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

UAW strike picket: Fri, October 4, 6am – 2pm; Sat, October 5, 10am – 2pm; Sun, October 6, 10am – 2pm
GM White-Marsh transmission plant, 10301 Philadelphia Road, White Marsh, MD. If you take Rt. 43 east off of 95, get off of 43 onto the Philadelphia road exit.

Labor 2019 Book Symposium : Solidarity: Latin America and the US Left in the Era of Human Rights: Fri, October 4, 1:00pm – 3:30pm
Intercultural Center (ICC) 450 | Georgetown University 37th & O Streets N.W., Washington, DC 20057 RSVP here

SEIU 32BJ Rally for Building Services workers: Fri, October 4, 4:30pm – 6:00pm
8133 Leesburg Pike Vienna, VA. In front of CVS

Virginia Labor Walks: Sat, October 5, 9am – 12pm
NOVA Labor Office 4536 – B John Marr Dr., Annandale, VA
UA Local 110 Hall 7812 Warwick Blvd., Newport News, VA
Ironworkers Local 79 Hall, 5307 E. Virginia Beach Blvd., Norfolk, VA
CWA Local 2201 Hall, 5809 Lakeside Ave., Richmond, VA
SMART 100 Hall 2101 Dale Ave. SE, Roanoke, VA
photo: at Tuesday's SEIU32BJ rally in DC; photo by Chris Garlock/Union City

VA labor walks set new records for turnout
“This election is going to determine our outcome for 2020,” says UFCW Local 400’s Felicia Miller, Labor 2019 Central Virginia Zone Lead. “We have a chance to take the House and the Senate and people are really enthused about this election. We are going to continue to get out there and get all of our members to support so that we can get all of the right candidates to protect and advance the lives of the working class folks." Last week’s Saturday canvasses across the state continued to break records, turning out over 100 union activists “to ensure that other union members know about what they ‘autumn’ know about what's at stake during this year's election for them and their unions,” reported the Virginia AFL-CIO. The walks continue tomorrow in five locations (see Calendar, above).

Project Homeless Connect “Means a whole lot” for area residents
“It means a whole lot when you can get a flu shot, see a dentist, get an ID and information on housing and on top of all that, get a haircut!” said Anthony Prophet. Prophet was one of hundreds of Community Services Agency clients who attended yesterday’s United Way National Capital Area’s Project Homeless Connect. “Helping metro area residents get flu shots was a rewarding experience,” said DCNA member Kim Greenwood, who joined CSA Executive Director Sonte DuCote at the event. “It was great to volunteer for the United Way and meet up with so many partners here,” said DuCote.

Remembering the Great Sit-Down Strike of 1937
With the UAW’s strike against Ford now in its third week, it’s a good time to remember the union’s battles for recognition, including the sit-down strikes against General Motors that were settled by the union in February 1937. Friday’s Folklore’s Saul Schniderman sent in this link to a BBC documentary about how the United Auto Workers defeated General Motors in the Great Sit-Down Strike of 1937, which includes women's roles in settling the strikes.

Today's Labor Quote: Richard Trumka

On this date in 1989, the United Mine Workers of America voted to re-affiliate with the AFL-CIO. Trumka, who led the Mine Workers – and who would go on to be elected president of the AFL-CIO a decade later – said the Mine Workers have "always been affiliated with a national labor federation when such an affiliation was in the best interests of our membership."
The Mine Workers had been in and out of the federation over the years, leaving the AFL to form the CIO in 1937, quitting the CIO five years later, rejoining the AFL in 1946 and then quitting again in December 1947, when Mine Workers founder John L. Lewis slipped his now-famous note to AFL President William Green that read: "Green -- A.F. of L. We disaffiliate. 12-12-47.”
photo: Trumka joins striking UAW members on the picket line in Bedford, Indiana on October 1

Today's Labor History

Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast. Professor Jim Gregory on his innovative project to map American social movements online. Georgetown labor history professor Joe McCartin joins hosts Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant on a show originally broadcast on Labor Day 2019 on WPFW 89.3FM. The project, Gregory says, “allows us to see where social movements were active and where not, helping us better understand patterns of influence and endurance.”

Oct 4
Work begins on the carving of Mt. Rushmore, a task 400 craftsmen would eventually complete in 1941. Despite the dangerous nature of the project, not one worker died - 1927

President Truman orders the U.S. Navy to seize oil refineries, breaking a 20-state post-war strike - 1945

Oct 5
A strike by set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, Calif. when scabs try to cross the picket line. The incident is still identified as "Hollywood Black Friday" and "The Battle of Burbank" - 1945

The UAW ends a three-week strike against Ford Motor Co. when the company agrees to a contract that includes more vacation days and better retirement and unemployment benefits - 1976

Polish Solidarity union founder Lech Walesa wins the Nobel Peace Prize - 1983

2,100 supermarket janitors in California, mostly from Mexico, win a $22.4 million settlement over unpaid overtime. Many said they worked 70 or more hours a week, often seven nights a week from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. Cleaner Jesus Lopez told the New York Times he only had three days off in five years - 2004

Oct 6
First National Conference of Trade Union Women - 1918

1,700 female flight attendants win 18-year, $37 million suit against United Airlines. They had been fired for getting married - 1986

Thirty-two thousand machinists begin what is to be a successful 69-day strike against the Boeing Co. The eventual settlement brought improvements that averaged an estimated $19,200 in wages and benefits over four years and safeguards against job cutbacks - 1995

Labor history courtesy 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. JACKIE JETER, PRESIDENT.

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