Happy New Year!

News: There’s still time to sign up for the Community Services Agency’s bowling tournament, coming up January 25. The fun event benefits CSA’s Emergency Assistance Fund, which helps local needy families. 
Join a team or form your own! Go to dclabor.org and click on Community Services for details and to register.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1931, sixty thousand unemployed workers rallied at a Pittsburgh stadium.
In 1969, United Mine Workers reformer Joseph "Jock" Yablonski, his wife and daughter were murdered by hit men hired by union president Tony Boyle, who was to be convicted of the crime and eventually die in prison.

Today’s labor quote is by Murray Finley:
I believe in building a better world – not just a better house or more material things for myself – but to better people’s lives. And I believe trade unions are necessary to preserve the American way of life. I don’t think we can have a free democratic society without a free democratic labor movement.
Murray Finley was president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union from 1976 to 1987; he led the final, innovative campaign that forced the J. P. Stevens Company to accept union contracts in 1980.

News: Cartoonist Barry Deutsch’s great comic, “Ten Reasons We’re Against Unions” was one of the most popular posts on the AFL-CIO’s blog in 2014. The comic pokes gentle fun at common arguments against unions. One panel shows a worker asking “other than weekends, lunch breaks, overtime pay, parental leave, pension plans, higher wages, and sick leave, what good have unions ever done?” In another panel, a worker says “Who’d want more power at work?” Check it out at aflcio.org/Blog

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1875, women weavers formed a union in Fall River, Massachusetts.  
In 1920, John L. Lewis was elected president of the United Mine Workers. Fifteen years later he became a leader in the formation of what was to become the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO.
In 1966, members of the Transport Workers Union and Amalgamated Transit Union working for the New York City transit system began a successful 12-day strike.

Today’s labor quote is by John L. Lewis:
I am an American, free born, with all the pride of my heritage. I love my country with its institutions and traditions.  With Abraham Lincoln, I thank God that we have a country where men may strike. May the power of my government never be used to throttle or crush the efforts of the toilers to improve their material welfare and elevate the standard of their citizenship.

News: Trash haulers serving routes across Montgomery County and southern Howard County went on strike at 5 a.m. last Friday. They called on their employer, Unity Disposal, to negotiate a fair contract. “We work hard and we provide a vital public service,” said Unity driver Martin Puesan. “Yet too many of us struggle to provide for our families on what Unity pays us. These should not be poverty-level jobs.” Unity employees voted to form a union with Laborers’ Union Local 657 more than 9 months ago; negotiations over a first contract have stalled. Supporters are urged to call Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s office at 240-205-7176 and ask him to call on Unity to negotiate a fair contract.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1899, 33 railroad clerks gathered in the back room of Behrens’ cigar shop in Sedalia, Missouri to form Local Lodge Number 1 of a union they named the Order of the Railroad Clerks of America. 
In 1905, Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg, who had brutally suppressed the state’s miners, was killed by an assassin's bomb. Legendary Western Federation of Miners and IWW leader Big Bill Haywood and two other men were put on trial for the death but were ultimately declared innocent .
And in 1936, the GM sit-down strike spread to Flint, Michigan; it would last 44 days before ending in union victory.

Today’s labor quote is by IWW leader William "Big Bill" Haywood:
”If the workers are organized, all they have to do is to put their hands in their pockets and they have got the capitalist class whipped."

Free classes for union and agency reps in the DC public sector are available at the 2015 Second Tuesdays at PERB series. Taught by John Higgins, former member and acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board and Adjunct Lecturer in Labor Law at Catholic University, the series includes topics like Unfair Labor Practices, Arbitration Review Requests and Conducting Elections. Check out the 2015 schedule by going to dclabor.org and clicking on calendar. Space is limited and early registration is encouraged.

Here’s today’s labor history:
On this date in 1970, after years of intensive lobbying by the labor movement, a comprehensive national safety law was enacted as President Richard Nixon signed the Occupational Safety & Health Act, creating the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, or OSHA.

And in 2006, more than 15,000 United Steel Workers who worked at 16 Goodyear Tire & Rubber plants ended an 86-day strike, ratifying a three-year contract.

Today’s labor quote is by populist Jim Hightower:
“The good news is that out in the countryside, just about every place that's got a zip code has somebody or some group of people battling the economic and political exclusion that Wall Street and Washington are shoving down our throats.”