Broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM; also available as a podcast on Itunes, Stitcher, OverCast, etc.

Hosted by Chris Garlock and Peter Pocock
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: 
John Costa, President of the Amalgamated Transit Union, and ATU Local 689 president Ray Jackson report on the ongoing Transdev strike, issues with Transdev around the country, plus an update on the Martha’s Vineyard strike last summer.
Al Neal: Nats win World Series; robo-umps & domestic violence
Plus: Mark Gruenberg with the latest labor news headlines.

Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella

What with all the ghouls and goblins out tonight, Halloween is a spooky time but what’s really scary for local transit workers is that Fairfax County taxpayers are now subsidizing a private company’s strikebreaking operation. 
French multinational Transdev is already being struck by more than 130 workers who are members of ATU Local 689 at the WMATA Cinder Bed Road Facility in Lorton, Virginia. 
This Monday, the union received word that the Fairfax Connector was being used by Transdev to run routes that have been shut down by the MetroBus strike.
This means that Fairfax Connector workers are being coerced by Transdev management to undermine their striking sisters and brothers. ATU Local 1764 picketed in Fairfax yesterday and plan to take their own strike vote next week. 

On today’s labor calendar, striking Transdev bus drivers continue their picket line in Lorton, VA; we’ll check in with them and get a labor angle on the World Series on this week’s edition of Your Rights At Work at 1pm here on WPFW; for details and the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. 

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1891, the state of Tennessee sent in leased convict laborers to break a coal miners strike in Anderson County. The miners revolted, burned the stockades, and sent the captured convicts by train back to Knoxville. 

Today’s labor quote is by George Henry Evans, who published the first issue of the Working Man’s Advocate on this date in 1829.
Evans said his paper was focused on the inequities between what he described as the “portion of society living in luxury and idleness” and those “groaning under the oppressions and miseries imposed on them.”

You can support Union City Radio – and all the great programming here at WPFW – by making a generous contribution today; call 202-588-9739 or go to wpfwfm.org and Thank You!

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. If you’ve ever thought you could use some legal advice, think about enrolling in the Union Plus Legal Program for access to a nationwide network of attorneys at a low price. Take advantage of even lower pricing during open enrollment now until November 30. Visit unionplus.org/legal.

Fully fund UMC, contract with a responsible operator and ensure a full slate of health services at the new hospital in Ward 8. 
Those were the demands of the DC Health Justice Coalition at a DC City Council hearing last Friday. 
The Coalition, made up of unions and community organizations, gathered at the Council to demand full-service, high-quality healthcare for residents of Wards 7 and 8. 
Before the Committee on Health heard more than four hours of testimony, coalition leaders rallied on the Wilson Building steps to draw attention to the healthcare crisis facing DC. 
Find out more at dchealthjustice.com.

On today’s labor calendar, Transdev bus drivers continue their strike today; picketing all day in Lorton, VA; for details and the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. 

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1986, Ed Meese, attorney general in the Ronald Reagan administration, urged employers to begin spying on workers to try to catch them using drugs, quote, "in locker rooms, parking lots, shipping and mail room areas and even the nearby taverns," unquote.

Today’s labor quote is by writer Sebastian Junger, who wrote the book, “The Perfect Storm,” about the fishing boat Andrea Gail, out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, which on this date in 1991 was caught in ferocious storm and lost at sea with her crew of six. The city of Gloucester has lost more than 10,000 whalers and fishermen to the sea over its 350-year history. 
Sebastian Junger, who said: 
“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary. It's time for that to end.”

You can support Union City Radio – and all the great programming here at WPFW – by making a generous contribution today; call 202-588-9739 or go to wpfwfm.org and Thank You!

Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus.  If you’ve ever thought you could use some legal advice, think about enrolling in the Union Plus Legal Program for access to a nationwide network of attorneys at a low price. Take advantage of even lower pricing during open enrollment now until November 30. Visit unionplus.org/legal.

(audio, chanting)
Here are some voices from the ongoing strike by Transdev workers at WMATA's Cinder Bed Bus Garage in Lorton, Virginia.
(audio)
Those were some of the voices from the strike by bus drivers in Lorton, Virginia, including Amalgamated Transit Union president John Acosta, mineworkers president Cecil Roberts, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre and of course the strikers and their supporters.
(audio, we’re still here)
 
The strikers are picketing daily in Lorton; for details and the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1929 Wall Street crashed on "Black Tuesday," throwing the world's economy into a years-long crisis including an unemployment rate in the U.S. that by 1933 hit nearly 25 percent.   

Today’s labor quote is by Oscar Owens, the ATU Secretary-Treasurer who passed away last week after a brief illness. Oscar Owens, whose signature call-to-arms was:
"Fired up and ready to go"

You can support Union City Radio – and all the great programming here at WPFW – by making a generous contribution today; call 202-588-9739 or go to wpfwfm.org and Thank You!
 
Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. If you’ve ever thought you could use some legal advice, think about enrolling in the Union Plus Legal Program for access to a nationwide network of attorneys at a low price.Take advantage of even lower pricing during open enrollment now until November 30. Visit unionplus.org/legal.
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