The area’s newest electricians became leaders in their field last Saturday. “Now you are the ones who will be supervising the apprentices and teaching them how to be the best on the job,” IBEW Local 26 Business Manager Chuck Graham told the graduates of the 2016 apprenticeship class at the graduation. “Show them how to be good union electricians and do the job right the first time,” Graham added. Of the 172 graduates, 15 had perfect attendance, “which over a 5-year program is truly remarkable,” noted Silvia Casaro-Dietert, Coordinator for the CSA Building Futures Pre-Apprenticeship Program.
On today’s labor calendar, The work-life balance is the topic at noon today at the AFL-CIO at a discussion about the new book “Finding Time: The Economics of Work-Life Conflict” by Heather Boushey. For the latest local labor calendar, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1852, the earliest recorded strike by Chinese immigrants to the U.S. occurred when stonemasons, who were brought to San Francisco to build the three-story Parrott granite building—made from Chinese prefabricated blocks—struck for higher pay. In 1966, some 35,000 members of the Machinists union began what was to become a 43-day strike—the largest in airline history—against five carriers. The mechanics and other ground service workers wanted to share in the airlines’ substantial profits. And in 1971, New York City drawbridge tenders, in a dispute with the state over pension issues, left a dozen bridges open, snarling traffic in what the Daily News described as "the biggest traffic snafu in the city's history." Today’s labor quote is by Heather Boushey “In a world where women are breadwinners or co-breadwinners in two-thirds of American families with children, how we help families cope with care isn’t a ‘women’s issue’ by a long shot. It’s a serious economic issue.” Heather Boushey directs the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and advises Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
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More than forty interns turned out for last Friday's Summer Labor Intern Orientation, which provided an opportunity for networking and learning about the labor movement. In addition to getting an overview on labor history, the interns learned about Common Sense Economics for Young Workers, as well as generational diversity in the workplace. The Electrical Workers, Metro Washington Council, the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Studies, and the Kalmanovitz Initiative at Georgetown University coordinated the all-day orientation. There will be several other events throughout the summer for labor movement interns, coordinated by Metro Council summer intern Christian Berk, a student at Rutgers.
On today’s labor calendar, the classic labor film “Norma Rae” screens free tonight at 7pm at the Canal Park/Capitol Riverfront, presented by the National Labor Relations Board Professional Association and co-sponsored by the DC Labor FilmFest. For the latest local labor calendar, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1904, the militia was sent to Cripple Creek, Colorado to suppress a strike by the Western Federation of Miners. The founding convention of the United Food and Commercial Workers, or UFCW, was held on this date in 1979. The merger brought together the Retail Clerks International Union and the Amalgamated Meatcutters and Butcher Workmen of North America. And in 2006, the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club announced the formation of a strategic alliance to pursue a joint public policy agenda under the banner of Good Jobs, A Clean Environment, and A Safer World. Today’s labor quote is by textile worker and union organizer Norma Rae, played by Sally Field in the 1979 film, from the scene where the textile mill bosses try to fire her “I’m staying put! Right where I am! It’s gonna take you, and the police department, and the fire department, and the National Guard to get me outta here! I’m waitin’ for the sheriff to come and take me home! And I ain’t gonna budge till he gets here!” In a legal win for workers and unions, the National Labor Relations Board is sharply curbing employer justification for hiring and using “permanent replacements” for workers forced to strike for economic reasons.
In a 2-1 decision on May 31, the board said employers must prove they do not have other, illegal, motives for permanently replacing striking workers. That replacement threat has had a chilling effect on the right to strike, which is legal under U.S. labor law. The number of strikes has dropped sharply since employers began routinely firing striking workers and bringing in “permanent replacements,” or threatening to, after President Ronald Reagan fired striking PATCO air traffic controllers in 1981. For the latest local labor calendar, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1917, 164 were killed in the Speculator mine disaster in Butte, Montana. In 1937, a general strike by some 12,000 autoworkers and others in Lansing, Michigan shut down the city for a month in what was to become known as the city’s “Labor Holiday.” The strike was precipitated by the arrest of nine workers, including the wife of the auto workers local union president: The arrest left three children in the couple’s home unattended. Today’s labor quote is by Peter Cooper "Every manufacturer ought to remember that his fortune was not achieved by himself alone, but by the cooperation of his workmen. He should acknowledge their rights to share the benefits." Peter Cooper was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Operating Engineers Local 99 won a big victory earlier this week when engineers at the Four Seasons Hotel voted to join the union. “All of the workers really stuck together in the face of a pretty intense 'Vote No' campaign by the employer," said Local 99 Business Manager Don Havard. This is the latest in a string of recent hotel victories for Local 99, which represents skilled building engineers and craftsmen who work in hotels, commercial buildings, and government sites throughout metro DC.
For the latest local labor calendar, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s this weekend’s labor history: On this date 1900, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union was founded. On June 4, 1975, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the first law in the U.S. giving farmworkers collective bargaining rights. The legislation came after years of effort by the United Farm Workers union. And on June 5, 1998, a strike began at a General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan that ultimately forced the closure of GM plants across the country for seven weeks. The Flint workers were protesting the removal of machines from their plant and feared their jobs would be lost. The company ended the dispute by assuring the plant would remain open until at least the year 2000. Today’s labor quote is by Barack Obama "Politics didn't lead me to working folks; working folks led me to politics." |
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