Labor History Today

Marching on Washington: civil rights to voting rights

Thousands took to the streets of Washington DC yesterday to commemorate the 58th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This year the focus was voting rights, with a new generation of activists denouncing voter suppression and demanding fair access to the vote for all, insisting that the vision Martin Luther King expressed in his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 be deferred no longer.
On today’s show, our 2019 interview with professor William P. Jones, vice president of the Labor and Working Class History Association, and author of “The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom, and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights.”
And, on Labor History in 2:00, Defense Industry Workers Strike on Eve of World War Two.
Produced by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council’s Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO #VotingRightsMarch #WeMarchOn

Sacco and Vanzetti; Midnight in Vehicle City

Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two anarchists accused of murder and tried unfairly, were executed on August 23, 1927 in Boston, Massachusetts. The case became an international cause and sparked demonstrations and strikes throughout the world; on today’s show (originally posted April 29, 2018), Patrick Dixon talks with historian Kevin Boyle, who’s studied the case extensively.  Also this week, journalist and historian Edward McClelland recounts the gripping details of the historic Flint sit-down strike. He spoke with the Tales from the Reuther Library podcast about what we can learn today from the strikers’ successful fight in 1936 and 1937 for shared prosperity. McClelland is author of Midnight in Vehicle City: General Motors, Flint, and the Strike That Built the Middle Class.And, on Labor History in 2:00, Breaking the Glass Ceiling, the story of Joyce Miller.
Produced by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council’s Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @ReutherLibrary

Trumka on the future of American labor (archive show)

AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka, who died August 5, returned to federation headquarters yesterday for the last time, giving the public the opportunity to pay its respects to the labor legend. Labor History Today pays our respects today with Part 2 of our 2019 interview with Trumka, in which he talks with labor historian Joe McCartin about the current state – and the future -- of the American labor movement.Plus, Mark Potashnick on Jim Pohle, the founder of the American Union of Pizza Delivery Drivers, class action law suits, and the app-based revolution in food delivery services.
Produced by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council’s Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @RichardTrumka Pass the #PROAct

Remembering Rich Trumka (1949-2021)

Rich Trumka died this week, of a heart attack at the age of 72. He led the AFL-CIO for 12 years, and before that, the United Mine Workers.
Trumka, who devoted his life to working people, was a relentless champion of workers’ rights, workplace safety, worker-centered trade, democracy and so much more. He was also a devoted father, grandfather, husband, brother, coach, colleague and friend. And he loved labor history.
Two years ago, he sat down with labor historian Joe McCartin for a conversation for this podcast on the 30th anniversary of the Pittston strike.
Trumka’s schedule was always jammed – as Joe said on the Your Rights At Work radio show last Thursday, he couldn’t help thinking that probably contributed to the stress on Trumka’s body that killed him – but once miked up and settled down with in a little room at the AFL-CIO, Rich was totally relaxed, as if he had all the time in the world. 
We’re replaying Part 1 of that interview on today’s show, which focuses on the Pittston strike; here’s a link to Part 2, in which Trumka discusses the current state – and the future -- of the American labor movement. 
One last thing: on Saturday, August 14, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Eastern Time, Richard Trumka’s family is giving the public the opportunity to pay its respects to the labor legend who passed away on August 5. Rich is making one last trip to the House of Labor, a place and an idea that he loved so much. All safety protocols will be strictly enforced, including mask requirements and social distancing. The AFL-CIO is located at 815 Black Lives Matter Plaza (16th St. NW), Washington, D.C.
Produced by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council’s Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory

Keokuk before the strike

In 1970, a strike by school workers in Keokuk, Iowa sent shockwaves through the state and jump-started a movement for collective bargaining rights for Iowa’s public-sector workers.Our story of this explosive event in a little industrial town on the Mississippi River comes to us from the Speaking of Work podcast, which goes back to the 1950s and 1960s to explore the roots of the Keokuk strike. Episodes 2 and 3 are available now! Music this week by Matthew Grimm.And on this week’s Labor History in 2:00… The year was 1934. That was the day National Guard troops in Minneapolis raided Teamsters local 574 headquarters.
Produced by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council’s Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @SpeakingWork @grimmreality

Indigenous Longshoremen & the I.W.W.

June is Indigenous History Month in Canada, and this year, the country has been rocked by the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children who attended residential school over the decades. Today we bring you a report from the always excellent podcast On the Line: Stories of BC Workers, which takes note of Indigenous History month with a different aspect of British Columbia's Indigenous history: one that is not tragic, and not very well known. They examine the contribution of Indigenous workers to the port of Vancouver, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, largely through the voices of those who worked the waterfront - and it's a union story, too. In 1906, the independent Lumber Handlers Union was established as local 526 of the Industrial Workers of the World – or I.W.W. -- with most of the 50 or 60 members being Indigenous. This is their story.
This week we’ve also got an interesting story that reminds us that labor history is all around us and can pop up in some pretty unusual places. This one started with an odd photograph that sent me down some interesting – and unexpected – paths, from a long-forgotten strike to a racist TV show.And on this week’s Labor History in 2:00… The year was 1944. That was the day Local 212 UAW workers at Briggs returned to work.
Produced by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council’s Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @iww @BC_LHC
MORE LINKSMilwaukee Public Library Remember When…NAACP Bulletin 

Houston, We Have a Labor Dispute

For decades, rumors have circulated about a strike in space. The story goes that in 1973, the three astronauts on the Skylab 4 mission took an unplanned day off to protest ground controls management style, and the job action resulted in improved working conditions. It's a great story, but according to crew member Ed Gibson, that's not exactly what happened. Reporter Meagan Day says the real story is still a testament to the potential of strikes — or even just the threat of strikes — to shift the balance of power in the workplace. She wrote about it in Jacobin last month and brings us her report today. MULTIVERSE composed & produced by SutheeComposer.And on this week’s Labor History in 2:00… The year was 1969. That was the day hospital workers in Charleston, South Carolina won union recognition.
Produced by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council’s Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @jacobin @meaganmday

Dramatizing The Murals

THE MURALS is a play dramatizing the ongoing conflict over the George Washington High School murals painted by WPA artist Victor Arnautoff in 1936. The play premieres online at the LaborFest Saturday, July 17 – click here for free tickets – and LHT producer Patrick Dixon chats with playwright Howard Pflanzer about the debate and the issues.The Meany Labor Archive’s Alan Wierdak and Mieko Palazzo explore the Fascinating and Complicated Legacy of Bayard Rustin.  
And on this week’s Labor History in 2:00… The year was 1968. That was the day that the American Indian Movement began at a meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Produced by Chris Garlock; editing by Patrick Dixon. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council’s Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @sf_laborfest