In a move that the musicians union called “outrageous” and “blatantly illegal,” the Kennedy Center on Friday said that paychecks for members of the National Symphony Orchestra will stop this week.
That was the same day that President Trump signed into law a stimulus package that specifically appropriated $25 million dollars to the Kennedy Center to be used for operating expenses, including employee pay. Ed Malaga, president of the DC Musician’s Union, said the union has filed a grievance, pointing out that the union’s contract “specifically requires that the Center provide six weeks’ notice before it can stop paying musicians for economic reasons.” Cellist Steven Honigberg, a member of the orchestra since 1984, said on Facebook, “Thanks (NOT)” to Center president Deborah Rutter “for your compassion for the musicians of your National Symphony Orchestra in this time of unprecedented peril. This is not OUR fault.” In today’s labor history, on this date in 1883, cowboys earning $40 per month began what would become an unsuccessful two-and-a-half month strike for higher wages at five ranches in the Texas Panhandle. Today’s labor quote is by Cesar Chavez, born on this date in 1927 in Yuma, Arizona . Cesar Chavez, who said: “We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus, which stands up for union members and their families. At unionplus.org you’ll find useful links to coronavirus resources from the AFL-CIO, as well as Union Plus Hardship Help Benefits. Check it out at unionplus.org
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Today I’m going to take a break from our wall-to-wall coverage of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers, though of course you can always check out our website at dclabor.org for the latest news.
As Women’s History Month winds down, let’s take a moment to remember Jessie Lopez de la Cruz, one of the women who were, and some of whom still are, leaders and activists working at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Jessie Lopez was born in 1919 in Anaheim, California, and began working in fruit and vegetable fields when she just five years old. While working in San Juan Capistrano in 1932, Jessie was asked to help translate during a strike of Mexican workers, but she continued as a farmworker for decades and didn’t become an organizer until she was in her 40s. Her husband, Arnold, began working with César Chávez and the National Farm Workers Association in 1965; meetings were held in the couple's home, and soon Jessie began to volunteer as well. After the National Farm Workers Association became the United Farm Workers, Jessie became the top recruiter in the union. She led or participated in a variety of actions, such as picketing stores, to advocate for the safety of Mexican American workers and against employer corruption and abuse. When the United Farm Workers established its first hiring hall in 1968, Jessie became the manager, and her advocacy led the union to expand opportunities for women in leadership positions, despite strong opposition. Jessie Lopez de la Cruz retired in 1993 and spent her retirement working with California Rural Legal Assistance and her local Catholic charity. After she died in 2013, her biography was adapted into a television miniseries and we’ve posted a brief video on her life on our website at dclabor.org In today’s labor history, on this date in 1930, at the height of the Great Depression, 35,000 unemployed workers marched in New York’s Union Square. Police beat many demonstrators, injuring 100. Today’s labor quote is by Harry Bridges, the Australian-born dock union leader, who died on this date in 1990. Harry helped form and lead the International Longshore and Warehouse Union for 40 years. Harry Bridges, who said: “The most important word in the language of the working class is ‘solidarity’” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus, which stands up for union members and their families. At unionplus.org you’ll find useful links to coronavirus resources from the AFL-CIO, as well as Union Plus Hardship Help Benefits. Check it out at unionplus.org audio: we know that almost 50% of our students in D C do not have some tutors or intimate accent. And of course, the concerns that have been raised multiple times by teachers who were contacting us daily about students that are not able to access the lessons that are being delivered via distance learning.
That’s Liz Davis, president of the Washington Teacher’s Union. They’re launching a new program for DC students called “Learning Doesn’t Stop - Lessons on TV” tomorrow morning: (audio) “So we contacted them. Have the local news stations to see if they would be interested in running lessons on there are new stations daily, mainly because many of our students have televisions, but not computers. So we know that at least this will be one way of getting from instruction to students, engaging them throughout this period when they are out of school. And, um, I was amazed and, uh, two of the TV stations proct five and WSA agreed to do so. We are so excited about it because you know this, you know, drop off happens when students are out of school for longer. so we're, we're doing this to ensure that every child would have access to learning opportunities and make sure that these kids, because of poverty, are not going to be left out, left behind simply because they do not have. you know, teachers are community heroes. It's a lot of work. But it's worth it because our teachers care about our students and, and they're going to do whatever they need to do to ensure that all of them will have access, not just the ones who have. We've got to use every possible avenue we can to ensure that every child would have access to learning. That's the bottom line.” Liz Davis, president of the Washington Teacher’s Union, which is launching a new program for DC students called “Learning Doesn’t Stop - Lessons on TV” tomorrow morning. In today’s labor history, on this date in 1948, the “Battle of Wall Street” took place when police charged strikers lying down in front of stock exchange doors; 43 were arrested. Today’s labor quote is by Heidi Shierholz, Senior Economist and Director of Policy at the Economic Policy Institute. Reacting to the jump in initial unemployment insurance claims from 282,000 two weeks ago to 3.3 million last week. Heidi Shierholz, who said: "I have been a labor economist for a very long time and I have never seen anything like this." EPI is estimating that by the summer, 14 million workers will lose their jobs due to the coronavirus shock, with significant losses in every state. Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus, which stands up for union members and their families. At unionplus.org you’ll find useful links to coronavirus resources from the AFL-CIO, as well as Union Plus Hardship Help Benefits. Check it out at unionplus.org SEIU32BJ represents about 21,000 metro-area workers, from airport workers to commercial office cleaners, federal contracted workers, workers who maintain area universities, doing the landscaping, cleaning the dorms and so on. I caught up with 32BJ Area Director Jaime Contreras the other day to see how his members are coping with the COVID-19 crisis.
(audio) “One of the things, a lot of workers, especially at the airport where we have active organizing campaigns have said is that this is one of the reasons why all workers in the United States need a union to speak for them in a time of crisis like this. If these workers didn't have, for example, at the airport where the airlines are lobbying for $60 billion dollars in bailout package, you know, we have about 125,000 contracted workers at the airport, who don't necessarily work directly for the airlines. If it wasn't for the union, these workers would have been left out of the deal that made it to Congress and workers, I think for the most part, understand the importance of the union. And, you know, our organizing campaigns continue.” SEIU 32BJ Area Director Jaime Contreras. In today’s labor history, on this date in 1935, members of Gas House Workers’ Union Local 18799 began what would become a four-month recognition strike against the Laclede Gas Light Company in St. Louis. The union later said the strike was the first ever against a public utility in the United States. Today’s labor quote is by Martin Luther King, Jr., who led a march of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee on this date in 1968. Violence during the march persuaded him to return the following week to Memphis, where he was assassinated. Martin Luther King, who said: (audio) “We read one day, we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But if a man doesn't have a job or an income, he has neither life, nor liberty and the possibility for the pursuit of happiness; he merely exists.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus, which stands up for union members and their families. At unionplus.org you’ll find useful links to coronavirus resources from the AFL-CIO, as well as Union Plus Hardship Help Benefits. Check it out at unionplus.org |
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