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MontCo paratransit workers prepare for strike

Class for DMV labor candidates set for Sept. 7

UnionPlus limited edition union pin available

Union Voice/Readers Write: Buck Hill lives!

Today's Labor History

Today's Labor Quote

LABOR CALENDAR; [link removed] click here for latest listings

Union City Radio: 7:15a M-F; WPFW-FM 89.3

WPFW's ARISE Labor Edition: Fri, August 30, 9am - 10am
WPFW FM 89.3 or online [link removed] wpfwfm.org
Guests: Shawna Bader-Blau, Executive Director, Solidarity Center & Jason Walsh, Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance.

Greenbelt Labor Day Festival: Fri, August 30, 6:00pm - 11:30pm; Sat, August 31, 10:30am - 10:00pm; Sun, September 1, 12pm - 10pm; Mon, September 2, 11am - 6pm
Greenbelt Aquatic & Fitness, 101 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770

NoVA Labor Annual Labor Day Picnic: Sun, September 1, 12pm - 3pm
Fort Hunt Park, 8999 Fort Hunt Rd, Alexandria, VA 22308

2019 "Workers Rising" WPFW Labor Day Special: Mon, September 2, 8am - 12pm
WPFW 89.3 FM or stream online at [link removed] wpfwfm.org
Hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant: 8a: Labor music; 9a: Labor Radio/Podcast Network Roundtable; 10a: How to tip; labor Down Under; ghost workers; 11a: Labor history online and on-air

Greenbelt Labor Day Parade: Mon, September 2, 10am - 12pm
The parade route is along Crescent Road, from Greenhill Road to Southway.

Our Lady Queen of Peace Labor Day Mass (VA): Mon, September 2, 11am - 12pm
2700 S. 19th St., Arlington, VA

81st Annual Gaithersburg Labor Day Parade: Mon, September 2, 11:30am - 3:00pm
UFCW 1994, 600 S. Frederick Ave. Gaithersburg, MD

Alexandria Dems Labor Day Picnic: Mon, September 2, 12pm - 4pm
Fort Ward Park (Area 2), 4301 W. Braddock Rd., Alexandria, VA

Arlington County Dems Labor Day Chili Cook-off: Mon, September 2, 2pm - 5pm
Lyon Park Community Center, 414 N Fillmore St, Arlington, VA 22201

DC Labor Chorus Labor Day Concert: Mon, September 2, 2pm - 5pm
New Deal Cafe, 113 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770

Falls Church City Democratic Committee Annual Labor Day Ice Cream Social: Mon, September 2, 2pm - 4pm
Pavilion Area, Cherry Hill Park, 312 Park Ave., Falls Church VA

Baltimore Symphony Musicians picket line (Day 79): Tue, September 3, 9:30am - 11:00am
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, 1212 Cathedral St, Baltimore, MD 21201

Labor Live@5: Pam Parker (with Michael Raitzyk): Tue, September 3, 5pm - 6pm
WPFW 89.3FM

MontCo paratransit workers prepare for strike
Dozens of MetroAccess workers based out of Gaithersburg picketed WMATA subcontractor Challenger Transportation on Tuesday. The workers voted unanimously to join the Amalgamated Transit Union in August 2018 and have been attempting to negotiate a fair first contract ever since. In June, they voted to authorize a strike, and Tuesday's practice picket was one of several steps the ATU will take to ensure members are "strike ready" should Challenger continue to refuse to settle a fair deal. "My sister is disabled," said State Senator Jeff Waldstreicher who walked the picket line with Delegate Gabriel Acevero. "If she gets picked up, I want her to know she has a fully-vetted person picking her up...who is making a living wage and will take care of her. I'm proud to stand with you and proud to stand with ATU."

