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One year later, contracted janitors & security officers still owed back pay

LOC publishes trove of seminal AFL documents and photos

NewsGuild joins groups denouncing restrictions on journalists covering impeachment

Today's Labor Quote: Sojourner Truth

Today's Labor History

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

Union City Radio: 7:15am M-F; [link removed] WPFW 89.3FM

Catholic Labor Network Meeting: Sat, January 25, 9:00am - 1:30pm
Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St NW, Washington, DC 20008

CSA "Bowling for Gold" Tournament: Sun, January 26, 9am & 1pm
Crofton Bowling Centre, 2115 Priest Bridge Dr, Crofton, MD 21114
[link removed] Details/sign up here
photo: 2019 PC Sunday Morning Rollers with Fred Allen; photo by Chris Garlock

One year later, contracted janitors & security officers still owed back pay
A year after the end of the federal government shutdown, over 600 janitors and security officers still haven't received back wages. Contracted workers, who earn much less than direct federal employees, "can least afford to miss even a day of pay," said Jaime Contreras, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU, "and yet, they are still paying the price for a shutdown they had nothing to do with." Unlike direct government employees, the modestly-paid contracted janitors and security officers who were furloughed are excluded from receiving back wages. "Time may heal all wounds, but it doesn't pay the bills," Contreras said.

NewsGuild joins groups denouncing restrictions on journalists covering impeachment
The NewsGuild-CWA has joined the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 57 other media organizations in denouncing restrictions on the press during the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
The Senate implemented rules this week limiting reporters' access to lawmakers walking to and from the chamber during the impeachment trial, confining them to pens, limiting video access to a single pool camera with no audio, and adding an extra layer of restrictions on electronics.
The Guild's Executive Council signed a [link removed] letter opposing the severe limits on journalists' ability to report on the proceedings. The statement echoes concerns raised by the Standing Committee of Correspondents in a [link removed] letter and tweet on Tuesday.
"The NewsGuild is proud to fight for more access for reporters and for the public's right to know, including in the Senate during an impeachment of the president," said Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild.

LOC publishes trove of seminal AFL documents and photos
"Though (the) headquarters of our organization are located at Washington, D.C...my home is in New York City. Washingtonians are disenfranchised. I have no desire to expatriate myself..." That's American Federation of Labor president Sam Gompers, writing to then-New York State Governor Theodore Roosevelt on August 8, 1899. The ink-blot stained letter is one of the 172,300 items in the [link removed] American Federation of Labor Records collection just published online by the Library of Congress. The collection includes over 40 years of records from the American Federation of Labor (AFL), spans the years 1883-1925 and includes the correspondence of AFL presidents Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) and William Green (1870-1952), as well as other officials. Prominent names include Susan B. Anthony, Grover Cleveland, John L. Lewis, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. The collection is a treasure trove of source documents covering everything from the minutia of forming local unions to the AFL's political principles, as well as major events like the anthracite coal strikes of 1897 and 1902. The collection also includes the American Federationist, the AFL's magazine.
- David Fernandez-Barrial, AFSCME 2910; the employees of the Library of Congress are represented by AFSCME Locals 2477 and 2910 and IFPTE Local 75.

Today's Labor Quote: Sojourner Truth

"We do as much, we eat as much, we want as much."

Sojourner Truth addressed the first Black Women's Rights convention on January 25, 1851.

Today's Labor History

This week's [link removed] Labor History Today podcast: MLK: All Labor Has Dignity

On today's show, historian Michael Honey on "Wisconsin to Memphis: King's gospel of labor rights on the rebound," from the Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations' "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series. Also this week, Linda Donahue on the strike by 10,000 clothing workers in Rochester, NY.
Last week's show: (1/12): [link removed] UAW's Punch Press strike daily

January 24
Federal minimum wage increases to 75¢ an hour - 1952

January 25
200 miners are killed in an horrific explosion at the Harwick mine in Cheswick, Pa., Allegheny County. Many of the dead lay entombed in the sealed mine to this day - 1904

The Supreme Court upholds "Yellow Dog" employment contracts, which forbid membership in labor unions. Yellow Dog contracts remained legal until 1932 - 1915

16,000 textile workers strike in Passaic, N.J. - 1926

January 26
In what could be considered the first workers' compensation agreement in America, pirate Henry Morgan pledges his underlings 600 pieces of eight or six slaves to compensate for a lost arm or leg. Also part of the pirate's code, reports Roger Newell: shares of the booty were equal regardless of race or sex, and shipboard decisions were made collectively. - 1695

Samuel Gompers, first AFL president, born in London, England. He emigrated to the U.S. as a youth - 1850

The Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America is chartered by the American Federation of Labor to organize "every wage earner from the man who takes the bullock at the house until it goes into the hands of the consumer." - 1987

- David Prosten; photo courtesy [link removed] MOMA

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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