The Jefferson Hotel and the Hay-Adams – both local union hotels – have made the top 25 on U.S. News & World Report’s 2016 “Best Hotels in the USA” list. The Jefferson was ranked #2 and the Hay-Adams ranked #23. “We’re tremendously proud of our members whose hard work help make the Jefferson and Hay-Adams so highly-ranked,” said Unite Here Local 25 Executive Secretary Treasurer John Boardman. Go to dclabor.org for a list of all the DC-area union hotels.
Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1908, U.S. Supreme Court upheld Oregon state restrictions on the working hours of women, justified as necessary to protect their health. A laundry owner was fined $10 for making a female employee work more than 10 hours in a single day. In 1912, women and children textile strikers were beaten by police in Lawrence, Massachusetts during a 63-day walkout protesting low wages and work speedups. And in 1919, Congress passed a federal child labor tax law that imposed a 10 percent tax on companies that employed children, defined as anyone under the age of 16 working in a mine or quarry or under the age 14 in a “mill, cannery, workshop, factory, or manufacturing establishment.” The Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional three years later. Today’s labor quote is by Mary Harris Jones, better-known as Mother Jones “They began work at 5:30 and quit at 7 at night. Children six years old going home to lie on a straw pallet until time to resume work the next morning! I have seen the hair torn out of their heads by the machinery, their scalps torn off, and yet not a single tear was shed, while the poodle dogs were loved and caressed and carried to the seashore.” Mother Jones was an Irish-American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent labor and community organizer. She helped coordinate major strikes and cofounded the Industrial Workers of the World.
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It started out as a typical day for Adam Peak, head meat cutter and UFCW Local 400 shop steward at Kroger #406 in Appomattox, Virginia. Then Peak’s store manager ran in and told him to get some ice; a truck driver making a delivery had collapsed from heat exhaustion. Peak ran out with the ice, but he saw that the driver wasn’t breathing. “I took my meat coat off, laid him down on his back, put it under his neck and started doing CPR,” Peak recalled. “After about four minutes, which seemed like forever, the paramedics came, but they let me keep doing CPR.” “Then, the next thing you know, he took a big breath,” Peak said. The paramedics took the driver to the hospital and later that day Peak learned that his CPR had saved the man’s life. “I was just doing what I’d want done if the same thing happened to me,” Peak said. Now, that's solidarity!
Go to dclabor.org for the complete story and to see a photo of Adam Peak. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1868, educator and civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois was born. In 1940, Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land Is Your Land” following a frigid trip—partially by hitchhiking, partially by rail—from California to Manhattan as the Great Depression was still raging. Today’s labor quote is by Woody Guthrie Woody Guthrie, who heard Kate Smith’s recording of “God Bless America” during the Depression and resolved to himself: “We can’t just bless America, we’ve got to change it.” Mass transit riders and workers teamed up last Saturday to fight for transit justice. At a noontime rally in Adelphi, Maryland, they demanded that elected officials “invest in more transit service, improve existing services, and create living wages and just workplaces for those who keep our region moving.” Amalgamated Transit Union locals 1764 and 689 say that riders with disabilities who rely on MetroAccess are trapped on a transit system that is less efficient and less dependable than Metrorail and Metrobus, but receives far less attention from elected officials. “Vehicle delays, prolonged trips due to irrational add-ons, and inadequate disability training are all issues WMATA and its subcontractors must confront,” the unions said. The ATU, WIN, and MetroAccess riders proposed reforms that they say “will make service safer, more reliable, and restore trust in MetroAccess.”
Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1892, representatives of the Knights of Labor and the United Mine Workers met in St. Louis with 20 other organizations to plan the founding convention of the People’s Party. Their objectives: end political corruption, spread the wealth, and combat the oppression of the rights of workers and farmers. In 1997, Albert Shanker died at age 68. He served as president of New York City’s United Federation of Teachers from 1964 to 1984 and of the American Federation of Teachers from 1974 to 1997. Today’s labor quote is by Albert Shanker "Public schools played a big role in holding our nation together. They brought together children of different races, languages, religions, and cultures and gave them a common language and a sense of common purpose. We have not outgrown our need for this; far from it." The Washington Teachers Union is hosting their third annual "Shared Vision Conference" this Saturday.
“All are welcome, particularly parents and families of DCPS students,” says WTU Local 6 president Liz Davis. Running from 9a-3p at Gallaudet University’s Kellogg Conference Center, the conference will bring together more than 300 teachers, parents, community leaders and other key education stakeholders “to learn more about research-based, proven strategies for successful schools for all children in the District.” Go to wtulocal6.org for complete details and to RSVP. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1910, a few weeks after workers had asked for a 25-cent hourly wage, the Philadelphia Rapid Transit streetcar company fired 173 union members and brought in replacements from New York City. Battles between strikers and scabs and a general strike ensued. In 1975, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in favor of sales clerk Leura Collins and her union, the Retail Clerks, in NLRB versus J. Weingarten Inc.— the case establishing that workers have a right to request the presence of their union steward if they believe they are to be disciplined for a workplace infraction. And in 1986, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee signed an agreement with the Campbell Soup Company, ending a 7-year boycott. Today’s labor quote is by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka "I have one message for Senate Republicans," Trumka said in a video released yesterday urging the Senate to act on a potential Obama nominee for the Supreme Court. "Do your job. Do what tens of millions of American workers do every day. We wake up, go to work and do the job that we were paid to do. We don't just do the parts of the job that we like, or only work with people that we like, or choose when to show up on the job. No, we go to work and we do our job. Because that's what we agreed to. To Senate Republicans, I say that's what you agreed to as well." You can see the full video on our website at dclabor.org |
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