A 14-year lawsuit between Fire Fighters Local 36 and the District government was resolved Saturday when DC Mayor Muriel Bowser signed a settlement agreement. Before signing the agreement, Bowser donned firefighting gear and, along with other firefighters and with Smith at her side, entered a burning training building at the D.C. Fire and EMS Training Academy in Southwest, saying "It gives me a good appreciation for what the men and women do every single day.” The settlement helps ensure that firefighters are paid for the overtime that they have already worked and earned, said Mayor Bowser. The District will now pay Local 36 members time and a half for overtime. Union members are owed some $45 million in back pay, dating back to 2001. Local 36 president Ed Smith thanked Bowser for settling the long-running dispute, saying that "It means the world to the men and women who serve the District residents every day and night."
On today's Labor Calendar, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler will speak about the current status of working women today at 9:30am, highlighting some of the challenges working women face in the workplace today and outlining solutions. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1904, the New York City subway opened; it was the first rapid-transit system in America. More than 100 workers died during the construction of the first 13 miles of tunnels and track. In 1935, three strikes on works-relief projects in Maryland were underway today, with charges that Depression-era Works Projects Administration jobs were paying only about 28 cents an hour—far less than was possible on direct relief. Civic officials in Cumberland, where authorities had established a 50-cent-per-hour minimum wage, supported the strikers. And in 1951, the National Labor Council was formed in Cincinnati to unite Black workers in the struggle for full economic, political and social equality. The group was to function for five years before disbanding, having forced many AFL and CIO unions to adopt non-discrimination policies. Today’s labor quote is by folksinger Woody Guthrie: “Any song that points out something that is wrong, needs fixing, and shows you how to fix it – is the undying song of the working people. If it is made a little jazzy or sexy that ain’t wrong – what book could you read to a crowd that would make them dance?”
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