Today in Labor History
Union Communication Services
www.unionist.com
Hello,
Here is the Big Labor preview for the upcoming week.
In unity,
Chris Rolling
Mgr. - Tech. & Design
UCS, Inc.
410.626.1400
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Labor quote for the week of September 6, 2010
"Liberals are concerned about the concentration of wealth because it almost inevitably leads to a concentration of power that undermines democracy."
-- Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor
Quote sources include:
Great Labor Quotations: Sourcebook and Reader, by Peter Bollen
The Great Quotations, by George Seldes
Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
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Today in labor history for the week of September 6, 2010
September 06
One of the worst disasters in the history of U.S. anthracite mining occurred at the Avondale Mine, near Scranton, Pa., when a fire originating from a furnace at the bottom of a 237 foot shaft roared up the shaft, killing 110 miners - 1869
Tony Boyle, former president of the United Mine Workers, is charged with murder in the 1969 deaths of former UMW rival Joseph A. Yablonski and his wife and daughter - 1973
September 07
Federal employees win the right to receive Workers' Compensation insurance - 1916
September 08
Employers give in to the demands of striking miners in McKees Rock, Pa., agree to improved working conditions, 15 percent hike in wages and elimination of a "pool system" that gave foremen control over each worker’s pay - 1909
Workers give up their Labor Day weekend holidays to keep the munitions factories working to aid in the war effort. Most Labor Day parades are canceled in respect for members of the Armed Services - 1942
United Farm Workers union begins historic national grape boycott and strike, Delano, Calif. - 1965
Some 2,600 Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers begin what is to be a successful six-day strike for higher pay and against a two-tier wage system - 1997
September 09
In convention at Topeka, Kansas, delegates create the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America. The men who repaired the nation's rail cars were paid 10 or 15 cents an hour, working 12 hours a day, often seven days a week - 1890
More than 1,000 Boston police officers strike after 19 union leaders are fired for organizing activities. Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge announced that none of the strikers would be rehired, mobilized the state police, and recruited an entirely new police force from among unemployed veterans of the Great War (World War I) - 1919
Sixteen striking Filipino sugar workers on the Hawiian island of Kauai are killed by police; four police died as well. Many of the surviving strikers were jailed, then deported - 1924
September 10
Polish, Lithuanian and Slovak miners are gunned down—19 dead, more than 50 wounded—by the Lattimer Mine's sheriff deputies in Hazelton, Pa. Most were shot in the back. The miners were marching peacefully and without weapons for collective bargaining and civil liberty - 1897
September 11
Some 75,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia end a ten-week strike after winning an eight hour day, semi-monthly pay, and the abolition of overpriced company-owned stores, where they had been forced to shop. (Remember the song, "16 Tons," by coal miner’s son Merle Travis, in which there’s this line: "I owe my soul to the company store.") - 1897
More than 3,000 people died when suicide highjackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Among the dead were 634 union members, the majority of them New York City firefighters and police on the scene when the towers fell - 2001
Crystal Lee Sutton, the real-life Norma Rae of the movies, dies at age 68. She worked at a J.P. Stevens textile plant in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. when low pay and poor working conditions led her to become a union activist - 2009
September 12
Eugene V. Debs, labor leader and socialist, sentenced to 10 years for opposing World War I. While in jail Debs received 1 million votes for president - 1918
Jobless workers march on grocery stores and seize food in Toledo, Ohio - 1932
United Rubber Workers formed in Akron, Ohio - 1935
Forty-nine people are killed, 200 injured in explosion at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Kenvil, New Jersey - 1940
New York City’s Union Square, the site of the first Labor Day in 1882, is officially named a national historic landmark. The square has long been a focal point for working class protest and political expression - 1998
Sources:
Toil and Trouble, by Thomas R. Brooks; American Labor Struggles, by Samuel Yellen; IWW calendar, Solidarity Forever; Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor, edited by Robert E. Weir and James P. Hanlan; Southwest Labor History Archives/George Meany Center; Geov Parrish’s Radical History; workday Minnesota; Andy Richards and Adam Wright, AFL-CIO Washington DC Metro Council (graphics research).
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Labor joke for the week of September 6, 2010
Speaketh the Boss
"We are going to continue having these meetings, every day, until I find out why no work is getting done."
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Member tip for the week of September 6, 2010
A Note of Caution About Insubordination
You may find yourself being told by your supervisor to do something that he or she has no right to insist on under the union contract. The natural temptation is to say, “I know my rights, I’m not doing it!” But be forewarned about the “work now, grieve later” rule. This is the generally accepted notion in the world of labor relations that you do not have the right to disobey an employer directive, even if that directive is in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. The required response is to do what the employer says, under protest, and then to pursue relief through the grievance procedure. While there are exceptions – such as for dangerous health and safety violations – think twice before risking discipline for insubordination.
Adapted from The Union Members Complete Guide, by Michael Mauer
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Steward tip for the week of September 6, 2010
The Qualities of a Good Steward
You will encounter all sorts in your steward work. You won’t have all the answers for all their problems. You don’t even have to like them all. But you must respect them and be able to deal with them at their own level. That means you’ll take a different approach with the scared worker than you will with the workplace big mouth. Patience and the ability to listen are key attributes for this work. Here are some of the other qualities you’ll need.
· Willingness to do the right thing: The right thing is what benefits the union as a whole.
· Willingness to deal with bureaucracy: This is probably the least palatable of your tasks. You must be willing to deal with red tape – with the goal of using it, cutting through it or going around it to the union’s advantage.
· A sense of humor: If you can’t laugh at yourself, at management and with your co-workers, you won’t survive a week. Remember to take the issues seriously, but not yourself.
Adapted from The Union Steward’s Complete Guide, 2nd Edition, edited by David Prosten
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Labor video for the week of September 6, 2010
Construction worker in South Africa throws cement -- and the shovel that holds it -- to a co-worker. They need a union!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGj-KkjwXJY&feature=related
