Ed Smith & Peter Pocock sit in for Chris Garlock
Today we’re going to honor Tetsuko of Cold Mountain, formerly Susan Garlock, born Susan Gould, AKA Chris’s mom, who passed away peacefully on Tuesday in Pueblo, Colorado. She was surrounded by her close friends and all three sons -- Christopher, Seth and Shem -- as well as her beloved puppy AJ. They toasted her new adventure with Cava and tequila and sang -- off-key but with a great deal of heart -- her favorite John Lennon song, "Imagine." We’re going to play it here, now. This week's guests: Terry Richardson, President, CWA Local 2336 (in-studio), about the successful outcome of the Verizon strike. Stacy Bodtmann, Regional Vice President, AFGE Council 100, TSA officer at Newark International Airport, talks about emergency funding for more screeners. Labor song of the week: Kool & The Gang: Celebration
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Striking Verizon workers returned to work yesterday after reaching a tentative agreement with the company.
Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Verizon agreed that no additional jobs will be outsourced overseas, while increasing the number of calls routed to domestic call centers. This will result in the creation of 1,300 new call center jobs. Verizon also agreed to drop its demand that technicians had to be available to travel outside their home areas for up to two months at a time. Also included in the tentative four-year agreement are wage increases of 3% for the first year and 2.5% the year after, no cap on pensions and three 1% increases over the life of the agreement. Competitive health benefits were preserved, along with strong job security language. For the latest local labor calendar, for to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1786, twenty-six journeymen printers in Philadelphia staged the trade’s first strike in America over wages: a cut in their $6 weekly pay. In 1924, a constitutional amendment declaring that "Congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age" was approved by the Senate today, following the lead of the House five weeks earlier. But only 28 state legislatures ever ratified the amendment—the last three in 1937—so it has never taken effect. And in 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Harry Truman acted illegally when he ordered the Army to seize the nation’s steel mills to avert a strike. Today’s labor quote is by Harry Truman "It is time that all Americans realized that the place of labor is side by side with the businessman and with the farmer, and not one degree lower." Nearly 40,000 Verizon workers who have been on strike since April 13 celebrated big gains after coming to an agreement in principle with the company last Friday. After 44 days of the largest strike in recent history, striking CWA and IBEW members said they have achieved their major goals of improving working families’ standard of living, creating good union jobs and achieving a first contract for wireless retail store workers. "It's a great day in the labor movement," said CWA 2336 president Terry Richardson. "It was the overwhelming support of everyone in the entire movement that really carried us through this epic struggle." U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez called the tentative resolution "a testament to the power of collective bargaining."
For the latest local labor calendar, for to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1888, the Ladies Federal Labor Union Number 2703, based in Illinois, was granted a charter from the American Federation of Labor. Women from a wide range of occupations were among the members, who ultimately were successful in coalescing women’s groups interested in suffrage, temperance, health, housing and child labor reform to win state legislation in these areas. In 1944, extinguishing the light of hope in the hearts and aspirations of workers around the world, the Mexican government abolished siestas—a mid-afternoon nap and work break which lengthened the work day but got people through brutally hot summer days. In 1966, farm workers under the banner of the new United Farm Workers Organizing Committee struck at Texas’s La Casita Farms, demanding $1.25 as a minimum hourly wage. Today’s labor quote is by Cesar Chavez “I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally non-violent struggle for justice.” |
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