News: In the latest video from the American Federation of Government Employee’s “I Am AFGE” series we meet Audrey Townsend, the women’s coordinator for AFGE Local 383 in Washington, D.C., which represents DC government employees. Townsend says the fact that women get paid 77 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts isn’t just a statistic. It’s a call to action. Says Townsend: “My job is to represent them and to represent to the D.C. City Council that women deserve the same equal pay as men, I would ask them, ‘Would you want your daughter making less than her brother?’ It’s important that everyone have the same equal playing field, without gender being a factor.”
Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1906, the first sit-down strike in the United States was called by the IWW at General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y. And on this date in 1948, International Human Rights Day was established to commemorate the signing at the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, in part: “Everyone has the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests.” Today’s labor quote is by George Meany: "We in the labor movement know that you don't have to be a union member to support the doctrine of human rights, but we also know that without human rights there can be no free labor movement." George Meany served as President of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) from 1952 to 1955. As President of the AFL, he proposed in 1952 and managed in 1955 its merger with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and served as President of the combined AFL-CIO from 1955 to 1979.
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News: The strike continues by 2,000 members of the IBEW and the CWA in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont who are employees of FairPoint Communications. The strike began on October 17th after management at northern New England’s largest telecommunications provider demanded more than $700 million from the workers and then walked away from the bargaining table. The striking workers are facing a tough winter; for details on how to support their struggle, go to dclabor.org
The AFL-CIO announced last week that Senator Elizabeth Warren will deliver the keynote address during the first-ever National Summit on Wages next month. The January 7 summit will be an extended, eclectic discussion about policies and strategies to raise wages in America, including significant interaction with a planned audience of more than 300. The focus will be solving the dilemma of income inequality by raising wages throughout America. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 2001, ratification of a new labor agreement at Titan Tire of Natchez, Mississippi ended the longest strike in the history of the U.S. tire industry, which began May 1, 1998, at the company's Des Moines, Iowa, plant. Today’s labor quote is by former professional unionbuster Martin Jay Levitt: “I come from a very dirty business...the enemy was the collective spirit. I got hold of that spirit while it was still a seedling. I poisoned it, choked it, bludgeoned it if I had to, anything to make sure it would never blossom into a united work force.” Former professional unionbuster Martin Jay Levitt is the author of the 1993 book "Confessions of a Union Buster" News: A broad coalition of activists will hit the streets of downtown DC at noon today to protest the TPP. No, they’re not against toilet paper; TPP stands for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the latest massive corporate power grab that would set rules governing nearly half the global economy. Critics warn that the TPP poses dire consequences for the economy, environment and public health both at home and abroad. The noontime rally is outside the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative at 17th and F Streets NW, where trade negotiators from throughout the Pacific Rim are meeting behind closed doors.
Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1886, twenty-five unions founded the American Federation of Labor in Columbus, Ohio; And on this date in 1993, President Bill Clinton signed The North American Free Trade Agreement, promising hundreds of thousands of jobs that have never shown up. Today’s labor quote is from the preamble to the American Federation of Labor’s founding constitution in 1886: "Whereas, A struggle is going on in all the nations of the civilized world between the oppressors and the oppressed of all countries, a struggle between the capitalist and the laborer, which grows in intensity from year to year, and will work disastrous results to the toiling millions if they are not combined for mutual protection and benefit." News: On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, young union activists showed up at a Leesburg senior center to deliver…iPods? Members of Northern Virginia Young Emerging Labor Leaders partnered with Music and Memory to donate 20 iPods to help improve the lives of those suffering with age-related cognitive disorders.
“You just see people’s faces light up and a part of them wakes up,” said Cacci Greenfield of CWA. “It was also moving to hear their loved ones talk about the difference it makes,” she added. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1955, the two largest labor federations in the United States ended a 20-year split, merging to form the AFL-CIO, with a membership estimated at 15 million. And on this date in 1999, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney welcomed the collapse of World Trade Organization talks in Seattle, declaring, "No deal is better than a bad deal." Today’s labor quote is by American journalist and writer Robert Kuttner: "You can be fired because somebody else is willing to do the job for less, or because the company is moving to Singapore, or because the boss had a bad breakfast. If anything, the new economy makes individuals more vulnerable. Only one mechanism institutionalizes fair play and the opportunity to voice workplace grievances without fear of retaliation – a union." Kuttner is the co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine. |
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