Today in Labor History

August 31

SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

John Reed forms the Communist Labor Party in Chicago. The Party’s motto: "Workers of the world, unite!" - 1919

10,000 striking miners began a fight at Blair Mountain, W.Va., for recognition of their union, the UMWA. Federal troops were sent in, and miners were forced to withdraw 5 days later, after 16 deaths - 1921

The Trade Union Unity League is founded as an alternative to the American Federation of Labor, with the goal of organizing along industrial rather than craft lines. An arm of the American Communist Party, the League claimed 125,000 members before it dissolved in the late 1930s - 1929

"Solidarity" workers movement founded as a strike coordination committee at Lenin Shipyards, Gdansk, Poland. The strike launched a wave of unrest in the Soviet Union that ultimately led to its dissolution in 1991 - 1980

325,000 unionists gathered in Washington, D.C. for a Solidarity Day march and rally for workplace fairness and healthcare reform - 1991

Detroit teachers begin what is to become a nine day strike, winning smaller class sizes and raises of up to four percent - 1999
Working Class Heroes

Aug 31, 1921: "The Battle of Blair Mountain, the culmination of the largest armed insurrection in the United States since the Civil War, ended on September 4, 1921." - from http://www.wvculture.org/history/thisdayinwvhistory/0904.html (many other good links here)
 
 
"Meanwhile, Logan County Sherriff Don Chafin, whose salary was heavily subsidized by coal companies, learned of the miners' intentions and began organizing local recruits to help stop the march." - from http://www.pawv.org/news/blairhist.htm

Check out "Coal Country Tours" - http://coalcountrytours.com/index.html
 
10,000 striking miners began a fight at Blair Mountain, W.Va., for recognition of their union, the UMWA. Federal troops were sent in, and miners were forced to withdraw 5 days later, after ...
16 deaths - 1921

"The battle ended after approximately one million rounds were fired, and the United States Army intervened by presidential order." - from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain

"The miners were about to break through the defenders’ lines when three Army regiments were called in to halt the fighting and save the coal-operator forces from being over-run." - from http://blairmountainmuseum.org/the-battle/
 
 

FBI MoneyPak Scam



Yesterday morning my computer was infected with Ransom Ware, which is a new term for myself. This threat claims your computer was locked by the FBI, and as most scams, appears as if it could be true, so I was grasping for air momentarily until I came to my senses.

What this virus does is display the screen shot above, and try as you may, you're unable to start the task manager to disable the program from running. I was able to boot up in safe mode, yet McAfee was unable to locate the problem files after running a full scan of my system.

After spending four hours of reading and trying different methods of removing the virus, with no success, I said a prayer and the next site I visited solved and removed the threat.

I highly recommend the web site called Fix PC Yourself as it offered a step by step process in eradicating this problem from my computer.

Click on this link for instructions on cleaning your hard drive: How to unlock computer from FBI Moneypak Virus

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

CALIFORNIANS BEWARE! The Truth on Prop 32!



The so-called "Stop Special Interest Money Now Act" is not what it seems. It's really the Special Exemptions Act, intentionally written to create special exemptions for billionaire businessmen, wealthy CEOs, Wall Street investors, and more.

Don't let them gain even more power to write their own set of rules.

Martin Sheen Thanks Ann Hernandez for Delivering His Los Angeles Times




Actor Martin Sheen sends a shout out to Ann Hernandez, who delivers his Los Angeles Times newspaper every day!

*To send your own thank you, visit: http://aflcio.org/thankyou

Today in Labor History

August 29

75 workers die when the lower St. Lawrence River’s Quebec Bridge collapses while under construction. A flawed design was found to be the cause. 13 more workers were killed nine years later when the reconstructed bridge’s central span was being raised and fell into the river because of a problem with hoisting devices - 1907

Dancers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady Club vote 57-15 to be represented by SEIU Local 790. Their first union contract, ratified eight months later, guaranteed work shifts, protection against arbitrary discipline and termination, automatic hourly wage increases, sick days, a grievance procedure, and removal of one-way mirrors from peep show booths - 1996

Northwest Airlines pilots, after years of concessions to help the airline, begin what is to become a two-week strike for higher pay - 1998

Delegates to the Minnesota AFL-CIO convention approve the launching of workdayminnesota.org, now in its 12th year. It was the first web-based daily labor news service by a state labor federation - 2000
[Tired of the union being ignored by your local media? Fed up with the way your employer’s side of the story always gets told... while the union side gets barely a passing mention, usually negative? Get a copy of Making the News: A Guide for Nonprofits and Activists, which explains the basics of how to talk to reporters, how to do a news release, ways to “create” a news event, how to get invited to (and sound good during) radio and TV interviews... it’s a true A to Z of media smarts. You can’t afford to yield the stage to your employer. You can bet the boss has a PR operation. Now you can, too, without fear. In the UCS bookstore now.]


