Airport workers with SEIU Local 32BJ rallied at National Airport yesterday to demand a living wage. They also organized a social media campaign aimed at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which has the power to force contractors to pay their workers $15 an hour. "Every worker, including the workers at DCA, deserves to earn a wage they can live off – and that’s $15," the union says. The workers and their union urged supporters to share airport worker Charlie Wells' story on Facebook and on Twitter. Wells, who was profiled in the Washington Post last week, has spent years living in a homeless shelter and has slept at the airport because he hasn’t been paid enough to live in the DC area. "The more people who are aware of Charlie’s story," said Local 32BJ, "the likelier MWAA is to ensure contracted workers like him receive the $15 wage they deserve!"
Today's local labor calendar is packed, from phonebanks at the AFL-CIO and NoVA Labor, to the Prince Georges and Montgomery County COPE meeting. And of course this week's edition of "Your Rights at Work" at 1pm here on WPFW 89.3 FM, featuring ATU 689 president Jackie Jeter on how transit workers are handling the challenges of SafeTrack. For details on the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1845, some 5,000 female cotton workers in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania struck for the 10-hour day. The next day, male trade unionists became the first male auxiliary when they gathered to protect the women from police attacks. The strike ultimately failed. And in 1962, President Kennedy signed off on a $900 million-dollar public-works bill for projects in economically depressed areas. Today’s labor quote is by John F. Kennedy "The American labor movement has consistently demonstrated its devotion to the public interest. It is, and has been, good for all Americans."
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Author Mike McSorley, ATU 689 president Jackie Jeter, The Case of the Tardy Veterinary Assistant and “The L&N Don't Stop Here Any More” by June Carter Cash. Chris Garlock and Ed Smith host; produced by Peter Pocock, engineering by Michael Nassella.
Mike McSorley is a retired member of SMART Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 19 (Philadelphia). Mike grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia in a union family that had direct ties going back to Samuel Gompers, John L. Lewis and George Meany. But as a young man Mike was drawn to the streets and became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Hear the rest of his story, which he recounts in detail in his new memoir titled "We’ll See." McSorley speaks at the AFL-CIO at noon on September 22. Jackie Jeter, president of ATU 689, talks about the challenges facing Metro workers during SafeTrack. Labor Song: The L&N Don't Stop Here Any More - June Carter Cash FROM THE CAP FILES: The Case of the Tardy Veterinary Assistant with Lolita Martin of the Claimant Advocacy Program A local animal hospital fired a veterinary assistant for excessive tardiness. After denial of her unemployment benefits, the employee appealed. The court found that the employee had indeed been tardy; find out how a Claimant Advocacy Program attorney won the case. The DC Nurses Association wrapped up the summer with both an internal and external focus.
On August 25th, DCNA leaders and staff gathered for an organizing training class. Of particular interest was the presentation from Nela Hadzic at the North East Nurses Association, who described how organizing campaigns in Pennsylvania over the past 18 months have increased membership in the Pennsylvania Nurses Association to 8,000. DCNA Executive Director Ed Smith reports that “Attendees at the training committed to serve on an organizing committee with the goal to increase organizing at our own hospitals and institutions and to unionize nurses in the DC area.” Then, on August 31st, DC nurses donated $500 to the Montgomery Housing Project to assist families affected by the gas explosion in the Flower Branch apartments. On today's labor calendar, airport workers with SEIU Local 32BJ will rally and march to demand a living wage, starting at 3:30pm in the Terminal A lobby at National Airport. For 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 1929, textile mill striker and songwriter Ella May Wiggins, a 29-year-old mother of five, was killed during the Loray Mill Strike in Gastonia, North Carolina, shot to death by local vigilantes. In 1933, a striker was shot by a bog owner -- who was also a town-elected official -- during a walkout by some 1,500 cranberry pickers, members of the newly-formed Cape Cod Cranberry Pickers Union Local 1. State police were called, more strikers were shot and 64 were arrested. The strike was lost. And in 1959, Congress passed the Landrum-Griffin Act. The law expanded many of the anti-labor provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, increasing union reporting requirements and restricting secondary boycotting and picketing. Today’s labor quote is by Ella May Wiggins, testifying in Washington about labor practices in the South: "I’m the mother of nine. Four died with the whooping cough, all at once. I was working nights, I asked the super to put me on days, so’s I could tend ‘em when they had their bad spells. But he wouldn’t. I don’t know why. ... So I had to quit, and then there wasn’t no money for medicine, and they just died." You won’t want to miss tonight’s free screening of “Blood on the Mountain” at Busboys and Poets in Takoma Park.
A searing investigation into the economic and environmental injustices that have resulted from industrial control in West Virginia, this brand-new documentary details the struggles of a hard-working, misunderstood people, who have historically faced limited choices and have never benefited fairly from the rich, natural resources of their land. Blood On The Mountain delivers a striking portrait of a fractured population, exploited and besieged by corporate interests, and abandoned by the powers elected to represent them. Jeff Biggers, writing in The Huffington Post, says that “Blood on the Mountain captures (the) blatant disregard for the health and lives of coal miners — and the mountains they call home — as a timely reminder of the legacy of an essentially outlaw industry and its 150-year reign in West Virginia.” “Blood on the Mountain” screens free at 6pm at the Takoma Busboys, and will also feature appearances by the film’s director and producer. You can see the film’s trailer -- and RSVP to attend -- 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 1926, the Post Office Department ordered 25,000 railway mail clerks to shoot to kill any bandits attempting to rob the mail. In 1971, eleven AFSCME-represented prison employees and 33 inmates died in four days of rioting at New York State’s Attica Prison and the retaking of the prison. The riot caused the nation to take a closer look at prison conditions, for inmates and their guards alike. Today’s labor quote is by Jim Hightower “Politics isn't about left versus right; it's about top versus bottom.” Jim Hightower is an American syndicated columnist, progressive political activist, and author. |
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