If you're feeling inspired by last night's debate to help get out the vote, the AFL-CIO and NoVA Labor are running phonebanks all week; details are on our website at dclabor.org; click on calendar.
On today's local labor calendar, check out “Pray for the Dead-A Musical Tale of Morgues, Moguls and Mutiny” tonight at 7:30pm. The performance benefits Reverend Graylan Hagler’s Plymouth Congregational Church. “Reverend Hagler and Plymouth have played a central role in many of the most progressive movements in our area for years," says the musical’s author, Gene Bruskin. "The church is undergoing extensive and expensive renovation to make it fully accessible and deserves the community’s full support.” For complete details and all the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1875, striking textile workers in Fall River, Massachusetts demanded bread for their starving children. In 1909, the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union began a strike against the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. This would become the "Uprising of the 20,000," resulting in 339 of 352 struck firms—but not Triangle—signing agreements with the union. The deadly Triangle fire that killed 246 -- mostly young women -- would occur less than two years later. And in 2002, twenty-nine west coast ports locked out more than 10,000 workers. The ports were closed for 10 days, reopening only when President George W. Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act. Today’s labor quote is by 19-year-old New York City textile worker Clara Lemlich, during the strikes and debates that led to the "Uprising of the 20,000": “I have no further patience for talk as I am one of those who feels and suffers from the things pictured. I move that we go on a general strike...now!” The audience rose to their feet and cheered, then voted to strike.
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Millions will be watching tonight’s debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, but the more union members hear about Donald Trump the less they like him. Trump supports dangerous "right to work" laws, refuses to negotiate with working people who formed a union at his hotel and ignores union issues.
One of the latest internal polls by the AFL-CIO shows that Trump has plummeted 12 points among union members in the battleground state of Ohio. How bad is that? Trump is now performing five points worse than Mitt Romney did in the 2012 presidential election when he received 37 percent of the union vote in Ohio. That’s at least in part because America’s labor movement has unleashed the most comprehensive and sophisticated electoral program in the labor movement’s history. “We are cutting through Trump’s bluster and getting to the heart of his record,” AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka told the Ohio AFL-CIO Convention last week. “Trump may be loud, but we are clear.” On today’s labor calendar, phonebanks at the AFL-CIO and NoVA Labor continue throughout the day and there’s a discussion on “Global Women/Global Work” at 4pm at Georgetown University. Get complete details on our website at dclabor.org; click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 2013, Teachers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – on strike since early August over proposed wage cuts and loss of job security – occupied the City Council chambers before a vote on the proposed plan. A series of further actions led to an agreement that included raises for the teachers, a review of workload and curriculum requirements, and the reinstatement of all teachers who had been fired during the strike. And in 2001, Graduate student employees at Temple University in Philadelphia won union recognition. The Temple University Graduate Students Association ratified its first contract in May 2002, significantly improving graduate employment in terms of healthcare and wages, and marking the first time that graduate students in the state bargained a contract with their employer. Today’s labor quote is by George Meany “The labor movement's political activity is aimed at encouraging the greatest possible participation in elections. Democracy cannot succeed if only the rich and powerful have and use the votes.” George Meany was the key figure in the creation of the AFL-CIO and served as the AFL-CIO's first president, from 1955 to 1979. Workers at Howard University Hospital will rally to “Save The Hospital” tomorrow at 11am. Recent layoffs have the workers and their unions worried about the hospital’s future. “If we don’t fix this problem, Howard will be forced to have more layoffs until the hospital finally closes,” says Wanda Shelton-Martin, Area Director for 1199 DC.
Shelton-Martin notes that Howard University Hospital, previously known as Freedmen's Hospital, “is a historical institution” and, she says, “has served the black community in the District of Columbia for over 150 years, having been established in 1862 to cater for the medical needs of the thousands of African Americans who came to Washington during the Civil War, seeking their freedom.” Howard later became the major hospital for the area's African-American community and is one of the largest employers in the Shaw community. “Our message is that Howard is open for business,” says Shelton-Martin. “Our members are ready to serve the patients and we take pride in working at Howard.” In addition to 1199 DC, Howard University Hospital workers are represented by the DC Nurses Association and SEIU’s Interns and Residents. Read more on our website at dclabor.org, where you can also find out about the latest local labor events and actions by clicking on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1868, The Workingman's Advocate of Chicago publishes the first installment of “The Other Side,” by Martin A. Foran, president of the Coopers' International Union. It’s believed to be the first novel by a trade union leader and some say the first working-class novel ever published in the U.S. In 1886, a coalition of Knights of Labor and trade unionists in Chicago launched the United Labor party, calling for an 8-hour day, government ownership of telegraph and telephone companies, and monetary and land reform. The party elected seven state assembly men and one senator. And in 2002, California Governor Gray Davis signed legislation making the state the first to offer workers paid family leave. Today’s labor quote is by Edmund Burke “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” This quote appears at the very beginning of Martin Foran’s novel, “The Other Side.” Saying that "We must build a more just system for migrants and refugees," AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre addressed the United Nations on Tuesday. Gebre, a refugee from Ethiopia who walked 93 days through the desert as a teenager to find his freedom in America, said that "As trade unionists, we know firsthand that the protection of migrant rights is essential to achieving decent work. We continue to demand that our world leaders use this global process to help build a more equitable and prosperous world."
You can read his entire address on our website at dclabor.org On today's local labor calendar, Michael McSorley talks about how the labor movement saved him from a life of drugs, alcohol and crime, today at noon at the AFL-CIO. And then at 1, here on WPFW, this week's edition of "Your Rights At Work" features Joanna Blotner from Jews United for Justice and DC Jobs with Justice Executive Director Elizabeth Falcon on the future of the DC Paid Family and Medical Leave and Just Hours campaigns. For complete details and all the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation warning that he would order the emancipation of all slaves in any state that did not end its rebellion against the Union by January 1, 1863. In 1910, eighteen-year-old Hannah Shapiro -- called "Annie" by her fellow workers -- led a spontaneous walkout of 17 women at a Hart Schaffner & Marx garment factory in Chicago. It grew into a months-long mass strike involving 40,000 garment workers across the city, protesting 10-hour days, bullying bosses and cuts in already-low wages. In 2005, OSHA reached its largest-ever settlement agreement, $21 million dollars, with BP Products North America following an explosion at BP's Texas City plant earlier in the year that killed 15 and injured 170. And on this date in 2006, eleven Domino's employees in Pensacola, Florida formed the nation's first union of pizza delivery drivers. Today’s labor quote is by Hannah Shapiro "We all went out. We had to be recognized as people." |
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