Memorial for Byron Charlton: Sat, January 9, 1:30pm – 3:00pm

Scott Reynold memorial: Sat, January 9, 4pm – 6pm

Missed yesterday's Your Rights At Work radio show? Catch the podcast here; John Boardman (UNITE HERE 25), Jaime Contreras (SEIU 32BJ) and Mark Federici (UFCW 400) on how DC-area workers were affected by Wednesday's insurrection and how they're surviving the pandemic. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which is demanding an investigation into the federal and local police planning and response to yesterday's events and Harold Meyerson, American Prospect editor, take a deeper dive in Wednesday's events, including the difference in how authorities handled peaceful BLM protests and the violent right-wing mob as well as the short- and long-term political implications. Plus: George Mann’s “Donnie Took A Dump All Over Twitter”

“These people are not ‘protestors’, they are domestic terrorists.”
“There is no question that this is an attack on our democracy.” “Blame for this horrific event lies directly on the shoulders of President Trump and his enablers in Congress.” “These people are not ‘protestors’, they are domestic terrorists.” “Any politician who incited or promoted what happened today is no friend of workers.” “The Cabinet must immediately invoke the 25th amendment to remove the President.”
Our compilation of statements by unions about the insurrection has been updated: AFL-CIO; ACTORS' EQUITY; AFA; AFGE; ATU; Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW); IAM; IBEW; IFPTE; IUPAT (PAINTERS); North America’s Building Trades Unions’ (NABTU); NewsGuild-CWA; NNU; PRIDE AT WORK; UA (PLUMBERS); UAW; Union Veterans Council.
The quotes above are from CLUW, IBEW, IFPTE, Painters and NABTU.

Biden nominates Marty Walsh to head DOL
President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday nominated former union worker Marty Walsh to be the next Secretary of Labor. Walsh, who's been mayor of Boston since 2014, served as president of Laborers Local 223 and, before becoming mayor, headed up the Boston Building Trades.

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said that Walsh "will be an exceptional labor secretary for the same reason he was an outstanding mayor: he carried the tools." Walsh "knows that collective bargaining is essential to building back better by combating inequality, beating COVID-19 and expanding opportunities for immigrants, women and people of color," said Trumka. "He will have the ear of the White House, the Cabinet and Congress as we work to increase union density and create a stronger, fairer America."

Register now for MLK Conference
“We’re done talking about what 2020 has taken from us. Let’s talk about what we built together. Let’s talk about what we’ll fight for in 2021.” The theme for the 2021 Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference is From Protest to Power: When We Fight, We Win. “On Jan. 15 and 16, we will gather virtually to build on our victories and strategize about the continued fight for economic and racial justice with—and also within—the labor movement.” The conference is free of charge, and all sessions and trainings will be held online so that everyone can attend safely. Click here to register.

Today’s labor quote: M Kei

“Black janitors cleaning up after white insurrectionists is a summary of US history.”

M Kei is Editor of Atlas Poetica: A Journal of World Tanka; follow him on Twitter @kujakupoet.

Today's Labor History
This week's Labor History Today podcast: Cutting along the Color Line; Quincy Mills, Professor of History at the University of Maryland in College Park on black barbers, the evolution of their trade, and its political meaning as a skilled form of labor.
Last week’s show: Cordwainers strike of 1805

January 9
A Mediation Commission appointed by President Woodrow Wilson finds that "industry’s failure to deal with unions" is the prime reason for labor strife in war industries - 1918

Eighty thousand Chicago construction workers strike - 1922

Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union leads Missouri Highway sit-down of 1,700 families. They had been evicted from their homes so landowners wouldn't have to share government crop subsidy payments with them - 1939

Former Hawaii Territorial Gov. Ingram Steinbeck opposes statehood for Hawaii, saying left wing unions have an "economic stranglehold" on the islands. Hawaii was to be granted statehood five years later - 1954

The administration of George W. Bush declares federal airport security screeners will not be allowed to unionize so as not to "complicate" the war on terrorism. The decision was challenged and eventually overturned after Bush left office - 2003

January 10
In what is described as the worst industrial disaster in state history, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Mass., collapses (below), trapping 900 workers, mostly Irish women. More than 100 die, scores more injured in the collapse and ensuing fire. Too much machinery had been crammed into the building - 1860

Wobblie organizer and singer Joe Hill allegedly kills two men during a grocery store hold-up in Utah. He ultimately is executed by firing squad (His last word was “Fire!”) for the crime despite much speculation that he was framed - 1914

Former AFL-CIO President George Meany dies at age 85. The one-time plumber led the labor federation from the time of the AFL and CIO merger in 1955 until shortly before his death - 1980

The Supreme Court lets stand implementation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) despite the lack of an Environmental Impact Statement - 2004

- 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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