Worker’s Voice/Readers Write: Straight talk from CAP
“I am sending to you a note to let the Council know my appreciation for (Claimant Advocacy Program attorney) Tonya Love's help,” writes Kurt Stand. “One of my fellow booksellers was unable to receive unemployment for about 10 weeks (and) had it not been for Tonya's help, she might still have been without. When fellow booksellers and I were confronted with a possible return to work in what was felt to be unsafe conditions, everyone had questions about unemployment; Tonya answered them all, a clarification deeply appreciated as people wanted/needed real information upon which to base our decisions.”
Another chance at “Waging Change”; Sayles’ baseball film next
Nearly 100 turned out for Tuesday night’s DC LaborFest screening of “Waging Change,” introduced by filmmaker Abby Ginzburg. A lively Q&A followed, with One Fair Wage president Saru Jayaraman (photo) and National Policy Campaign Director Nikki Cole. “We all need to support the effort to end the tipped minimum wage so that no workers are forced to live off their tips,” said Jayaraman. Adding to the pandemic crisis, many such workers do not qualify for unemployment insurance because their actual wages were too low or because of their immigration status. If you missed the screening, it’s playing at the Women Make Movies Virtual Film Festival May 22-31. Director John Sayles will introduce “Eight Men Out” at next week’s DC LaborFest screening on May 26; register here.
Union Voice/Readers Write: History repeats
"'Today in Labor History' (5/20) was the same as yesterday, May 19," writes Perry Levin.
Actually we had the right history for May 20, it was on Tuesday (5/19) that we mistakenly ran the next day's history. Here's what should have run on May 19:
Explosion in Coal Creek, Tenn. kills 184 miners - 1902
Shootout in Matewan, W. Va. between striking union miners (led by Police Chief Sid Hatfield) and coal company agents. Ten died, including seven agents - 1920
The Steel Workers Organizing Committee, formed by the Congress of Industrial Organizations, formally becomes the United Steelworkers of America - 1942
31 dockworkers are killed, 350 workers and others are injured when four barges carrying 467 tons of ammunition blow up at South Amboy, New Jersey. They were loading mines that had been deemed unsafe by the Army and were being shipped to the Asian market for sale - 1950
Today's Labor Quote: Emma Goldman
Italian activists and anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, widely believed to have been framed for murder, went on trial on this date in 1921. They were eventually executed as part of a government campaign against dissidents.
Emma Goldman, who said: “Vanzetti was right when he declared that his execution was his greatest triumph, for all through history it has been the martyrs of progress that have ultimately triumphed. Where are the Caesars and Torquemadas of yesterday? Who remembers the names of the judges who condemned Giordano Bruno and John Brown? The Parsons and the Ferrers, the Saccos and Vanzettis live eternal and their spirits still march on.”
Today's Labor History
This week’s Labor History Today podcast: “The Long Deep Grudge: A Story of Big Capital, Radical Labor, and Class War in the American Heartland”
Labor historian, activist and writer Toni Gilpin's rich history detailing the bitter, deep-rooted conflict between industrial behemoth International Harvester and the uniquely radical Farm Equipment Workers union. "The Long Deep Grudge" makes clear that class warfare has been, and remains, integral to the American experience, providing up-close-and-personal and long-view perspectives from both sides of the battle lines.
PLUS: David Fernandez-Barrial, Saul Schniderman and Hazel Dickens on the Matewan Massacre.
Last week’s show: “Strike for Your Life!”; labor history’s lessons for the COVID-19 crisis
The “Little Wagner Act” is signed in Hawaii, guaranteeing pineapple and sugar workers the right to bargain collectively. After negotiations failed a successful 79-day strike shut down 33 of the territory’s 34 plantations and brought higher wages and a 40-hour week - 1945
Nearly 100,000 unionized SBC Communications Inc. workers begin a four-day strike to protest the local phone giant’s latest contract offer - 2004
- David Prosten; photo from RaceFiles
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