This is Chris Garlock, with the latest labor news, updates and history from the Metro Washington Labor Council.

(audio) "Well certainly I think we have established the new union standard.”
That’s UNITE HERE's Rachel Gumpert, talking about recent worker victories at Marriott on the AFL-CIO’s “State of the Unions” podcast.
(audio) "UNITE HERE is proud that our median wages for hotel workers are nearly double the non-union rates. And that just goes to show how much better all these hotel companies can do if they feel the need to do so. Power concedes nothing without demand and we’re going to continue bargaining to win these standards everywhere. The night that we won our settlement in San Francisco our president there Anand Singh went out to address the media and he let them know that they have other contract expirations that have already hit...and that we now know...the deal we’re going to be seeking with Hilton, with Hyatt, with every other chain. Marriott is the leader in the industry and they have set the standard and we’re going to be holding every other employer to that standard."
 
In today’s labor history, on this date in 1987, OSHA adopted a grain handling facilities standard to protect 155,000 workers at nearly 24,000 grain elevators from the risk of fire and explosion from highly combustible grain dust.  

Today’s labor quote is by Joseph "Jock" Yablonski, the United Mine Workers reformer murdered – along with his wife and daughter -- on this date in 1969 by hitmen hired by union president Tony Boyle, who was convicted of the crime and eventually died in prison.
"Jock" Yablonski, who, played by Charles Bronson in the 1986 film "Act of Vengeance," tells mine workers president Tony Boyle, played by Wilford Brimley:
“You knew that mine was unsafe; but you turned your back for a couple of bucks.”      
 
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Tucked away in a corner of the National Museum of American History is Luisa Moreno’s shawl, a fascinating piece of labor history. And at least until January 1 – when current funding runs out -- you can drop by and see it.
Luisa Moreno was a Guatemala-born labor organizer, and though she was a major figure in the pre-Chicano Movement and the American labor movement, her role is often overlooked.
She brought together more than 100 groups in 1938 for El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española, the Spanish-Speaking People’s Congress. The display at the museum features objects representing Moreno’s work as a civil rights activist and labor organizer with union pins as well as her shawl and a pamphlet to rally national attention and halt Moreno’s deportation.
You’ll find Luisa – for now -- in the American Enterprise section of the National Museum of American History.
 
In today’s labor history, on this date in 1936, auto workers began a sit-down strike for union recognition at GM’s Fisher Body plant in Cleveland.

Today’s labor quote is by Luisa Moreno, from her 1940 "Caravan of Sorrow" speech, eloquently describing the lives of migrant Mexican workers. Luisa Moreno, who said:
“These people are not aliens. They have contributed their endurance, sacrifices, youth and labor to the Southwest. Indirectly, they have paid more taxes than all the stockholders of California's industrialized agriculture, the sugar companies and the large cotton interests, that operate or have operated with the labor of Mexican workers.”
 
Union City Radio is supported by Union Plus, which offers special rebates for union members shopping for a new car or truck this holiday season. Visit unionplus.org to find out more.

Broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM

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.

Hour 1: The Trump Shutdown
Lila Johnson, cleaner and SEIU 32BJ member who usually works at Department of Agriculture/USDA but is out of work during the ongoing shutdown. 
Richard Loeb, senior policy counsel at AFGE and a former federal employee who worked for two decades at the OMB. 
Seth Couslar, vice president, federal sector at AFSCME Council 20; he’s worked at the FAA for 27 years; this is his third shutdown.
Jean Ross, Co-President at National Nurses United (discussing the Trump Administration policy that led to the deaths of children from families seeking asylum.
Harold Meyerson, executive editor, The American Prospect
Sonte DuCote, Executive Director, Metro Washington Council's Community Services Agency

Hour 2: Replay of our August 2, 2018 show featuring Boots Riley, director, “Sorry To Bother You," and Elizabeth Hempowicz, Director of Public Policy, Project On Government Oversight, on National Whistleblower Day. 
MUSIC: "The Guillotine" The Coup
Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith 

Bonita Williams wanted to buy her grandchildren a bike for Christmas.
But now the janitor who sweeps floors and scrubs bathrooms at the State Department worries she won’t be able to pay her rent because of the Trump shutdown.
“My supervisor told me we won’t be getting paid,” she told the Washington Post, “so my bills won’t be getting paid.”
Bonita is one of roughly 2,000 janitors, security guards and other federal building workers who stand to lose wages this holiday season after funding ran dry for a number of agencies, according to 32BJ SEIU, a labor union that represents 163,000 of them on the East Coast.
Bonita’s grandchildren got that bike after all, thanks to the generosity of folks who read about her plight in the Post, but as the shutdown continues, she and thousands of other federal workers are still worried about making their rent, car and life insurance payments on top of keeping food on the table.
On today’s labor calendar, tune in today at 1pm when I’ll be hosting a special edition of “Your Rights At Work” focusing on the Trump Shutdown. My guests will include workers affected by the shutdown, including Bonita Williams. Plus American Prospect editor Harold Meyerson and your calls. That’s today starting at 1pm here on WPFW 89.3 FM.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1952, country music legend Hank Williams attended what would be his last musicians’ union meeting, at the Elite (“E-light”) café in Montgomery, Alabama. He died of apparent heart failure three days later in the back seat of a car driving north; he was just 29.

Today’s labor quote is by Hank Williams’ grandson, Shelton Hank Williams, from his song “Workin’ Man”:
I woke up this mornin', kissed my wife goodbye
I pray to god that i'll make it home safe tonight
It's a dangerous job but i take that risk
I'll trade my blood and sweat just to feed my kids
I've been working for the man since a tender age
Now a rich politician wants to lower my wage
Pour me a drink so i can understand
These are the struggles of a working man
 
Union City Radio is supported by Union Plus, which offers special rebates for union members shopping for a new car or truck this holiday season. Visit unionplus.org to find out more.