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WAMU staff organizes

Tell Strathmore CEO: Give workers a fair shake

Today's Labor Quote

Today's Labor History

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

Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; [link removed] click here to hear today's report

[link removed] Coalition to Repeal Right to Work: Fri, October 2, 7pm - 9pm
Special Guest Sean Perryman, Pres. of Fairfax County NAACP

[link removed] Virtual Phone Bank (NoVA Labor): Sat, October 3, 10am - 1pm

Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are teleworking; reach them at the contact numbers and email addresses [link removed] here.

Missed yesterday's Your Rights At Work radio show? [link removed] Catch the podcast here; Rochester (NY) Labor Council president Dan Maloney on the local labor movement's reaction to the killing of Daniel Prude and the need for police accountability; San Francisco Mime Troupe' Tales of the Resistance, Episode 7: Fear of the Dark: "The Rotten Orchard." Can Primo come to grips with his haunted past? Will he be able to be more than just a good cop?

WAMU staff organizes
The content staff at WAMU 88.5, D.C.'s NPR station, has decided to unionize. Eighty workers, representing 99 percent of eligible staff, signed a petition this week urging WAMU leadership and American University to recognize the union voluntarily. Staff members are working to unionize with SAG-AFTRA, which represents content employees at NPR and other member stations across the United States. "Over the years I have seen and heard of the uncomfortable and sometimes oppressive environment in several departments of WAMU," said longtime host Kojo Nnamdi. "WAMU needs to prioritize racial and gender equity. It also desperately needs its own Human Resources process that fits a radio station rather than a university." [link removed] Read more here.

Tell Strathmore CEO: Give workers a fair shake
Strathmore Arts Center appears to be using the pandemic as an excuse to fire their union workforce and repeatedly violate the union contract, reports IATSE 868. After several months of negotiations, Strathmore management and employees represented by Treasurers and Ticket Sellers Local 868 reached a tentative agreement on all provisions except one minor issue. However, the union reports that it was forced to file unfair labor practice charges against Strathmore after management reneged on their verbal agreement, imposing unilateral changes followed by sweeping job cuts. In July, Strathmore management, with newly minted CEO Monica Jeffries Hazangeles (photo) at the helm, made the decision to lay off all part time and half of their full-time employees. [link removed] Read more here and tell Strathmore to "honor their agreement with dedicated box office employees and give them back their jobs!"

Today's Labor Quote: Emilie Telander

"All the staff had more energy. I could see that everybody was happy."

In 2017, a two-year [link removed] trial experiment with six-hour days in Sweden ended. Nurses like assistant nurse Emilie Telander who worked shorter hours logged less sick leave, reported better perceived health and boosted their productivity by organizing 85% more activities for their patients, from nature walks to sing-a-longs.

Today's Labor History
This week's Labor History Today podcast: "[link removed] Despotism on Demand"
Sociologist Alex Wood on the history of the relationship between bosses and workers and how that's playing out in the age of COVID-19. On Labor History in 2: The Wreck of The Old `97.
Last week's show: [link removed] Escape on the Pearl; Black Labor Week

American Federation of Labor officially endorses campaign for a six hour day, five day workweek - 1934

Joining with 400,000 coal miners already on strike, 500,000 CIO steel workers close down the nation's foundries, steel and iron mills, demanding pensions and better wages and working conditions - 1949

Starbucks Workers Union baristas at an outlet in East Grand Rapids, Mich., organized by the Wobblies, win their grievances after the National Labor Relations Board cites the company for labor law violations, including threats against union activists - 2007

Union members, progressives and other rally in Washington DC under the banner of One Nation Working Together, demand "good jobs, equal justice, and quality education for all." Crowd estimates range from tens of thousands to 200,000 - 2010

- David Prosten

Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit Union City as the source.

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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