Charlie Lindamood, WCH Contributor and Florida firebrand progressive truth seeker writes about building America; across broad rivers, to dizzying heights - workers and unions! today at 'Working Class Heroes' blog ....

"They labored and worked with home made tools. They didn’t clear the land with bulldozers or cut timber for ties with power saws.They used manual saws and axes. They cleared the land and forged paths for rail through mountains and searing hot deserts, with mules and horses instead of tractors and trucks. Their experience in building railroads and the terrible conditions under which they labored eventually gave rise to the first American union representing railroad workers." - excerpt
 

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech

I Have a Dream Speech Martin Luther King's Address at March on Washington August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C. When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty,
we are free at last!"


 

Dr King's speech on video report and in text at
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/mlk01.asp

Today in Labor History

August 28
The march for jobs and freedom—the Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have A Dream" speech march—is held in Washington, D.C. with 250,000 participating - 1963



SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.





#LaborHistory: Aug 28 -via- 'Rip & Ron'

" Some people were eating their bagged lunches, while others took in the breath taking event. Many people had signs that read such things as, "Pass the bill", or "We march for integration". No m...
atter what race, it was the first time to the nation's capital for most. There were thousands of curious people in a foreign city." - from http://www.angelfire.com/pa/marchonwashington/march.html



Bruce Jingles Fund Raiser for our Troops



Last call for ME at OntarioImprov ComedyClub this Weds at 8pm. This show is dedicated to Cpl. Joshua Ashley. A hometown hero that made that Ultimate Sacrifice for his country. I'm volunteering my time to be part of this show. Please MESSAGE me for FREE TICKETS. Donations will be held @ the end of the show to help "Community Cares in Rancho" which sends out care packages to our troops overseas. ITS GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW! He did what he did for us, it's the least I can do for him.

Today in Labor History

August 27

Some 14,000 Chicago teachers who have gone without pay for several months finally collect about $1,400 each - 1934

President Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize all the nation's railroads to prevent a general strike. The railroads were not returned to their owners until two years later - 1950

SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.



Solidarity Forever sung by Pete Seeger with old photographs of the labor movement in US History.This is a tribute to all the workers who sacrificed to make a better world for their children and grand children.

Today in Labor History

August 24

The Mechanics Gazette, believed to be the first U.S. labor newspaper, is published in Philadelphia, the outgrowth of a strike by Carpenters demanding a shorter, 10-hour day. The strike lost but labor journalism blossomed: within five years there were 68 labor newspapers across the country, many of them dailies - 1827

[Grassroots Journalism: A Practical Manual for Newswriting is a very helpful tool for activists who need – or want – to write about working peoples’ issues for their union newsletters, community newspapers and other media outlets. One chapter deals with how the mass media cover strikes, while another documents how the media do not cover many events and issues that are important to working people. Included is an extensive guide to groups, books and other publications useful to grassroots journalists. This is a thoroughly revised and updated second edition (2007), with expanded sections on electronic media, labor writing, and getting your articles published. It contains everything you’ll need to be an effective, published journalist, and make a positive impact on your community. In the UCS bookstore now.]

The Gatling Gun Co. -- manufacturers of an early machine gun -- writes to B&O Railroad Co. President John W. Garrett during a strike, urging their product be purchased to deal with the "recent riotous disturbances around the country." Says the company: "Four or five men only are required to operate (a gun), and one Gatling ... can clear a street or block and keep it clear" - 1877

National Association of Letter Carriers formed - 1889

United Farm Workers Union begins lettuce strike - 1970
SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.


SOURCE: Working Class Heroes

The lesser of two evils!


Haywood Galbreath, Sherita Herring, and James Bolden
Photo Credit: Lisa Bolden

By Haywood Galbreath

For all of you out there! Who have criticized the president of United States Obama! Said he has not done enough to help the people and the economy! Says that he is not an American and wants to destroy the American way! Says he is evil!

There’s another individual running for the presidency of the United States his name is Mitt Romney! Mitt Romney belongs to the party that basically has destroyed this nation! By all indications Mitt Romney does not truly care about the working class people and will try his best to put him and his friends at an even greater financial position off the backs of the middle class than they already are at! You can say this man and the party that he belongs to is evil!

Therefore if you’re saying that Obama is evil! And we know that by all indications that the Republican Party and Mitt Romney are evil!

