Labor History Today

Trumka: “Art is why they remember our struggles”

Former AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on the critical role labor arts play in “supporting our fights for economic and social justice.” He spoke at the 31st annual Great Labor Arts Exchange in 2013, organized by the Labor Heritage Foundation.
And, on Labor History in 2:00, the year was 1981; more than 400,000 union members marched in Labor Day's first Solidarity Day demonstration in Washington, D.C.Plus: an excerpt from "Solidarity Day, 1981”, an 11-minute film produced by the AFL-CIO. Music for today’s show by The ULiNERS and Joe Uehlein.Special thanks to Ellis Boal and Saul Schniderman for the recording of Trumka; subscribe to Saul’s Friday’s Labor Folklore newsletter here. 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 @LaborHeritage1 @THEULINERS
This post has been updated: the 31st GLAE took place in 2013, not 2017. 

Live from The Battle of Blair Mountain!

On today’s show, Labor Day weekend marked the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain. Empathy Media Lab’s Evan Papp traveled to West Virginia to march in those historic footsteps, to bear witness to battles that some would like us to forget, and he brings us the sounds of history past and present.
From the On The Line: Stories of BC Workers podcast, we bring you their story from September 1938, when the International Ladies Garment Workers Union  brought their theatrical musical hit “Pins and Needles” to Vancouver, British Columbia, where it played to glowing reviews.
And, on Labor History in 2:00, the year was 1934. That was the day Rhode Island governor Theodore Green demanded that federal troops be sent to crush a textile strike in his state.
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.
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The Battle of Blair Mountain; Remembering Ed Asner

On today’s show, we remember actor Ed Asner, best known for his role as a tough newspaperman on the Lou Grant show during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was also an ardent unionist, serving two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild. Ed once said “You’re either a union or you’re not; you either go on strike for issues and know what you’re striking for or you don’t.” Ed talked with Judy Ancel on the Heartland Labor Forum radio show back in 2013.
This Labor Day weekend marks the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, which was part of the West Virginia Mine Wars, in which miners and their families laid down a foundation to fight for every worker’s labor rights. From Empathy Media Lab, we bring you David Rovics’ audio essay about the battle that was the largest armed insurrection in the U.S. since the Civil War.
And, on Labor History in 2:00, the year was 1882. That was the day that the first labor day celebration and parade took place in New York City.PLUS: Bakery strikes in Cool Things from the Meany Archives.  
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 @TheOnlyEdAsner @of_blair @MineWorkers @empathymedialab

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.
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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