“This is a time to say goodbye to summer and think about the very character of America, a place where every individual matters, and of a time when brave people fought for our weekends, our childhoods, and our pride.”
Workers Fight for Labor Rights (2010) The History Channel

The First Labor Day
    Labor Day is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers and their dedication, commitment and contributions to propelling the nation to success.
   On September 5, 1882, over 30,000 New York City workers marched in a parade from City Hall to Union Square, the "home of discontent that gave voice to America's labor movement." The day was celebrated by picnics, concerts and speeches demanding the 8-hour work day and other improvements in working conditions.
   This first Labor Day celebration was eagerly organized and executed by New York's Central Labor Union, an umbrella group made up of representatives from many local unions. Continue reading...

A Salute to All Union Stewards
   The real heroes of what's left of the labor movement are not the people with the full-time union jobs, union-furnished cars and credit cards, and union benefits that dues-paying members don't get anymore.
   It's the men and women who take time out from their regular jobs, under the baleful eye of their boss, to be shop stewards.
   Being a union steward, preferably elected rather than appointed, is not an easy job, if done well. Fellow members can have a multitude of problems and complaints. If their union has a functioning steward system, the first person they're going to contact is not the full-timer "down the hall," but the rank-and-filer who works nearby, in the same department, and functions as a part-time union rep. Read full story at Working In These Times

Labor in The Pulpits
   The Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) and the AFL-CIO sponsor Labor in the Pulpits/on the Bimah/in the Minbar program, which highlights the shared goals of the faith community and the union movement for a new vision for justice in our communities. James Parks over at afl-cioNOWBLOG tells us more:

As part of Labor in the Pulpits, union members serve as guest speakers in congregations to speak out about their faith, work and the union movement….Since 1996, thousands of congregations have focused Labor Day weekend services on the injustices facing low-wage workers and the religious community’s efforts to support those workers’ struggles for living wages and family-sustaining benefits.

Area Labor Day Activities
    Celebrate America’s workers this weekend by showing your union pride at a number of activities scheduled in the metro-area. Union members are eligible for special discounted tickets all weekend as part of Six Flags America’s Union Member Appreciation promotion. “Cool off at the area’s best water park, Hurricane Harbor, featuring incredible attractions Tornado and Bahama Blast at an event for union members, friends and their families!” says Six Flags America. Tickets are $19.99 (plus tax). On Monday, start Labor Day off at the Dundalk-area Labor Day Parade, which kicks off at 9am and features the Solidarity Band from Musicians Local 40-543 and the Baltimore Labor Chorus. "The parade route will march up Sollers Point to Dunmanway to Heritage Park in Dundalk," say event organizers. Then at noon, the Northern Virginia Area Labor Federation is hosting a Labor Day Picnic starting at 12P at Veterans' Memorial Park in Woodbridge. “Come join us for great food, fun and fellowship,” says NoVA Labor President Dan Duncan, “we’ll have horseshoes, softball, swimming and more; don’t forget to wear your union colors!”

DC Metro stops closed Labor Day Weekend Full list here

How About a Movie?
   If you're planning to stay home to enjoy well-deserved rest and relaxation, here's a list of labor-themed movies to pick from, including "On the Waterfront", "North Country" and "The Molly Maguires."

Have a happy and safe holiday!

   Looking for a good read to fill a little down time this coming weekend? In These Times reviews a new book that provides plenty of information about the virtues of unions for labor activists to draw upon: There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America by Philip Dray is a celebration of organized labor -

   “Dray offers a grand context for thinking about labor-management relations in a society beset by ill will in millions of workplaces. He notes that the saga of organized labor in the United States is ‘much more than a catalog of strikes, picket lines and flailing police batons. The debate about work and industry and the struggle for workers’ rights and dignity have been consuming subjects since the birth of our nation; they have shaped laws and customs, acted as a crucible for social change, and ultimately helped define what it means to be an American.’ ”
 