Yet Obama has tried the help the American people! You would be wise! The go with the lesser of those two evils! Obama! Unless you just really ready to have pure evil run America! –HG--

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Local Update




GCC/IBT LOCAL 140-N

NOTICE

 

 

 

8/23/2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As result of recent Elections and Officer Resignations, until further notice, this is the new, and current Local 140-N Executive Board:

President, Ron Pineda
Executive Vice President, Charles (Chuck) Reney
Secretary Treasurer, Timothy Robinson
Recording Secretary, Edward Padgett
Shop Steward, Richard Olmeda

Also, we will no longer be using the address of 25852 McBean Parkway, Unit 316, Valencia, Ca. 91355 for Union business. The new, temporary mailing address 11432 Rose Hedge Dr. Whittier, Ca. 90606

Once our office is established at Teamster Local 630, we will move all of our Local operations to that location and use that address for all business affairs.

In Solidarity,
Ronnie Pineda,
President


 

 

Today in Labor History

SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

August 23

The U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations is formed by Congress, during a period of great labor and social unrest. After three years, and hearing witnesses ranging from Wobblies to capitalists, it issued an 11-volume report frequently critical of capitalism. The New York Herald characterized the Commission's president, Frank P. Walsh, as "a Mother Jones in trousers" - 1912

Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, accused of murder and tried unfairly, were executed on this day. The case became an international cause and sparked demonstrations and strikes throughout the world - 1927

Seven merchant seamen crewing the SS Baton Rouge Victory lost their lives when the ship was sunk by Viet Cong action en route to Saigon - 1966

Farm Workers Organizing Committee (to later become United Farm Workers of America) granted a charter by the AFL-CIO



Letterpress Printing Vocational Film (1947)



ILLUSTRATES THE OPPORTUNITIES & TRAINING AVAILABLE IN THE FIELD OF PRINTING. SHOWS HAND TYPESETTING, LINOTYPE, MONOTYPE, DISPLAY, MAKE-UP & LAYOUT.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Today in Labor History

Today in #LaborHistory: Aug 22 -via- 'Rip & Ron'

179 protesters were arrested at an anti-nuclear power rally at Seabrook, NH; just 40 miles from center city Boston. - 1976

" Eight months later, over 2,000 Clamshell protesters occupied the construction site. 1,414 were arrested and held in jails and National Guard armories for up to two weeks after refusing bail." - from http://www.bluehampshire.com/diary/13291/35-years-ago-today-clamshell-alliance-makes-history

"Norma Koski, 53, of Deerfield, recalled that she had turned 18 years old just days before the Aug. 22 arrest of supporters of the Clamshell Alliance, the group founded in 1976 to halt nuclear power plant development in Seabrook and around New England." - from http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110822-NEWS-108220316
 
 
 
August 22

Five flight attendants form the Air Line Stewardesses Association, the first labor union representing flight attendants. They were reacting to an industry in which women were forced to retire at the age of 32, remain single, and adhere to strict weight, height and appearance requirements. The association later became the Association of Flight Attendants, now a division of the Communications Workers of America - 1945

International Broom & Whisk Makers Union disbanded - 1963

Joyce Miller, a vice president of the Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers, becomes first female member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council - 1980

International Longshore & Warehouse Union granted a charter by the AFL-CIO - 1988

August 21
Slave revolt led by Nat Turner begins in Southampton County, Va. - 1831
 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Today in Labor History

August 18

Radio station WEVD, named for Eugene V. Debs, goes on the air in New York City, operated by The Forward Association as a memorial to the labor and socialist leader - 1927

Founding of the American Federation of Government Employees, following a decision by the National Federation of Federal Employees (later to become part of the Intl. Assn. of Machinists) to leave the AFL - 1932

August 17

IWW War Trials in Chicago, 95 go to prison for up to 20 years - 1918

Bakery & Confectionery Workers International Union of America merges with Tobacco Workers International Union to become Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers - 1978



Year-long Hormel meatpackers' strike begins in Austin, Minn. - 1985










SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Los Angeles Listener: You Guys Saved My Drive!

Los Angeles Listener: You Guys Saved My Drive!: The Mark and Brian Show on 95.5 KLOS, Los Angeles is over after 25 years. I didn't know that Mark was leaving today, I knew it was com...

POETRYPALOOZA!!!

 
August 3 at 6:00pm until August 26 at 10:00pm
 
LOS ANGELES
 
Poetrypalooza Tour 2012

The ZZyZx WriterZ, California homegrown musicians, poets, artists, performers, educators, artistic non-profit organizations, and aficionados invite you on their
50-mile, one month long celebration of poetry!

...
Presented by the ZZyZx WriterZ,
Sponsored by the Nuvein Foundation for the Arts;

Join us in THE celebration of poetry in all its incarnations while supporting local artists, promoting local businesses, educating, and encouraging all to network and continue building a web of diverse creative expression, where else, than in Southern California!

The tour kicks off Friday, August 3rd in Lincoln Heights, second home of the ZZyZx WriterZ @ The Cafe in the Heights! then hopping each day for 12 days every Fri.,Sat., and Sun, August 3rd-26th, to a different destination from East to West showcasing local visual artists, poetry readings, poetry workshops, live music, performance art, dance, and much more!

