LABOR CALENDAR
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report
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
Union City Radio: Your Rights at Work: Thu, June 4, 1pm – 2pm
WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online
AFSCME Council 3 Eastern Shore Caravan to Fund the Frontlines: Thu, June 4, 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Food Lion, 12158 Brittingham Ln, Princess Anne, MD 21853
Arlington Dems Labor Caucus: Thu, June 4, 6pm – 7pm
Via Zoom
Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are teleworking; reach them at the contact numbers and email addresses here.
Public outcry forces Kroger to drop demands for “Emergency Pay” repayment
Supermarket workers at Kroger recently reported receiving collection letters from the company alleging that they were overpaid “emergency pay” while on sick leave, and demanding the workers pay the company back. Their union, UFCW Local 400, investigated each case thoroughly and were preparing to file grievances against the company, but after an exposé in Dissent Magazine featuring a Local 400 member sparked an outcry from workers and customers on social media, the company backed down. The union said it was pleased Kroger had come to its senses and urged the company to “focus their attention on extending ‘hero pay’ until this crisis is over.”
Read more here.
Today's Labor Quote: ATU Local 689
“Let us never forget that the conditions that built many of our unions (including: civil unrest, widespread unemployment, mass demonstrations) are not too different from today. Our unions weren’t given to us but were the result of incredible sacrifices.”
From the union's statement.
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”
International Ladies Garment Workers Union founded – 1900
A Federal child labor law, enacted two years earlier, was declared unconstitutional – 1918
- 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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