For more than three decades, Roger Wendell “Buck” Hill walked DC’s streets delivering mail by day but at night he was “The Wailin’ Mailman,” a saxophonist who accompanied such greats as Miles Davis, Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie. Hill, a longtime member of Letter Carriers Branch 142, was honored Tuesday at a noontime ceremony – kicked off, of course, with live jazz -- at the Reeves Municipal Center when a 70-foot-tall mural of him wearing his Letter Carrier uniform and playing his sax was unveiled on a building at 14th and U Streets NW as the city declared August 27 “Buck Hill Day.” Hill was so popular for his personality, his work and his sax playing that when he first tried to retire, the Postal Service wouldn’t let him do so. Hill played his sax in Europe early in his career, but “wanted to stay in DC to care for his family and because he could always come home,” his daughter-in-law told Union City Radio. Now, with the mural on the wall at 14th and U, Buck will never leave home, though his music, of course, belongs to the world. Here he is, playing Someone Like That In Your Life (audio) On today’s labor calendar… Locked-out Baltimore Symphony Orchestra musicians picket at 8:30 this morning… and tune in at 1pm this afternoon for this week’s edition of Your Rights At Work. We’ll launch a brand-new feature and preview my Labor Day special, and take listener calls, as usual. For details and all the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. In today’s labor history, on this date in 1996, dancers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady Club voted to unionize. Their first union contract guaranteed work shifts, protection against arbitrary discipline and termination, automatic hourly wage increases, sick days, a grievance procedure, and removal of one-way mirrors from peep show booths. The club closed on Labor Day 2013. Today’s labor quote is by Ramona Falls, organizer for Minneapolis’ chapter of Sex Workers Outreach Project, after the Minneapolis City Council recently passed an ordinance that will improve working conditions for adult entertainers. Ramona Falls, who said: “I think this is a welcome first step towards building a community in which sex workers can expect transparency and accountability in their workspaces and from their elected representatives.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Union members get exclusive savings on award-winning SimpliSafe with the new Union Plus Home Security Program. Protect what matters most. Visit unionplus.org/homesecurity.
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