While many of us will spend today feasting with our families, let's take a moment to give thanks to the workers who made it possible. From the farmworkers who picked the crops to the truckers who brought the food to market and the clerks who sold it to us as well as many more whose names we'll never know and faces we'll never see. It takes many hands to make our world run; the least we can do is say a heartfelt Thank You.
Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1875, Cigarmakers’ International Union Local 144 was chartered in New York City. The local's first president was Samuel Gompers, who would later found the American Federation of Labor, which became the largest and most influential labor federation in the world, and is now the AFL-CIO. Sam Gompers was born in London, England. At the age of 10, Gompers left school and was sent to work as an apprentice cigarmaker to help earn money for his impoverished family. Owing to dire financial straits, the Gompers family immigrated to the United States in 1863, settling in Manhattan's Lower East Side. In 1864, at the age of 14, Gompers joined Cigarmakers' Local Union 15, the English-speaking union of cigar makers in New York City. Gompers later recounted his days as a cigar maker at the bench, emphasizing the place of craftsmanship in the production process, which gives us today's labor quote: "The craftsmanship of the cigarmaker was shown in his ability to utilize wrappers to the best advantage to shave off the unusable to a hairbreadth, to roll so as to cover holes in the leaf and to use both hands so as to make a perfectly shaped and rolled product. These things a good cigarmaker learned to do more or less mechanically, which left us free to think, talk, listen, or sing. I loved the freedom of that work, for I had earned the mind-freedom that accompanied skill as a craftsman. I was eager to learn from discussion and reading or to pour out my feelings in song."
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From Butterball turkeys to Pillsbury crescent rolls and Sara Lee pumpkin pies, you can stock your Thanksgiving dinner with union-made in America food and other items essential to a traditional family holiday feast. You'll find it all -- including union-made cookware and cutlery -- on our website at dclabor.org. And speaking of thanks, a big shout-out to the Union Label and Service Trades Department, Union Plus and Labor 411 for compiling their extensive catalogs of union-made products.
Here’s today’s labor history: History’s first recorded strike took place in 1170 BC, by Egyptians working on public works projects for King Ramses the Third in the Valley of the Kings. They were protesting having gone 20 days without pay—portions of grain—and put down their tools. The strike so terrified the authorities they gave in and raised wages. In 1935, Mine Workers President John L. Lewis walked away from the American Federation of Labor to lead the newly-formed Committee for Industrial Organization. The CIO and the unions created under its banner organized six million industrial workers over the following decade. And in 1956, the first meeting between members of the newly-formed National Football League Players Association and team owners took place in New York City. Union founders included Frank Gifford, Norm Van Brocklin, Don Shula and Kyle Rote. They were asking for a minimum $5,000 dollar salary, a requirement that teams pay for their equipment, and a provision for the continued payment of salary to injured players. The players’ initial demands were ignored. Today’s labor quote is by John L. Lewis “No tin-hat brigade of goose-stepping vigilantes or bibble-babbling mob of blackguarding and corporation paid scoundrels will prevent the onward march of labor, or divert its purpose to play its natural and rational part in the development of the economic, political and social life of our nation.” Frustrated DC school bus drivers are cautiously optimistic after management acknowledged their concerns and agreed to hold a town hall today. Management’s move came after the bus drivers and attendants -- members of AFSCME Local 1959 -- planned a big rally in front of the Office of the State Superintendent of Education last week. “The threat of the rally made a big impact,” Local 1959 president Corey Upchurch said. The rally was called off after management agreed to meet. “Our members are very excited to attend the town hall meeting and express our concerns,” Upchurch added. Those concerns include low morale, pay, safety, respect, and under-staffing. “Now we have a seat at the table and a commitment in writing,” said Upchurch.
It’s a quiet week because of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, but to find out about the local labor calendar, just go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1909, “The Uprising of the 20,000” took place. Some 20,000 female garment workers went out on strike in New York City, where a judge told arrested pickets: “You are on strike against God.” The walkout, believed to be the first major successful strike by female workers in American history, ended the following February with union contracts bringing better pay and working conditions. In 1919, the district president of the American Federation of Labor and two other Caucasians were shot and killed in Bogalusa, Louisiana, as they attempted to assist an African-American organizer working to unionize African-American workers at the Great Southern Lumber Company. And on this date in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Generally considered a friend of labor, Kennedy a year earlier had issued Executive Order 10988, which authorized unionization and a limited form of collective bargaining rights for most federal workers. Many states followed the example set by Kennedy. Today’s labor quote is by John F. Kennedy “Those who would destroy or further limit the rights of organized labor – those who cripple collective bargaining or prevent organization of the unorganized – do a disservice to the cause of democracy.” |
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