor solidarity yesterday when DC Jobs with Justice headed out to Springfield, Virginia to show their support. Also turning out were UFCW Local 400 and the Iron Workers. The Teamsters have been on strike against the local contractor supply dealer since January 6.
In other strike news, FairPoint strikers across Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire continue to hold the line despite bitter cold as the strike stretches into its’ fourth month. Mediation continued in Washington, D.C., last week, and the Fairpoint workers and their supporters stood strong on picket lines in solidarity with their bargaining teams at CWA and IBEW working for a fair contract. For details on how to support the strike’s Solidarity Fund, go to dclabor.org. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1946, some 750,000 steel workers walked out in 30 states, the largest strike in U.S. history to that time… In 1974, postal workers began four-day strike at the Jersey City, New Jersey bulk and foreign mail center, protesting an involuntary shift change. The wildcat strike was led by a group of young workers who identified themselves as “The Outlaws”… And on this date in 2000, six hundred police attacked picketing longshoremen in Charleston, South Carolina. Today’s labor quote is by Bill Burrus: “Those unions that enjoy the right to strike have no guarantee that sacrificing their jobs and their livelihood will result in victory but they nevertheless engage in lengthy strikes, not because they are assured of winning but because they are determined to fight.” Bill Burrus in 2001 became the first black president of the American Postal Workers’ Union in the organization’s 220-year history and the first black American ever elected president of a national union. He stepped down in 2010. |
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