Coalition to Repeal "Right to Work": Fri, January 7, 7pm – 8pm
Coalition of more than 50 organizations that want to repeal the Jim Crow-era "right to work" law in order to allow Virginia workers to freely organize unions.

Missed this week’s Your Rights At Work radio show? Catch the podcast here. One year after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Capitol Police resist privatization and AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler on the fight for democracy. EPI Policy Analyst Margaret Poydock on why unions are not only good for workers, they’re good for communities and for democracy. This week’s music: The Selecter’s “All You Fascists Are Bound To Lose”.

“Landslide win” for labor-backed Burroughs in PG District 8

Labor-endorsed candidate Edward Burroughs swept to a landslide victory in the Prince George’s County Council District 8 Democratic Special Election primary Tuesday with an unofficially reported 71% of the vote. “Thousands of union voters made the difference for Ed,” said Metro Washington Labor Council president Dyana Forester. A broad coalition of unions, coordinated by the Metro Washington Labor Council, came together to back Burroughs, a lifelong Prince George's County resident and long-standing supporter of working families. Union members from across the region turned out over the holidays to canvass and phonebank. Burroughs will be the Democratic nominee in the special general election on February 1.
photo by Kayla Mock, UFCW 400

Remembering Jan. 6: Sign the pledge to protect voting rights
By Liz Shuler, President, AFL-CIO

On Jan. 6, 2021, an angry mob attacked the U.S. Capitol and our democracy. They wanted to go back to the days of segregation, voter suppression and violence against communities of color. Sign the pledge saying you will protect voting rights and fight extremism.

Working people are not willing to cede American democracy to insurrectionists who try to overturn the will of the people. We will not sit back as the enemies of democracy pass voter suppression bills in 19 states since the 2020 election, targeting Black voters and other communities of color.

And we will not be quiet as we watch corporations break the law to bust democratically elected unions, where workers voted for stronger protections and racial equity in the workplace.

In 2022, we’re pledging to advance democracy everywhere: in the workplace and at the ballot box.

So join us. Sign the pledge to protect voting rights and commit to fighting extremism.

Click here for more statements by labor leaders on the anniversary of January 6.

‘It Was Just Total Chaos’: The Capitol Building Cook On Comforting His Coworkers
Unite Here Local 23 shop steward Rickie Toon has served countless elected officials as a cook at the U.S. Capitol over nearly four decades. He’s seen his fair share of election cycles and major security threats, including the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. But he never imagined he would see anything like the insurrection. “Every now and then you have some person drive up and park [in] a spot where they ain’t supposed to be at,” says Toon, 66, who works in the cafeteria of the Rayburn House Office Building. “They tell the police that they have a bomb or something like that. I kind of, in a way, expect that. But not Americans coming to the Capitol. I would never.”
- DCist; read more here.

AFL-CIO, nurses unions sue OSHA
A group of America’s largest nursing unions, together with the AFL-CIO, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to compel the agency to issue a permanent standard that requires employers to protect health care workers from COVID-19 and to keep the emergency temporary standard in place until a permanent standard is issued. OSHA announced last week that all of the non-record-keeping provisions of the health care ETS would be expiring, despite the massive surge of infections sweeping the nation.

Today’s labor quote: Liz Shuler

“Democracy is in our DNA. Our unions run, like our country, by voting, by giving equal voice to members on the job and in our communities.”

Watch her short January 6 video here.

TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY

This week’s Labor History Today podcast: This week's show: Last week's show: Labor’s Untold Stories

January 7
An explosion at Osage Coal and Mining Company’s Mine Number 11 near Krebs, Okla. kills 100, injures 150 when an untrained worker accidentally sets off a stash of explosives - 1892

Wobblie Tom Mooney, accused of a murder by bombing in San Francisco, pardoned and freed after 22 years in San Quentin - 1939

January 8
The presidents of 12 of the nation’s largest unions meet and call for reuniting the American labor movement, which split into two factions in 2005 when seven unions left the AFL-CIO and formed a rival federation. Unions from both sides of the split participated in the meeting. Although the reunification effort failed, four of the seven unions have since re-joined the AFL-CIO - 2009

Birthdate of Mary Kenney O’Sullivan, first AFL woman organizer. In 1880 she organized the Woman’s Bookbinder Union and in 1903 was a founder of the National Women’s Trade Union League. At age 28 she was to be appointed the first female general organizer for the American Federation of Labor by AFL President Samuel Gompers - 1864

The AFL Iron and Steel Organizing Committee ends the “Great Steel Strike.” Some 350,000 to 400,000 steelworkers had been striking for more than three months, demanding union recognition. The strike failed - 1920

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

- David Prosten.

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