(audio; chanting) “One job should be enough! One job should be enough! One job should be enough!"
Airline food workers took their nationwide struggle against their bosses public with a massive protest Tuesday afternoon that drew almost 1,000 people and virtually filled the old main hall at Washington National Airport. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren walked the line, along with other political, union and community allies. Here’s Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Melinda Jorge on the challenges these workers face: (audio) “Catering workers are there doing a very physical job: they have to be to aircraft on time, they have to give you the correct supplies, if not, the aircraft doesn’t go anywhere and nothing can stay on time, so it’s very time-sensitive and I don’t think the general public really understands what these employees actually go through just to get a nice decent service on an aircraft.” On today’s labor calendar, locked-out musicians at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will picket this morning starting at 8am, and then at 1pm this afternoon catch this week’s edition of Your Rights At Work here on WPFW. For all the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. In today’s labor history, on this date in 1877, workers staged a general strike – believed to be the nation’s first – in St. Louis, in support of striking railroad workers. The successful strike was ended when some 3,000 federal troops and 5,000 deputized special police killed at least eighteen people in skirmishes around the city. Today’s labor quote is AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, at Tuesday’s airport rally. Liz Shuler, who said: "When Marriott strikers were on the line and they started using 'One job should be enough,' I thought this captures it, this captures it for the entire economy.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Hey, did you know that AT&T waives select activation and upgrade fees for union members enrolled in the AT&T Signature Program? Visit unionplus.org/att to learn more.
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Hosted Chris Garlock and Ed Smith. DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them. On today’s show: Hour 1: “One job should be enough!”; airport workers and their allies take a stand, plus Inflatable Rats and Cats, Oh My! Why bosses are so afraid of balloons. First up, we talk to an airport catering worker about why she and hundreds of her co-workers and allies – including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren – rallied at National Airport earlier this week. Then: why are bosses so afraid of a few balloons? We’ll talk with Chris' old pal Matt Fusco about the threat of inflatable rats and cats. Hour 2: This week marked a very dubious anniversary: it’s been 10 long years since the minimum wage last increased; going up to $7.25 an hour on July 24, 2009. We talk with economist Heidi Shierholz and journalist Harold Meyerson about the impact on America’s working men and women, and the Fight for $15 movement. Plus PAI's Mark Gruenberg with the latest labor news, and of course, listener calls: 202-588-0893 Music: Jet Airliner (Steve Miller Band) & Minimum Wage (The Busboys) Topic: Inflatable Rats and Cats, Oh My! Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus, FIND OUT MORE AT UNIONPLUS.ORG (audio) "Nurses are the most trusted public servants in our nation. Year after year, they treat the sick, they comfort our families. They put the care in healthcare, and they deserve a voice on the job, and we’re going to make sure they get that voice."
That’s AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka last Saturday as nurses were joined by hundreds of labor and community activists outside Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, demanding that hospital officials both respect the rights of its nurses to form a union, and stop suing low-income community patients and their families for medical debt. Here’s National Nurses United Executive Director Bonnie Castillo: (audio) “We want to send a message to Johns Hopkins management: people over profits!” For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. In today’s labor history, on this date in 2009, the U.S. minimum wage rose to $7.25 per hour, the last time it was raised. The Fight for $15 movement began three years later when two hundred fast-food workers walked off the job in 2012 to demand $15 an hour and union rights in New York City. Today, it’s a global movement in over 300 cities on six continents. Today’s labor quote is from the Fight for $15, which says: “When we first took the streets, the skeptics called us dreamers. They said a $15 wage was “unwinnable.” We’ve already won raises for 22 million people across the country – including 10 million who are on their way to $15/hr – all because workers came together and acted like a union. And we will keep on fighting, no matter the challenge. We won’t back down.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Hey, did you know that AT&T waives select activation and upgrade fees for union members enrolled in the AT&T Signature Program? Visit unionplus.org/att to learn more. American Airlines, Delta, and United made over $50 billion in combined profits in just the past five years alone, but the workers who prepare and load food and beverages onto their planes are often left living in poverty and unable to afford healthcare.
In June, thousands of airline catering workers voted to authorize strikes when released by the government. Supporters will rally in solidarity with these workers today at National Airport beginning at 4:30 PM in the Terminal B South Terrace. Nationally, the majority of the food workers serving these airlines still earn less than $15 per hour - including some with decades of service. Meanwhile, family health insurance premiums are over $500 per month for these employees, leaving many with an impossible choice between their health and their bills. For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. In today’s labor history, on this date in 1913, Northern Michigan copper miners struck for union recognition, higher wages and the eight-hour day. By the time they threw in the towel the following April, 1,100 had been arrested on various charges and Western Federation of Miners President Charles Moyer had been shot, beaten and forced out of town. Today’s labor quote is by anarchist Alexander Berkman, who, in an effort to avenge the Homestead massacre 18 days earlier, in which nine strikers were killed, shot and stabbed -- but failed to kill -- steel magnate Henry Clay Frick on this date in 1892. Alexander Berkman, who said: ’Man's inhumanity to man’ is not the last word. The truth lies deeper. It is economic slavery, the savage struggle for a crumb, that has converted mankind into wolves and sheep.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Hey, did you know that AT&T waives select activation and upgrade fees for union members enrolled in the AT&T Signature Program? Visit unionplus.org/att to learn more. |
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