LABOR CALENDAR
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report
DC LaborFest screening: Pride: Tue, June 2, 7pm – 9pm
via Zoom; FREE: RSVP here
DC “Workers First Caravan” (POSTPONED! Stay tuned for updates/details soon); Wed, June 3
Alexandria Dems Labor Caucus: Wed, June 3, 7:30pm – 8:30pm
Via Zoom
Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are teleworking; reach them at the contact numbers and email addresses here.
Racism’s insidious role in the working lives of people of color
“The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police is a reminder that racism plays an insidious role in the daily lives of all working people of color,” the AFL-CIO said yesterday. “This is a labor issue because it is a workplace issue. It is a community issue, and unions are the community. We must and will continue to fight for reforms in policing and to address issues of racial and economic inequality.” America faces a crisis on three critical fronts, said the national labor federation; “A public health pandemic, an economic freefall and long-standing structural discrimination. As a labor movement, we must attack all three with precision and purpose.” The AFL-CIO added that it was postponing the Workers First Caravan until later in June, “to create the space for and contribute to the national conversation around racial justice happening right now.”
Today's Labor Quote: Richard Trumka
“The labor movement is not a building. We are a living collection of working people who will never stop fighting for economic, social and racial justice. We are united unequivocally against the forces of hate who seek to divide this nation for their own personal and political gain at our expense. We will clean up the glass, sweep away the ashes and keep doing our part to bring a better day out of this hour of darkness and despair.”
From the AFL-CIO President's June 1 statement on the AFL-CIO building (which was hit by fire and vandalism in Sunday night protests) and justice for George Floyd.
Today's Labor History
This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Minneapolis general strike; “Mongrel Firebugs and Men of Property”
Political scientist and historian Michael Munk connects what’s going on in Minneapolis today with the general strike that took place there in 1934. Plus: Steve Fraser, author of the new book “Mongrel Firebugs and Men of Property: Capitalism and Class Conflict in American History”; With the AFL-CIO car caravans originally planned for this Wednesday (now postponed) to demand swift action on the pending Heroes bill in Congress to help American workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Meany Archives Ben Blake reveals that the labor movement has used this technique effectively in the past. The latest episode of the “En Masse” podcast takes us inside the New England quarries nearly a century ago, and we celebrate the life of Rosie the Riveter.
Last week’s show: “Politics of the Pantry”; “We Just Come to Work Here”
Twenty-six journeymen printers in Philadelphia stage the trade’s first strike in America over wages: a cut in their $6 weekly pay - 1786.
A constitutional amendment declaring that "Congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age" was approved by the Senate today, following the lead of the House five weeks earlier. But only 28 state legislatures ever ratified the amendment -- the last three in 1937 -- so it has never taken effect - 1924
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that President Harry Truman acted illegally when he ordered the Army to seize the nation’s steel mills to avert a strike - 1952
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and Textile Workers Union of America merge to form Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union – 1976
- David Prosten
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Published by the Metropolitan Washington Council, an AFL-CIO "Union City" Central Labor Council whose 200 affiliated union locals represent 150,000 area union members.
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