The House Education and Labor Committee on Wednesday passed the Protect the Right to Organize Act, the most-comprehensive pro-worker rewrite of U.S. labor law in decades. All the committee’s Democrats voted for it and all the Republicans voted against it.
“What is keeping” workers from unionizing, said Committee Chairman Bobby Scott, “are toothless labor laws, aggressive employer opposition to unions, and relentless political attacks that have dismantled workers’ right to organize.”
While the Pro Act is also expected to pass the Democratic-run House, the Republican-run Senate is another matter. Corporate contributors to congressional Republicans are expected to mount a large and expensive lobbying campaign against it, just as they spent millions of dollars a decade ago to stall the last labor law rewrite try, the Employee Free Choice Act.

For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1892, 29 strike leaders were charged with treason – plotting, quote, "to incite insurrection, rebellion & war against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" unquote – for daring to strike the Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, Pennsylvania. Jurors refused to convict them.  

Today’s labor quote is by Mother Jones, who on this date in 1899 organized the wives of striking miners in Arnot, Pennsylvania to descend on the mine with brooms, mops and clanging pots and pans. They frightened away the mules and their scab drivers and the miners eventually won their strike.
Mother Jones, who said:
“No matter what the fight, don't be ladylike! God almighty made women and the Rockefeller gang of thieves made the ladies.”

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Union members get exclusive savings on award-winning SimpliSafe with the new Union Plus Home Security Program. Protect what matters most. Visit unionplus.org/homesecurity.

(rally/march audio)
Those were some of the sounds from just two of the six union rallies and marches this past Tuesday. The first was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at the noontime rally of federal workers on Capitol Hill; the second was janitors marching for a contract in Ballston later that afternoon. The day began with the UAW strike picket line at the White Marsh transmission plant, and later that morning, bus drivers picketed in Lorton, Virginia, fighting for higher pay and respect on the job. Then members of UNITE HERE 23 picketed at USDA as they geared up for a contract fight. And SEIU members rallied to support GMU workers that afternoon. Six different events, but they’re all linked by one thing: workers are fed up with being pushed around, with being disrespected, with being taken advantage of. They’re fighting back and here on Union City Radio we’ll continue to spread the word of their struggles.

Speaking of which, on today’s labor calendar, the UAW strike picketing continues from 6am to 2pm today in White Marsh, SEIU janitors will rally at 4:30 in Arlington and tonight at 7 you can welcome the Baltimore Symphony Musicians back home at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.
And this just in: the UAW has expanded their pickets and will be out this weekend from 10am to 2pm on Saturday and Sunday.
For complete details and all the latest labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.
In today’s labor history, on this date in 2002, twenty-nine west coast ports locked out more than 10,000 workers, closing the ports for 10 days.

Today’s labor quote is by Clara Lemlich, one of the leaders of the Uprising of 20,000, the massive strike of shirtwaist workers in New York's garment industry thaty began on this date in 1909. Clara Lemlich, who said:
"I have listened to all the speakers, and I have no further patience for talk. I am a working girl, one of those striking against intolerable conditions. I am tired of listening to speakers who talk in generalities. What we are here for is to decide whether or not to strike. I make a motion that we go out in a general strike." 

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Union members get exclusive savings on award-winning SimpliSafe with the new Union Plus Home Security Program. Protect what matters most. Visit unionplus.org/homesecurity.

​photo by Chris Garlock/Union City

Broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM

Hosted by 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:
Carl Goldman (AFSCME, ret) and UAW 229 shop steward Guy White, reporting live from the UAW picket line in White Marsh, MD.
“Case Closed” with David Schloss, injury attorney and partner in the law firm of Koonz McKenney Johnson & DePaolis LLP
Mark Gruenberg, PAI News, on the passage of the Pro Act by a key House panel.
Plus listener calls -- including Raymond reporting on the successful strike by LiUNA 1310 at Advanced Auto -- and these headlines: A French Worker Died After Sex on a Business Trip. His Company Is Liable; Express, commuter newspaper published by The Washington Post, shuts down after 16 years.