   Members of the Teamsters National Black Caucus (TNBC) were among an estimated 10,000 participants in Saturday's "Reclaim the Dream" march commemorating the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. The group marched from D.C.'s historic Dunbar High School to the proposed site of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall.
   "We are here to say that freedom has no color," said Albert Mixon, International Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 507, Cleveland, OH, and leader of the TNBC. "We brought people from across the country, some as a far away as Alaska, to stand for jobs and equality."
   "Reclaim the Dream" participants marched for jobs, education reform, voting rights, for Washington, D.C., and advancing King's vision of equality and hope.
   Though smaller than Glen Beck's "Restore Honor" rally, obstenibly billed as a non-political event, which took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where King gave his historic speech, the "Reclaim the Dream" participants were undaunted.
   "The Teamsters are here to support Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream, and to reclaim it because when we needed him, he was here for us! So we stand in solidarity with this social movement: labor and the civil rights movement are one and the same,” said Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237 (New York City).
   From the DailyCaller: Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of Dr. King, spoke to the crowd as the march ended at the proposed site for his father's memorial. He told the audience they need to "raise the standards" for elected officials and strive to realize the dream his father recounted some 47 years ago. 

5-Day is the Wrong Way - Postal workers (APWU) and letter carriers (NALC) are fighting the U.S. Postal Service's request to Congress to eliminate Saturday delivery, a plan that would "slow service, drive away business, and lead to the demise of the world's most efficient, affordable and trusted postal system." Beyond the fact that it would hurt consumers and businesses, the plan would impact the lives of over 400,000 union members. Postal workers' union fact sheet.
Keeping Important History Alive - The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) tells the stories of African Americans from the earliest days of this country right up to the election of the first African American president and beyond: it's proud moments and times of unimaginable pain and abuse. Currently, the exhibits are housed on the second floor of the Museum of Natural History, but construction of its own house is scheduled to begin in 2012. You can sign the guest book here to show your support for the new museum addition.
Support Mott's Workers - Good jobs are under a vicious assault at America's favorite apple juice maker. The profitable company has slashed wages $1.50 per hour per employee and wants to eliminate the workers' pension plan. Check out UFCW's site at nobadapples.org for info.
Back to Football - The NFL wants to make the period between July and September a national event leading up to the first weekend of games after Labor Day. Plus, is there an 18-game regular season in our future?

   In response to the Democrat's call to consider the Paycheck Fairness Act [S.182], a U.S. Chamber of Commerce blogger last week posted a highly controversial piece on Chamber Post  – "Equality, Suffrage and a Fetish for Money" – in which he suggested women are to blame for the wage gap because of the personal choices they make (like having children), their "Scrooge-like fetish for money," and women should "choose the right place to work" and the "right partner at home."
    Notwithstanding the insulting bias of the post, lurking behind it is The Chamber's opposition to the Paycheck Fairness Act. It also opposes efforts to make leave paid under the FMLA. And that's not all. The folks over at Firedoglake compiled a list of the Chamber's actions that illustrates clearly what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce thinks about America's working women:

• 1977: US Chamber opposes amendment to Civil Rights Act that would ban discrimination against pregnant women.
  
• 1978: US Chamber says pregnancy is a “voluntary” condition in its opposition to Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
  
• 1987: Family Medical Leave Act “sets a dangerous precedent,” according to the US Chamber.
  
• 1998: US Chamber opposes Equal Pay Act because “work experience does tend to create greater wage gaps.”
  
• 2007: US Chamber opposes Lilly Ledbetter’s court case for equal pay because “tear-stained testimony” prejudices against a defendant. Opposed the bill in Congress to right the wrongs against Ledbetter in 2008 and 2009 as well.
  
• 2007: Chamber official pledges “all out war” against Family Medical Leave Act, and in 2010 made it a “priority” to fight in Congress.
  
• Monday: US Chamber again cites pregnancy as a “voluntary choice.”

   In 1920, women won equality at the polls. Ninety years later, women are still fighting for economic equality in the workplace. Unions have assured pay equity for all its members for decades, but its time all working women were afforded the same right to equal pay for equal work.

