Just hours before a planned strike vote yesterday, union negotiators for thousands of area supermarket workers announced a tentative settlement. Pensions were the key issue at stake in months of negotiations that went down to the wire, and UFCW Local 400 said that “By sticking together and demanding a fair contract, we stopped Safeway from gutting our pension.” Local 400 president Mark Federici added that “This would not have been possible without a united union membership willing to take a stand.” For details on all the latest local labor events listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. In today’s labor history, on this date in 1886, the Knights of Labor picketed to protest the practices of the Southwestern Railroad system, and the company's chief, high-flying Wall Street financier Jay Gould. Some 9,000 workers walked off the job, halting service on 5,000 miles of track. The workers held out for two months, many suffering from hunger, before they finally returned to work. Today’s labor quote is from Joe Hill’s song “There Is Power In A Union” which first appeared in the “Little Red Song Book,” published by the Wobblies on this date in 1913, and sung here by John McCutcheon: Would you have freedom from wage slavery Then join in the grand, Industrial band Would you from mis'ry and hunger be free Then come! Do your share, like a man There is pow'r, there is pow'r In a band of workingmen When they stand, hand in hand That's a pow'r, that's a pow'r That must rule in every land One Industrial Union Grand Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. If you’ve ever wished you could complete your bachelor’s degree, but just couldn’t find the time or the money, with the new Union Plus Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program, union members and their family members can complete a bachelor’s degree online for little to no cost. Classes start every 8 weeks, and Spring classes start March 9. Visit unionlowcostdegrees.org to learn more.
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