The One Fair Wage campaign is pushing for better wages AND better tips for DC restaurant professionals. Initiative 77 calls for employers to pay all their workers the same minimum wage of $15 an hour PLUS tips by 2025. Seven out of the 10 lowest-paying jobs in America are in the restaurant industry: 66 percent of servers living in DC are people of color and 53 percent are women. These low wages are thanks to the National Restaurant Association, which has successfully fought for the right to NOT pay their workers and force them to rely entirely or mostly on tips since Emancipation. The One Fair Wage campaign is led by women and people of color who live and work in DC, and they’re urging DC residents to vote YES on Initiative 77 on June 19.
You can find out more about the campaign at OneFairWageDC.org

On today’s labor calendar, Diana Ramirez of the One Fair Wage campaign will be our guest on today’s Your Rights At Work here on WPFW at 2pm, right after the Ralph Nader show.  

Here’s today's labor history,
On this date in 1997, Rose Will Monroe, also known as Rosie the Riveter, died in Clarksville, Indiana. During World War Two she helped bring women into the labor force.

Today’s labor quote is by United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, who spoke at NoVA Labor on Tuesday night. Dolores Huerta, who told local activists:
“A union is the only organization that a worker has!”

Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

A new Solidarity Center video shows how workers are coming together to end gender-based violence at work. Last Monday, workers, employers and government officials began debating a proposed International Labor Organization regulation that would address workplace violence and harassment. Workers and their unions are urging its adoption with a strong focus on the gender dimension of violence. Go to solidaritycenter.org to see the video and find out more about how you can support the campaign to end gender-based violence at work.

On today’s labor calendar, the final 2018 DC LaborFest film screens at 7:15 tonight at AFI Silver. “The Workers' Cup” follows a group of oppressed construction workers from India, Kenya, Nepal and Ghana who eagerly escape into a soccer tournament of their own while building state-of-the-art stadiums and facilities for the 2022 World Cup. Complete details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history,
On this date in 1937, in what became known as the Memorial Day Massacre, police opened fire on striking steelworkers at Republic Steel in South Chicago, killing ten and wounding more than 160. Find out more on this week’s Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast app; just search for Union City Radio.

Today’s labor quote is from the Solidarity Center’s video on gender-based violence, which says: (sound clip)
“Violence is not part of the job for any of us!”

​Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

In May, 1968, longtime labor organizer Richard Bensinger – just 17 at the time -- snapped a shot of two dancing figures: a young white woman and a young black man, sloshing through the Reflecting Pool amid the joyous, rebellious chaos of Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign. Bensinger and his wife, Virginia Diamond, were newly energized to unravel the mystery of who these people were after ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary earlier this year. “These are people who have lived a righteous, just life,” Bensinger speculates, but 50 years later, he still doesn’t know their names. We’ve got the photo and a link to the great Washington Post story about it

On today’s labor calendar,
Catch the DC LaborFest’s free Labor Jazz Showcase tonight from 5–7p at the 14th Street Busboys and Poets, sponsored by the Washington DC Federation of Musicians. The first hour of the show will be broadcast here on WPFW.
Then at 7 tonight, legendary farm worker leader Dolores Huerta speaks at NoVA Labor;
Complete details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history,
On this date in 1941, animators working for Walt Disney began a successful five-week strike for recognition of their union, the Screen Cartoonists' Guild. Find out more about the strike and union animators on our Labor History Today podcast, available on your favorite podcast app; just search for Union City Radio.

​Today’s labor quote is by Dolores Huerta, who said:
"Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world."         

LIVE from the 14th Street Busboys and Poets. Hosted by Union City Radio's Chris Garlock. 

Sponsored by the Washington DC Federation of Musicians, AFM 161-710. Engineering by Jerry Paris and Robin Smith; produced by Ed Malaga and co-produced by Chris Bangert-Drowns. 

The 2018 DC LaborFest wraps up with a night of jazz with local musicians from the Washington Musicians Union: 
Carl Cornwell, saxophone; Wade Beach, piano; Steve Novosel, bass; Nasar Abadey, drums. 

Carl Cornwell: Saxophonist with Project Natale (https://www.reverbnation.com/projectnatale), Mike Thornton Jazz Collective and Maurice Lyles. Co-founder of Gil Scott-Heron's Amnesia Express before embarking on a career in computer systems development. After moving to Washington, DC. Carl became a mainstay at Harold's Rogue and Jar night club, performing regularly as a sideman and as leader of his own quintet. Carl toured the US and Europe as saxophonist, arranger and sometime pianist with Gil Scott-Heron. 

Wade Beach is widely respected for his harmonic sophistication and superb technique, which knows no stylistic limitations. He holds a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Maryland.  He entered the world of jazz as a protégé of Sir Roland Hanna and toured the globe many times over with the United States Air Force Band jazz ensemble, The Airmen of Note.  Mr. Beach keeps an active teaching and performing schedule, performing with groups around the DC area, including The Jazz Update Band.

Steve Novosel is an American professional jazz bassist and educator whose 40-plus year career has spanned numerous genre, from traditional jazz to swing, bebop, mainstream and avant garde. Steve has toured with Red Norvo, Tal Farlow, Al Grey and most recently, with David “Fathead” Newman. In addition to his previous 57 recordings, he has several on Mapleshade including Portraits in Ivory and Brass with Jack Walrath and Larry Willis and Every Rung Goes Higher with Willis and Steve Berrios plus singer Kenyetta.