Related: Change to Win Goes After U.S. Chamber of Commerce U.S. and Chamber: Acting As If Women Aren't a Part of the Economy

   While you're getting your bike ready for this year's September 11th motorcycle run, take a look at our photo gallery to view photos of the Local Union-sponsored 2008 run to St. Michaels on the Eastern Shore. Thirty current and retired Local Union 355 members and their guests participated in the event. We hope to have a great turnout again this year. Deadline for registration is September 8. Call the office today at 410-566-5700 to sign up. (Reminder: The event is for members and retirees only, plus one guest.) Photos by Eric Wood

   Dollar General's famously low prices stretch consumer dollars, but at a high cost. Employees working for suppliers of Dollar General – one of the world's biggest brands at nearly 9,000 stores in 35 states – labor under the lowest health and safety standard and get the lowest pay, even when compared with other sweatshop employers.
   Between February and June of this year, China Labor Watch (CLW), a New York-based independent labor rights watchdog, randomly selected four of Dollar General Corporation's (DGC) suppliers in China and conducted investigations.
   The investigation revealed that DGC's suppliers in China have the worst labor condition performance compared with all major U.S. retailers:

• Workers do not have access to basic protections from chemical hazard and work injuries.  
  
• During peak seasons, employees work an average of 300 hours per month, including excessive mandatory overtime hours. The accumulative monthly overtime hours alone far exceed the maximum of 432 hours per year allowed by China's labor law.  
  
• The regular hourly salary is about 76 cents (or $130 per month, from which at least $40 will be deducted by the factories for dining fee and dormitory fee; workers actually get paid about $90 per month, or $0.51 per hour). Sometimes overtime hours are not paid at all. In at least one factory under investigation, workers are paid for lying to inspectors.

  Dollar General is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), a major private equity firm and can afford to compensate the workers better, CLW notes. Dollar netted nearly $4 billion last year, with the majority of the profits going to KKR. – UCS
 

   It’s the view from afar without subjective spin that provides the bigger – and more sobering – picture of America, the richest country in the world. A short, informative article in Germany’s Der Spiegel looks at the widening gap between America’s rich and poor. Consider: 

• One in eight American adults and one in four children now survive on government food stamps. Fifty million of us couldn’t afford to buy enough food to stay healthy at some point last year. (Put in perspective, America’s population is 310 million.)
• In 1978, the average per capita income for men was $45,879. The same figure for 2007, adjusted for inflation, was $45,113.
• Statistically, less affluent Americans stand a 4% chance of becoming part of the upper middle class – a number that is lower than every other industrialized nation except Mexico and Turkey.
• In 1979, one third of the profits the U.S. produced went to the richest 1% of American society. Today, it’s almost 60%. 
• 61% of Americans have no financial reserves and are living from paycheck to paycheck.

   “Where did all the money go? All the enormous market gains and corporate earnings, the profits from the boom in the financial markets and the 110-percent increase in the gross national product in the last 30 years? It went to those who had always had more than enough already.”

   The American middle class is taking the biggest financial hit in this recession, unlike other recessions in our history when the poor were hardest hit. Read more in “Growing Inequality Threatens Middle Class and Democracy” over at afl-cio now blog. – Originally posted Aug. 24, 2010

   The rising costs of education can be a daunting hurdle for working families. But with a new Union Plus discount, union members and their children can now save up to 60% on college prep courses (including SAT, ACT. GMAT, GRE, LSAT, and MCAT) from the Princeton Review. 
   The new offerings include courses covering college financial aid (including FAFSA tips) and the college admissions test process; union members can choose from in-person classes, tutoring or online courses.
   And, you're guaranteed that you'll get higher scores or you'll receive a refund.

   The Silent Killing of America's Workforce - Occupational illness and injury deaths are now considered the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S. Is it because the nation's workers' compensation system that protects an employer from lawsuits, but increasingly delays or denies worker medical treatment and wage compensation, is woefully inadequate?Truthout interviews the author of "Depraved Indifference: the Workers' Compensation System."
   LA Carwash Owners Get Jail Time - Two unrepentant abusers of carwash workers have each been sentenced to one year in jail for labor law violations, including conspiracy, grand theft and failure to pay wages. Labor Secretary Solis said the decision sends a big warning to all U.S. employers.
   Facebook Users, Check Out Joe - Here's a Facebook page you'll want to "Like." Joe says "The owner's of this country want you to keep watching American Idol while they steal your American dream. Open up your eyes!". For technical reasons, Joe's Union Review moved from the blogsphere to FB because he hit "over 1000 readers and hundreds of links" from enthusiastic fans.  
   TeamsterPower on YouTube - This link takes you to the unofficial video site on YouTube of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Check it out periodically for updates and new videos.