The tour will visit several meccas of poetry and expression throughout the San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles, and the Westside as: Beyond Baroque, the Claremont Forum, Portfolio Coffeehouse, UPMA: Old Town La Puente Artwalk, and culminating in its Grand Finale on Sunday, August 26th at the Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles!

Come early and sign up for the open mike! Each night, the first 5 sign ups will be automatically entered into the raffle to win one of the following: a ZZyZx WriterZ Anthology, Poetrypalooza t-shirt, featured artist print/piece, or featured performer/poet items, books, cds.

For more information, tour schedule, and contributor and poet/performer bios visit our NEW website:
poetrypalooza-la.weebly.com
and our Facebook page: Poetrypalooza

POETRYPALOOZA -- POETRY IN LIFE!

Friday, August 17, 2012

VFW partners with the Documentary, "High Ground"

It is great to be partnered with people who are passionate and committed to a cause or interest. They've been around 113 years working on support for veterans in a myriad of ways --social and birddogging legislation.
Read the rest at:
The Kitchen Dispatch: VFW partners with the Documentary, "High Ground"

The Kitchen Dispatch: Free Range International Goes Dark.

The best coverage of the war in Afghanistan from someone on the ground, stops.
What's  going on is he's simply going on the hardest journey of his life --to find healing, breath, prana, if you want to call it that. What he's doing is smart and brave.
Read the rest at:
The Kitchen Dispatch: Aloha BabaTim. Free Range International Goes Dark

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Meet the 2012 Daniel Pearl Fellows

You are invited to the following event:

Presentations August 23 at the Los Angeles Press Club by the Daniel Pearl Fellows, Aida Ahmed of Malaysia and Adnan Rashid of Pakistan. The program, moderated by Rob Eshman, is open to the public with no admission fee.

Aida Ahmad, 34, (Malaysia) is working at the Los Angeles Times. She has been a reporter for The Star in Kuala Lumpur since 2010, covering daily news and current issues in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding areas with a focus on federal and state governments, as well as local council issues, policies, and politics.

Adnan Rashid, 30, (Pakistan) the inaugural Pearl-Shahzad Fellow, is working at the Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA, where Danny began his journalism career, and for public radio station WAMC in Albany, NY. In Pakistan, Rashid works for IMEDIA as a senior producer, leading a team of radio journalists in the KPK province and federal tribal areas, focusing on social issues. He is also a contributor to the BBC Outlook.

Rob Eshman is the editor of Jewish Journal.

Today in Labor History

August 16
George Meany, plumber, founding AFL-CIO president, born in City Island, Bronx. In his official biography, George Meany and His Times, he said he had "never walked a picket line in his life." He also said he took part in only one strike (against the United States Government to get higher pay for plumbers on welfare jobs). Yet he also firmly said that "You only make progress by fighting for progress." Meany served as secretary-treasurer of the AFL from 1940 to 1952, succeeded as president of the AFL, and then continued as president of the AFL-CIO following the historic merger in 1955 until retiring in 1979 - 1894

Homer Martin, early United Auto Workers leader, born in Marion, Ill. - 1902

Congress passes the National Apprenticeship Act, establishing a national advisory committee to research and draft regulations establishing minimum standards for apprenticeship programs. It was later amended to permit the Labor Dept. to issue regulations protecting the health, safety and general welfare of apprentices, and to encourage the use of contracts in their hiring and employment - 1937

National Agricultural Workers Union merges into Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen - 1960

International Union of Wood, Wire & Metal Lathers merges with United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners - 1979
SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Today in #LaborHistory: Aug 16 -via- 'The Daily Bleed'

Juan de la Cruz, a 60-year-old United Farm Workers (UFW) member, is shot to death by a strike breaker. This is during the UFW's a second grape boycott, opposing the Teamster Union signing sweetheart deals with the California growers. - 1973

"De la Cruz was one of the original members of the farm workers union employed on the DiGorgio Ranch. The next day, 10,000 farm workers and union supporters, led by many Arabs, carried Nagi’s body in a four-mile funeral march in the summer heat." - from http://danielclavery.com/?p=909


Manchester Massacre: Police charge unemployed workers at a demonstration. Soldiers, apparently drunk, kill 11 people & about 400, including 100 women, are wounded. - 1819

" By 2.00 p.m. the soldiers had cleared most of the crowd from St. Peter's Field. In the process, 18 people were killed and about 500, including 100 women, were wounded." - from http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRpeterloo.htm

"Rochdale mill owner Thomas Chadwick, who was at the scene, described the massacre as: “An inhuman outrage committed on an unarmed, peaceful assembly.” - from http://antioligarch.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/what-happened-in-1819-the-peterloo-massacre-manchester-u-k/