Nasar Abadey is a drummer and composer who’s the founder, leader and driving force of SUPERNOVA, and who has also built a solid reputation as a sideman with several groups, performing with many national artists throughout his career. Abadey began playing drums at age five, drawing influences from powerhouse drummers such as Tony Williams, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and cousin Frankie Dunlop, to name a few. Nasar Abadey creates music which he refers to as Multi-D: multi-dimensional, multi-directional. Mr. Abadey is currently a Professor of Jazz Percussion in the Jazz Studies Department at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD 

20: That’s how many veterans die from suicide every single day, which experts say is in part due to an economy where working people can’t get ahead. The working men and women of the AFL‑CIO join the Union Veterans Council to wish all a safe Memorial Day today.
This is a time to respect and remember those who gave their lives for the bedrock freedoms we cherish.
Let’s honor their sacrifice by redoubling our efforts to secure and make real those freedoms for every worker in America, so working people can win new economic rules built on broadly shared prosperity.
Honor our veterans by fighting for full funding for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and support efforts to train and employ our veterans for good union jobs.

On today’s labor calendar, catch the DC LaborFest screening of “Swing Shift” at 5:45 today at the AFI Silver, as Goldie Hawn and Christine Lahti star as women who take jobs as riveters on a bomber assembly line during World War II.
Details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history,
On this date in 1946, at least 30,000 workers in my hometown of Rochester, N.Y. participated in a general strike in support of municipal workers who had been fired for forming a union.

​Today’s labor quote is by Eugene V. Debs, who said:
“You have got to unite in the same labor union and in the same political party and strike and vote together, and the hour you do that, the world is yours.”           

Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

This year’s first-ever Laborpalooza MusicFest -- live from the Hyattsville Busboys and Poets -- showcased an exciting lineup of talented musical artists from the DC-area labor movement. Emceed by LaborFest coordinator Chris Garlock and Labor Heritage Foundation Executive Director Elise Bryant, Laborpalooza featured the DC Labor Chorus, roots rocker Joe Uehlein and the ULiNERS and Moose Jaw Bluegrass. The show was broadcast live on WPFW 89.3 FM.

​Top soundfile: DC Labor Chorus; The ULiners (part 1)
Bottom soundfile: The ULiners (part 2); Moose Jaw Bluegrass

Laborpalooza was produced by Chris Bangert-Drowns and engineered by Michael Nasella and Robin Smith. Photos by Bruce Guthrie (l-r): Garlock and Bryant; DC Labor Chorus; The UliNERS; Moose Jaw Bluegrass; crowd singing "Solidarity Forever" with the DC Labor Chorus

​Chris Garlock hosts Brandon Weber, author of "Class War, USA: Dispatches from Workers' Struggles in American History," with Will Fischer, director of government relations for VoteVets (and wrote the intro for "Class War, USA), Jaime Contreras, SEIU 32BJ on the battle for worker rights by local airport workers and State Department cleaners, and Elise Bryant on the first-ever Laborpalooza Musicfest on May 26, 8pm at Hyattsville Busboys and Poets.

Poor Fran Horowitz. The CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch was paid just over $10 million dollars last year -- $10.262 million, to be precise – but that was less than the median CEO pay for all Fortune 500 execs in 2017, which was just a smidge under $14 million -- $13.94 million – to be exact. Here’s the thing, though. Median CEO pay for a Fortune 500 exec was 361 times the median worker’s pay, but for folks like Fran in the retail trade, it was a staggering 791 to 1, thanks to so many low-paid overseas workers, such as those making clothes in Bangladesh or cheap cellphones in China. These figures are from the 20th annual Executive Paywatch report, released earlier this week by the AFL-CIO, which plans to use these obscenely high ratios of CEO-to-worker pay as part of its economic message in this year’s political campaign. The report is available at aflcio.org

On today’s labor calendar, tune in to Arise at 9 this morning, when my guests will be  Brandon Weber – discussing his new book "Class War, USA" and VoteVets’ Will Fischer on the push to privatize the Veterans Administration.
Then at noon there’s a free screening of “Heather Booth: Changing the World” at the AFL-CIO. Heather will be on hand, and there will also be a tribute to her husband, Paul Booth who died earlier this year.
Complete details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar.

Here’s today's labor history,
On this date in 1932, thousands of unemployed World War I veterans arrived in Washington, D.C. to demand early payment of a bonus they desperately needed in the depths of the Great Depression. They built a shantytown near the U.S. Capitol but were burned out by U.S. troops after two months.

​Today’s labor quote is from the Washington Evening Star, writing about the Bonus Army vets. The Washington Evening Star, which said:
“These men wrote a new chapter on patriotism of which their countrymen could be proud.”       

Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which provides unique products and discounts for working families. Check them out at unionplus.org!

Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith 
 
Today’s topics: Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis: what’s “forced arbitration”? NFL decides to fine teams for players taking a knee; Do NFL players have First Amendment rights on the football field? Three former Houston Texans cheerleaders file a class-action lawsuit

Guest: Marni von Wilpert, Economic Policy Institute associate labor counsel, on the "Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis:" Supreme Court decision.
PLUS: Calls from Andrew, Sean, Dean, Bernard and Shaddy

2:30: Everybody knows - Leonard Cohen

Listen live on WPFW 89.3FM or online. 
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CREDITS: Produced by Pete Pocock and Chris Bangert-Drowns; engineered by Mike “The Man” Nasella; Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus. UnionPlus is committed to improving the quality of life of working families. Find out more at unionplus.org. And we’re supported by you, our listeners.