The fight to win justice for Las Vegas hotel workers returns to the nation's capital today when another solidarity picket will be held at the new Trump hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. Donald J. Trump himself will be on hand for the hotel's grand opening and hundreds of union supporters are planning to turn out to demand that Trump bargain with the workers at Trump's hotel in Las Vegas. The workers there voted to join the union, but Trump is ignoring the election results and refusing to bargain. The picket line begins at 11 am at Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street.
Complete details on all the latest local labor calendar listings are at dclabor.org; click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1825, after eight years and at least 1,000 worker deaths—mostly Irish immigrants—the 350-mile Erie Canal opened, linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. Today’s labor quote is by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka “Donald Trump’s a disrespectful hypocrite, and we stand in solidarity with the workers at Trump Hotel Las Vegas. His unwillingness to bargain with the hard-working people who make his hotel successful is shameful. It tells you all you need to know about his feelings toward all working people.”
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Members of Unite Here Local 25 who work at DC-area hotels and restaurants were among those testifying at last Friday’s Metro hearing in support of late-night service. “Our members come in early and get off late,” said Local 25 President John Boardman. “Without full Metro hours we can’t get to work or get home.” Outside WMATA headquarters, local activists -- including riders and union members -- turned out to show support for keeping metro open late. Another hearing will be held this Thursday at 1p.
On today's labor calendar, three terrific events: At 5:30, the AFL-CIO hosts a discussion on "The Role of Athletes in Racial and Social Justice"; Carmen Berkley, the AFL-CIO director of civil, human and women’s rights will lead the discussion with NBA veteran and author Etan Thomas; Baltimore Ravens tight end and NFL Players Association Vice President Benjamin Watson; and author and sports editor of The Nation Dave Zirin. At 6, Mindy Fried talks about her book "Caring for Red: A Daughter’s Memoir" at the Takoma Busboys and Poets. And at 6:30, the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life convenes "Left Behind: Working Class Families and Communities," a dialogue focusing on the economic realities, political impact, and moral dimensions regarding the national neglect of working-class families and communities. All the events are free; for 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 1899, what many believe to be the first formal training on first aid in American history took place at the Windsor Hotel in Jermyn, Pennsylvania, when Dr. Matthew J. Shields instructed 25 coal miners on ways to help their fellow miners. Upon completion of the course each of the miners was prepared and able to render first aid. The training led to decreases in serious mining injuries and fatalities. In 1934, some 25,000 silk dye workers struck in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1990, the Tribune Company began a brutal 5-month-long lockout at the New York Daily News, part of an effort to bust the newspaper’s unions. And in 2011, after a two-year fight, workers at the Bonus Car Wash in Santa Monica, California, won a union contract calling for pay increases, better breaks and other gains. Today’s labor quote is by Oliverio Gomez Oliverio Gomez, a carwashero at the Bonus Car Wash who told the Los Angeles Times that “They didn’t treat us like people.” Arleen Winfield retired from her 37 year-long career at the Department of Labor in 2006. But don’t let the word 'retired' fool you. As an active member of a local club that engages in grassroots mobilization and advocacy work in Washington, Winfield is very busy. Earlier this month, she visited the national office of the American Federation of Government Employees for a similar purpose: to help establish a network of AFGE retirees across the country. “I’m sad when I hear people talking badly about the government and unions,” she said while balancing a plate of brownies on her lap. “It’s the union that built the middle class in this country,” she added. Winfield was among two dozen people who attended AFGE’s first retiree reception. “These are people who have dedicated their lives to public service and organizing is in their blood," said Julie Tippens, AFGE's retiree director. "They have spent much of their lives lifting up the voices of working people and have been on the front lines of the labor and civil rights movements for decades."
Read our complete story -- and see photos of these active union retirees -- on our website at dclabor.org Labor's Get Out the Vote phonebanks continue today; for details on 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 1940, the 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act, signed by President Roosevelt two years earlier. The Act also banned oppressive child labor and set the minimum hourly wage at 25 cents. Against a history of judicial opposition -- including the Supreme Court -- the depression-born law had survived more than a year of Congressional altercation. Today’s labor quote is by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a "fireside chat" the night before signing the Fair Labor Standards Act: "Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day, ...tell you...that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry." Two generous contributions this month highlight ongoing efforts by the Metro Washington Labor Council’s Community Services Agency to increase general contributions this year to support basic operations. CSA works to improve the lives of workers and their families by meeting their human and social services needs; by building broad and diverse coalitions to promote and protect dignity and justice for workers; and by empowering workers and their unions to make their communities better, more responsive places to live, work, raise a family and retire. The Food and Allied Service Trades Metro Washington Council and the United Mine Workers of America both made significant contributions to CSA this month. The contributions "show that ‘Labor Cares- Labor Shares’ is more than a slogan,” said CSA Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy, “it’s a reality here in our community, and the support for DC-area working families is most definitely needed and appreciated.” Find out more about CSA on our website at dclabor.org, click on Community Services.
With just a few weeks to go before Election Day, phonebanks to get out the labor vote continue today and throughout the weekend at both the AFL-CIO and NoVA Labor; for 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 1933, Wisconsin dairy farmers began their third strike of the year in an attempt to raise the price of milk paid to producers during the Great Depression. Several creameries were bombed before the strike ended a month later. The economy eventually improved, allowing the farmers to make more money. On October 23, 2001, local postal workers Joseph Curseen and Thomas Morris died nearly a month after having inhaled anthrax at the Brentwood mail sorting center in Washington, D.C. Other postal workers had been made ill but survived. Letters containing the deadly spores had been addressed to U.S. Senate offices and media outlets. Today’s labor quote is by Monsignor John A. Ryan "Effective labor unions are still by far the most powerful force in society for the protection of the laborer’s rights and the improvement of his or her condition. No amount of employer benevolence, no diffusion of a sympathetic attitude on the part of the public, no increase of beneficial legislation, can adequately supply for the lack of organization among the workers themselves." John Augustine Ryan was a leading Catholic priest who was a noted moral theologian, professor, author and advocate of social justice. |
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