Nearly two dozen workers who were owed tens of thousands of dollars finally got their wages after they quit, organized and fought back. Last fall, the workers were hired by Genesis, a local sub-contractor, to help build three large high rises in Northeast DC. While work proceeded on the mixed-use development, wages became a problem, as workers received partial payments or had paychecks bounce and eventually Genesis stopped paying wages entirely.
The workers turned to Trabajadores Unidos de Washington DC, and the local advocacy group used DC’s Wage Theft Prevention Act to collect more than $46,000 dollars in back pay. Trabajadores Unidos Executive Director Arturo Griffiths says that “This case is an important lesson for all DC workers, showing how important it is for contractors and workers to understand the new law.” On today’s labor calendar, catch “Your Rights at Work” at 1pm here on WPFW as our guests include Cecelie Counts on Why the Federal Courts Matter to Workers and Steve Early on Remaking An American City. Plus listener calls on rights on the job. 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. Today’s the birthday of Samuel Gompers, first president of the American Federation of Labor. Gompers was born in London, England and emigrated to the U.S. as a youth. Today’s labor quote is by Sam Gompers, who said: “Show me the country in which there are no strikes and I’ll show you that country in which there is no liberty.”
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The coalition supporting the $15-dollar-an-hour minimum wage in Montgomery County blasted County Executive Ike Leggett after he vetoed the bill on Monday.
"Leggett has chosen to yank back a critical lifeline and leave working families only a payday away from poverty," said the coalition in a statement. "Ironically, Leggett's veto only hurts local business as working men and women will have less to spend,” the statement continued. “Taxpayers will also feel the burden as they foot the bill for families who are forced to rely on public assistance to survive.” The Coalition – which includes local unions and community groups, as well as faith leaders -- urged County Council members to override the veto. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1851, African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth addressed the first Black Women’s Rights convention. In 1904, two hundred miners were killed in a horrific explosion at the Harwick mine in Cheswick, Pennsylvania. Many of the dead lie entombed in the sealed mine to this day. In 1915, the Supreme Court upheld “Yellow Dog” employment contracts, which banned membership in labor unions. Yellow Dog contracts remained legal until 1932. And in 1926, some 16,000 textile workers struck in Passaic, New Jersey. Today’s labor quote is by Sojourner Truth “If women want any rights more than they've got, why don't they just take them, and not be talking about it.” Sojourner Truth, who also said “Truth is powerful and it prevails.” Born into slavery in New York State, Sojourner Truth escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. “Show us what America looks like! This is what America looks like!” With that chant – a variation on one that unionists first coined – more than 500,000 people, including unionists from across the country, descended on Washington last Saturday for a massive march for women’s rights. But that wasn’t the only cause for the D.C. marchers, who were joined by sister marches in cities across the country, from New York to Los Angeles and everywhere in-between. Latest estimates put the number at well over 1 million around the world.
Campaigners for worker rights, gay-lesbian-bisexual rights, immigrants’ rights, freedom from police brutality against African-Americans, veterans who protested wars and Muslim-Americans protesting discrimination turned out in a joyful celebration of solidarity before returning home to resume the struggle for justice. Check out our detailed report – and lots of photos – on our website at dclabor.org On today's labor calendar, Metro’s unions will host their third public town hall meeting tonight at 7pm in Arlington, this one for WMATA riders in Northern Virginia. Complete details are on our website; go to dclabor.org and click on calendar Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1935, Krueger’s Cream Ale, the first canned beer, went on sale in Richmond, Virginia. Pabst was the second brewer in the same year to sell beer in cans, which came with opening instructions and the suggestion: "cool before serving." Today’s labor quote is by Liz Shuler, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO Liz Shuler, who said last Saturday: “We’re going to march together and stand together in solidarity to make sure our voices are heard.” Tefere Gebre, the AFL-CIO's Executive Vice President, came to America when he was just 15 years old, escaping an authoritarian regime in Ethiopia as a political refugee. He walked for 93 days through the Sudanese desert to find freedom. Last week, on Martin Luther King Jr. remembrance day, Tefere shared this quote by Dr, King:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Noting that "we’re coming off of an election that reminded us we still have considerable work ahead in the struggle for freedom and civil rights," Tefere said that "This is exactly the time that will require all of us to stand up in solidarity." Check out our coverage of last weekend's rallies and marches on our website at dclabor.org On today's labor calendar, the Metro Washington Council meets tonight at the AFL-CIO; all are welcome to attend the meeting, which begins at 6:30 pm. And at 7pm tonight, there's a rally for Earned Sick Days on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1913, 10,000 clothing workers struck in my hometown of Rochester, New York for the 8 hour day, a 10% 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. Today’s labor quote is by Tefere Gebre “It doesn’t matter if you came in bondage as a slave into this country or you came generations ago as Eastern European to build cities like Chicago or New York. Or you were Chinese and built railroads in this country. Or a modern day immigrant who make our beds and clean the offices and build our highways or the refugee engineers remapping the country. That’s who we are and that is the sense of this country and that is worth fighting for. That is worth really speaking up for." |
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