Class for DMV labor candidates set for Sept. 7
The Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO is hosting an Inaugural Municipal Class for Labor Candidates on September 7 at IBEW Local 26's union hall in Lanham, MD. "This is your call to Stand Up and Be Counted by finding and recruiting members in your union to become Maryland's Wave of Union Members Winning Political Offices," said State Fed president Donna Edwards. Metro Washington Council president Jackie Jeter urged "Every metro-area union local to join the effort" to recruit local union members to run for elected office. The State Fed is targeting municipal races this Fall, identifying what Legislative/Political Director Chuck Cook called "high electability possibilities" in eight Maryland cities, including Aberdeen, Bel Air, Bowie, Delmar, Denton, Greenbelt, Greensboro and Pittsville. Email mailto:[email protected] [email protected] for more details on the Sept. 7 class and requirements for potential candidates.

UnionPlus limited edition union pin available
This Labor Day, [link removed] Union Plus is celebrating union members with a 2019 commemorative pin. Through September 6, 2019, you can request one pin per person while supplies last. To request this free, union-made pin, visit [link removed] unionplusgiveaway.org and complete the form; you'll receive your limited-edition pin in 4-8 weeks. "We encourage you to spread union pride by sharing this exclusive offer with your union member friends," says Union Plus. "Thank you for all you do and have a wonderful Labor Day!"

Union Voice/Readers Write: Buck Hill lives!
"It's so rare that I ask a question (silently) and get an answer (very publicly) in the same news cycle!" writes Ann Hoffman. "I saw the saxophonist on the side of a building on 14th Street a day or two ago when driving downtown. As is often the case, I asked myself two questions: who is that man and has that mural always been there but I just never saw it before. And along comes Union City ([link removed] Cool jazz, mural and remembrances honor saxophonist letter-carrier Buck Hill 8/27 UC) and answers both questions - without making me feel dumb. Bless you my cultural guide!"

"Buck Hill delivered Council 26's mail when our office was on K Street," writes Carl Goldman. "He probably delivered the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, Local 35's mail too, because they were in the same building. He was a really nice guy and great sax player. I am glad to see that he is being honored with mural."

Today's Labor Quote: Franklin Roosevelt

"Taxes, after all, are the dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society."

Roosevelt's Wealth Tax Act, increasing taxes on rich citizens and big business and lowering taxes for small businesses, passed on this date in 1935.

Today's Labor History

[link removed] Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast. On this week's show: Heidi Thomas on the history of rodeo women; Frances Perkins' labor landmarks; Common revisits MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech; labor and civil rights activists unite to desegregate Glen Echo Amusement Park.

August 30

Delegates from several East Coast cities meet in convention to form the National Trades' Union, uniting craft unions to oppose "the most unequal and unjustifiable distribution of the wealth of society in the hands of a few individuals." The union faded after a few years - 1834

August 31
John Reed forms the Communist Labor Party in Chicago. The Party's motto: "Workers of the world unite!" - 1919

10,000 striking miners began a fight at Blair Mountain, W.Va., for recognition of their union, the UMWA. Federal troops were sent in, and miners were forced to withdraw 5 days later, after 16 deaths - 1921

The Trade Union Unity League is founded as an alternative to the American Federation of Labor, with the goal of organizing along industrial rather than craft lines. An arm of the American Communist Party, the League claimed 125,000 members before it dissolved in the late 1930s - 1929

Solidarity workers movement founded as a strike coordination committee at Lenin Shipyards, Gdansk, Poland. The strike launched a wave of unrest in the Soviet Union that ultimately led to its dissolution in 1991 - 1980

325,000 unionists gathered in Washington, D.C. for a Solidarity Day march and rally for workplace fairness and healthcare reform - 1991

Detroit teachers begin what is to become a nine day strike, winning smaller class sizes and raises of up to four percent - 1999

September 1
Congress declares Labor Day a national holiday - 1894

30,000 women from 26 trades marched in Chicago's Labor Day parade - 1903
The AFL-CIO creates Working America, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization designed to build alliances among non-union working people - 2003

September 2
Mineowners bomb West Virginia strikers by plane, using homemade bombs filled with nails and metal fragments. The bombs missed their targets or failed to explode - 1921

President Eisenhower signs legislation expanding Social Security by providing much wider coverage and including 10 million additional Americans, most of them self-employed farmers, with additional benefits - 1954

Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit Union City as the source for all news items and www.unionist.com as the source for Today's Labor History.

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. JACKIE JETER, PRESIDENT.

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