Produced by Chris Garlock and Peter Pocock; engineered by Ciera Shine. 

Kaiser Permanente has reached a tentative agreement with its workers on a four-year contract, averting planned strikes across the country. The contract agreement affects 83,000 workers in seven states – including Virginia and Maryland -- as well as the District of Columbia. The agreement includes across-the-board raises, protects healthcare benefits, and makes no changes to pensions or retiree medical coverage. It also insures that all future Kaiser workers get the same wage rates and benefits as existing workers and includes strong protections against subcontracting and outsourcing jobs. If ratified by coalition members, the contract will take effect October 1.

On today’s labor calendar, tune in at 1 o’clock this afternoon for this week’s edition of Your Rights At Work, when Ed Smith and I will take your calls about workplace rights and catch up on the latest labor news.
For complete details and all the latest labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In 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.

Today’s labor quote is by Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa, who said
"Rome wasn't built in a day, but man, did they get a break on the labor."    

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Union members get exclusive savings on award-winning SimpliSafe with the new Union Plus Home Security Program. Protect what matters most. Visit unionplus.org/homesecurity.

(audio) “I think that there is fresh momentum for labor law reform.”
That’s Veena Dubal, UC Hastings Associate Law Professor, on the latest edition of the State of the Unions podcast.
(audio) “there’s great statistics right now about how positively the American public has viewed organized labor. And as you know the past year has seen more strikes than we have since the 1980s and I don’t think that all of these three things...the case for labor law reform, the positive perspective that Americans have for organized labor, and the number of strikes, I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that all these things are happening at the same time.”
You can hear more on the latest State of the Unions, the AFL-CIO’s podcast; just search and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

On today’s labor calendar,
The UAW strike picket continues today from 6am to 2pm at the GM White-Marsh transmission plant in White Marsh, Maryland;
and at 12:30 check out the Pre-release book launch of “Can We Defeat Dog Whistle Politics?” at the AFL-CIO;
For complete details and all the latest labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1891, two African-American sharecroppers were killed during an ultimately unsuccessful cotton-pickers strike in Lee County, Arkansas. By the time the strike had been suppressed, 15 African-Americans had died and another six had been imprisoned. A white plantation manager was killed as well.  
Today’s labor quote is by Lewis Hine, the American photographer born on this date in 1874. Lewis Hine, who said:
“There is work that profits children, and there is work that brings profit only to employers. The object of employing children is not to train them, but to get high profits from their work.”

​Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Union members get exclusive savings on award-winning SimpliSafe with the new Union Plus Home Security Program. Protect what matters most. Visit unionplus.org/homesecurity.

After a 96-day lockout over the summer, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its musicians have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract proposal. The deal was expected to be approved yesterday by members and management.

On today’s labor calendar, the noontime Fed UP! Rise UP! Rally and Lobby Day on Capitol Hill is the highlight of a day of labor actions around town that begins with a 9am picket with ATU 689 bus drivers in Lorton. UNITE HERE 23 will picket at USDA at 2pm and then at 4:30, there’s a rally and march for SEIU 32bj Building Services Workers in Arlington.
For complete details and all the latest labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1918, Canada declared the Wobblies – members of the International Workers of the World – illegal.

Today’s labor quote is from the IWW’s constitution, which says;
“The working class and the employing class have nothing in common.  There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people, and the few who make up the employing class have all the good things of life.”

​Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Union members get exclusive savings on award-winning SimpliSafe with the new Union Plus Home Security Program. Protect what matters most. Visit unionplus.org/homesecurity.

Last Thursday, as Congress held a historic hearing on DC Statehood, the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO reiterated its longstanding support for voting rights for DC citizens.
“The struggles for voting rights and workers’ rights in our nation’s capital are one and the same,” said Council president Jackie Jeter. “The metro-area labor movement stands shoulder-to-shoulder with every DC citizen in this battle. The fight for a voice at the ballot box in the District of Columbia is the same as the fight for a voice at work. We shall not be silenced!”

