Local labor leaders have been taking a turn in the spotlight at the AFL-CIO convention this week in St Louis. Delegates at the convention passed a resolution calling for Medicare for All on Monday, after Registered Nurse Sandra Falwell -- a Vice President at the National Nurses Union and member of the Metro Washington Council's Executive Board -- recalled a tragic story of a premature child born at Childrens Hospital, whose parents had to take out a second mortgage yet still couldn't pay for needed aftercare. And yesterday, on the final day of the convention, a resolution on safe jobs and the need to address workplace violence passed after Metro Washington Council president Jackie Jeter (right) -- who also heads up the local transit workers union -- spoke in its support. On today's labor calendar, catch this week's edition of Your Rights At Work here on WPFW at 1pm this afternoon, and tonight at 6pm DC Jobs With Justice's "I'll Be There" Awards will be held at the All Souls Unitarian Church; Complete details on our website, dclabor.org, click on calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1825, after eight years and at least a thousand worker deaths—mostly Irish immigrants—the Erie Canal opened, linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. Today’s labor quote is by Eugene V. Debs, who said: "What can Labor do for itself? The answer is not difficult. Labor can organize, it can unify; it can consolidate its forces. This done, it can demand and command." Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which is committed to improving the quality of life for all working families; find out more at unionplus.org.
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Hosts: Chris Garlock, with Ed Smith JOIN US AT 202-588-0893 Also, if you miss our live show – or want to hear a past show – Your Rights At Work is now available as a podcast! Just search for Union City Radio on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts; subscribe and you’ll get our shows right on your phone! Guest: Carlos Jimenez (in-studio); reporting on AFL-CIO convention, including the demand for a “Workers' Bill of Rights” and why “Labor Rights Protections in Trade Deals Don’t Work” Labor Song: Fats Domino - Blue Monday ('Live From Austin TX' performance) CREDITS: engineered by Robin Smith; Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus. UnionPlus is committed to improving the quality of life of working families. Find out more at unionplus.org. And we’re supported by you, our listeners: call 202-588-9739 or 1-800-222-9739 or pledge online at wpfwfm.org. photo by Chris Garlock They’ve survived hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and civil wars – but now Donald Trump plans to throw them out of the U.S.
But not if the nation’s construction unions can help it. “They” are some 329,000 people who have entered the U.S. since the start of this century on “Temporary Protected Status,” or TPS. They’re not permanent residents, they’re not undocumented workers, they don’t hold green cards and they have to keep reapplying to stay here. They work legitimately and openly in the U.S., and many are construction union members. Ejecting them would slam workers and hurt unions, say leaders of the building trades, who are lobbying Congress and the administration this week to allow their members to work at their jobs and have time with their families. On today's labor calendar, the film "From The Land of Gandhi" screens free at the Shirlington Busboys and Poets tonight, with director Prakash Wadhwa. Complete details -- and the latest labor events -- on our website, dclabor.org, 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. Today’s labor quote is by Franklin Roosevelt, who said: “No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which is committed to improving the quality of life for all working families; find out more at unionplus.org. This week is National Retirement Security Week. But according to the National Public Pension Coalition, the reality is that many working families are not saving at all and are woefully unprepared for retirement. Much of the problem stems from lack of access to a retirement savings plan through an employer. At any given time, roughly half of working Americans do not have a retirement savings plan through their job. Among workers who do have a retirement savings plan at work, there has been a significant shift over the past three decades from pensions to 401(k)-style plans. As of last year, just 17% of workers were covered by a pension, a remarkable shift that has a real impact on people’s retirement security.
On this weekend’s labor calendar, former Virginia Congressman Tom Perriello will be joined by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring at tomorrow’s NoVA Labor Canvass, starting at 9am. Complete details at dclabor.org, click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1926, Eugene V. Debs, U.S. labor leader and socialist, died in Elmhurst, Illinois. His “radical” ideas included an 8-hour workday, pensions, workman's compensation, sick leave and social security. Today’s labor quote is by Eugene Debs, who said: “I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.” Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which is committed to improving the quality of life for all working families; find out more at unionplus.org. |
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