Contracted service workers at National Airport and Dulles last week voted to walk off the job on strike against their employer, Huntleigh Corporation. The group, represented by SEIU 32BJ, plans to picket at both airports soon. Workers will attend the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority's meeting this Wednesday. They've been waiting for a vote on their demand that the Authority ensure that all contractors pay their workers $15 an hour; they currently earn as little as $6.15/hr plus unreliable tips.
 
On today's labor calendar, Cecily McMillan discusses "From Occupy Wall Street to Resisting Trump" tonight at 6pm at the Takoma Busboys & Poets, where copies of her memoir, "The Emancipation of Cecily McMillan," will be available for sale. 
For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.
 
Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1924, Samuel Gompers, president and founder of the American Federation of Labor, died in San Antonio, Texas, where he had been rushed after falling ill in Mexico City while attending the inauguration of the new president of Mexico.

Today’s labor quote is by Sam Gompers
Sam Gompers, who said "Do I believe in arbitration? I do. But not in arbitration between the lion and the lamb, in which the lamb is in the morning found inside the lion."

Seventeen Georgetown students staged a sit-in last Thursday to protest Georgetown’s licensing contract with Nike apparel. Nike has refused to sign the university’s Licensee Code of Conduct and submit to third-party monitoring by the Worker’s Rights Consortium.

The Metro Washington Council last week joined local, state and national labor leaders and their allies across the country in demanding an end to Donald Trump's attacks on Steelworkers Local 1999 president Chuck Jones. Trump went after the Indianapolis steelworker after Jones told The Washington Post  that Trump had, quote unquote, “lied his ass off” when he claimed he had saved 1,100 jobs at the Carrier furnace plant in Indianapolis from going to Mexico. “What nobody’s mentioning is 550 people are losing their jobs,” Jones said, adding that 700 other positions at a different Indiana plant would be moving to Mexico. 
Read more on our website at dclabor.org

Here’s today's labor history:
On this date in 1964, nine million French workers – more than half of the country’s workforce – participated in a nationwide strike of public service workers over stagnating wages under President Charles de Gaulle’s government.

In 2006, a U.S. immigration sweep of six Swift meat plants resulted in arrests of nearly 1,300 undocumented workers. 

​Today’s labor quote is by John Lennon
John Lennon, who said "A working class hero is something to be."

The holiday giving spirit is alive and well in the local labor movement. 
Drivers and mechanics at the Fairfax Connector – members of ATU Local 1764 -- are continuing their annual tradition of collecting toys and jackets for needy children in the area. IATSE 22 – the stagehands union -- is conducting a clothing drive to benefit the victims of the Flower Branch apartment explosion. 
"People are always generous and giving in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy," says Local 22's Paul Kent. "But as time goes on, the sense of urgency tends to fade. These people still need our help, especially in the face of the approaching winter." 
The Metro Washington Council's Community Services Agency is also accepting donations for their annual holiday basket project.
Read more – and see a photo of ATU 1764 Shop Steward Mike Taylor dressed up as Santa Claus -- on our website at dclabor.org

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 Bayard Rustin
“When labor speaks of free medical care, it is saying we need it for blacks who do not have it and whites who are concerned that they will have to pay for giving it to them. When labor calls for full employment, it is talking about blacks who are without jobs and whites who want to protect the ones they have. When labor says we must build more homes, it is seeking to create a society where the black brother need not be enraged because he does not have a home and the white need not fear for the home he has.”
Bayard Rustin was a black social activist and a founding member of the Congress of Racial Equality and Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Hosts:  Chris Garlock and Ed Smith

Guests:
Carlos Jimenez on why labor is rallying around United Steelworkers Local 1999 president Chuck Jones, the target of attacks on Twitter by President-elect Donald Trump.
Lane Windham, on her American Prospect piece: The Workers’ Menace Becomes the Commuters’ Threat about Transportation Secretary nominee Elaine Chao, a right-wing ideologue who was George W. Bush's secretary of labor.
Leslie Tolf, author “When The Rules Aren’t Right” and former head of UnionPlus; “a rollicking, radiant, and radical graphic novel primer on labor rights, activism, and people power. 

Labor Song: Finest Work Song: REM (guitarist Peter Buck 60th birthday was earlier this week)

FROM THE CAP FILES: Attorney Lolita Martin and THE CASE OF THE MISSING RULES

​The show airs live on WPFW at 1p every Thursday or subscribe to the podcast here. Peter Pocock produces the show, Michael Nassella engineers and UFCW 400's Jonathan Williams designed the podcast logo.