On today’s labor calendar, the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women meets tonight starting at 6pm at the On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina in Bowie, Maryland. For details and all the latest labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date 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.  

Today’s labor quote is by California Governor Gray Davis, who on this date in 2002 signed legislation making the state the first to offer workers paid family leave. Gray Davis, who said:
''Californians should never have to make the choice between being good workers and being good parents.''
​
Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Union members get exclusive savings on award-winning SimpliSafe with the new Union Plus Home Security Program. Protect what matters most. Visit unionplus.org/homesecurity

(audio) This is a huge deal.
That’s UC Hastings Associate Law Professor Veena Dubal, whose work helped pave the way for the passage last week of AB 5, landmark pro-worker legislation in California.
(audio) The California Supreme Court really said okay...we’re going to change the test for wage order, but we’re not going to change the test for other employment and labor law purposes, so not for workers’ compensation or unemployment insurance or discrimination, etcetera.
And what AB 5 does is says no; this is a simple test. Workers and employers need clarity across the board and so we’re going to extend this test to all California labor and employment laws. And it is a really big deal because it is seen as the first state regulation that was passed in the aftermath of the invention of the so-called Platform Gig Economy that really seeks explicitly to protect workers.
You can hear more about this landmark legislation – and the ongoing strike against GM – on State of the Unions, the AFL-CIO’s podcast; just search and subscribe to "State of the Unions" on Google Play Music, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and anywhere else you can find podcasts.

On this weekend’s labor calendar, labor walks in Virginia, labor films at the Latin American Film Festival, and the final performances of “The Moment Was Now” labor musical;
For details and all the latest labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1891, African American sharecroppers affiliated with the Colored Farmers’ National Alliance and Union struck for higher wages and an end to peonage in Lee County, Arkansas. By the time a white mob – led by the local sheriff – put down the strike, more than a dozen people had been killed.

Today’s labor quote is by Israelmore Ayivor, a Youth Leadership Coach, Leadership Entrepreneur, Author and Speaker.
Israelmore Ayivor, who said:
“Don't give up! It seems difficult to you, right? Why not do something little about it every? A little strike each day can chop down big trees. Give it a try!”
​        
Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. The 2020 Union Plus Scholarship application is now open and available to current and retired members, their spouses and their dependent children. Visit unionplus.org/scholarship.

That was music by locked-out Baltimore Symphony Orchestra musicians playing at Tuesday night’s Bread and Roses fundraiser concert at the Takoma Busboys and Poets. Percussionist Brian Prechtl told the packed audience that talks are underway with BSO management and he’s hopeful that a settlement will come soon. Meanwhile, picketing continues today outside the BSO in Baltimore, starting at 8:30 this morning.
Also on today’s labor calendar, tune in at 1 o’clock this afternoon for this week’s edition of Your Rights At Work, when we’ll take your calls and check out the latest labor news.

For details and all the latest labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.
​
In today’s labor history, on this date in 1885, Chinese coal miners were forced out of Black Diamond, Washington.

Today’s labor quote is by Lane Kirkland, AFL-CIO President, at the  Solidarity Day rally held on this date in 1981, when as many as half a million unionists converged on Washington for a massive march and rally protesting Republican policies. Lane Kirkland, who said:
“We're here to remind our elected representatives that they were put there to serve, not the faceless marketplace, but the aspirations of real people.”     

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. The 2020 Union Plus Scholarship application is now open and available to current and retired members, their spouses and their dependent children. Visit unionplus.org/scholarship.

Broadcast on WPFW 89.3 FM

Hosted by 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:
Guy White and Jackie Parncutt: UAW strike at GM
Brian DeWyngaert: AFGE rally next Tuesday
Bob Samet: Case Closed
Harold Meyerson: Walmart To Go Union! Exxon To Abandon Fossil Fuels!
Jaime Contreras: 10,000 Janitors Start Contract Talks

Produced by Chris Garlock and Peter Pocock; engineered by Chris Bangert-Drowns. |
Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus, FIND OUT MORE AT UNIONPLUS.ORG