Cary James spent four years getting a degree in mechanical engineering from Boston University. But after a few years of working in her field, she quit and became an electrician apprentice. “I spent quite a few years in a job I knew wasn’t for me,” James said recently at a Center for American Progress briefing on apprenticeships. “It wasn’t related to my degree or what I wanted to do in life. I realized I needed to move away from a job and start looking for a career.” The Obama administration earlier this month proposed a $2 billion dollar Apprenticeship Training Fund as part of its 2017 budget proposal to fulfill the president’s pledge to double the number of apprentices in the United States. James, a first year wireman apprentice with IBEW Local 26, attends biweekly classes to learn about the field, safe working practices and electrician etiquette. “Everyone has different ways of doing the same job,” said James. “Working with multiple people on the same type of task gives me the opportunity to see what works best for me and gives me ways to improve my craft.”
Go to dclabor.org to read our complete report and see a photo of Cary James.

On today’s labor calendar, there’s a Women's and Worker's Rights Rally at noon today at the National Press Club; go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar for details.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1915, the minimum age allowed by law for workers in mills, factories, and mines in South Carolina was raised from 12 to 14.
And in 1940, Screen Actors Guild member Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Academy Award, honored for her portrayal of “Mammy” in “Gone with the Wind”

Today’s labor quote is by Hattie McDaniel
"I loved Mammy. I think I understood her because my own grandmother worked on a plantation not unlike Tara."

The Maryland State and DC AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education on Tuesday released its endorsements in the 2016 primaries. Those winning endorsement include Eleanor Holmes Norton in the DC Congressional delegate race. Also on Tuesday, the Metro Washington Council posted its political calendar online. The calendar includes key national and local dates like primary and general election dates, as well as the schedule for interviewing and endorsing candidates. Go to dclabor.org and click on Political Action for the complete list of endorsed candidates and labor’s political calendar.

On tomorrow’s labor calendar, transit workers will rally in solidarity with DC Streetcar workers at Saturday’s Grand Opening of the Streetcar; the 9am rally is at 26th NE and Benning Road, across from the RFK Stadium parking lot.
Also tomorrow, writer Charles E. Cobb Jr. speaks at the release of his new book “This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible” from 7 to 9pm at The Potter's House.
Go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar for complete details.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1885, Congress OKed the Contract Labor Law, designed to clamp down on "business agents" who contracted abroad for immigrant labor.
One of the reasons unions supported the measure was that employers were using foreign workers to fight against the growing U.S. labor movement, primarily by deploying immigrant labor to break strikes.
In 1941, Bethlehem Steel workers struck for union recognition in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
And in 2004, a 20-week strike by 70,000 Southern California supermarket workers ended, with both sides claiming victory.

Today’s labor quote is by Nick Dorsey, an employee at UPS and a Teamster, referring to Scott Walker's attacks on public employee unions in 2011:
"After they finish crushing them, they'll come after us, too."

Today’s guests:
Allison Burket, UNITE HERE Local 23 on their fight for a contract with I.L. Creations in 18 area government cafeterias.
Dena Briscoe, APWU 140, talks about how their contract at the US Postal Service expired last May and is now in arbitration.
 
Union City Radio’s Chris Garlock hosts, with DCNA Executive Director Ed Smith. 
 
Labor song of the week: Billy Bragg: There Is Power in a Union

This Week’s Quiz: During fiscal year 2014, how much did Wage and Hour Division investigations find was owed in back wages to workers whose employers violated the law and didn’t pay them what they had rightfully earned? $12 million; $73 million; $112 million; $240 million; $3.6 billion. Click here and you could be next week's winner of a labor-themed prize!

Please show your support for Union City and WPFW by pledging now at 202-588-9739 or 1-800-222-9739. Or you can easily donate online, just go to WPFWFM.org and click on the big “Donate Now” button. Thank you!

​For Black History Month, the AFL-CIO is lifting up black activists, leaders and agitators who are changing the rules and being the power in our communities.  Go to dclabor.org to see several brief video profiles of leaders who are making new history right now, including transgender freedom fighter Elle Hearns, courageous activist and artist Bree Newsome, United Steelworkers Vice President Fred Redmond and longtime labor leader and activist William Lucy.
 
On today's labor calendar, retiring Metro Council president Jos Williams will appear on WJLA Channel 7's NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt today at 11am, with replays at 1pm and 11:30pm.
And on today's "Your Rights At Work" call-in radio show here on WPFW at 1pm, UNITE HERE Local 23's Allison Burket will discuss her local's fight for a contract for cafeteria workers, and the Postal Workers' Dena Briscoe will report on the status of their contract. 
Go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar for complete details. 
 
Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1965, the Amalgamated Association of Street & Electric Railway Employees of America changed their name to the Amalgamated Transit Union; much shorter and more representative of its broad membership of transit workers. 
 
In 2011, a crowd estimated to be 100,000 strong rallied at the Wisconsin state Capitol in protest of the push by Governor Scott Walker and the state’s Republican majority to cripple public employee bargaining rights.
 
Today’s labor quote is by filmmaker Michael Moore, speaking at a rally in Madison, Wisconsin on March 5, 2011
"America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it’s not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich ... The only thing that's broke is the moral compass of the rulers. And we aim to fix that compass and steer the ship ourselves from now on."
 
Please show your support for Union City and WPFW by pledging now at 202-588-9739. Or you can easily donate online, just go to WPFWFM.org and click on the big “Donate Now” button. Thank you!