Today in Labor History

April 12  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

A group of "puddlers"—craftsmen who manipulated pig iron to create steel—met in a Pittsburgh bar and formed The Iron City Forge of the Sons of Vulcan. It was the strongest union in the U.S. in the 1870s, later merging with two other unions to form what was to be the forerunner of the United Steel Workers - 1858

Birth of Florence Reece, active in Harlan County, Ky., coal strikes and author of famed labor song “Which Side Are You On?” - 1900

The Union Label and Service Trades Department is founded by the American Federation of Labor. Its mission: promote the products and services of union members – 1909

Twenty “girl millworkers,” attempting to relieve striking pickets at the Garfield, New Jersey, mill of Forstmann and Huffmann, were beaten “when they did not move fast enough to suit” 30 special deputies who ordered them off the site, according to a news report - 1912

Chris Turner is born in Floyd, Va. He went on to become a NASCAR driver and attempted, along with Fireball Roberts and Tim Flock, to organize the other drivers into a union in 1961 in the hope of better purses, a share in broadcasting rights and retirement benefits for the drivers. He was banned by NASCAR and was unsuccessful when he sued for reinstatement. The court said he was an individual contractor, not an employee of NASCAR or any track - 1924

The Toledo (Ohio) Auto-Lite strike begins today with 6,000 workers demanding union recognition and higher pay. The strike is notable for a 5-day running battle in late May between the strikers and 1,300 members of the Ohio National Guard. Known as the "Battle of Toledo," the clash left two strikers dead and more than 200 injured. The 2-month strike, a win for the workers’ union, is regarded by many labor historians as one of the nation’s three most important strikes - 1934

Police block Birmingham pastor from feeding the homeless

A pastor determined to live out the Bible’s dictate that we feed the poor was shut down by local police because he didn’t have a permit to serve food.

Twice a month, Rick Wood, a pastor at The Lord’s House of Prayer in Oneonta, Alabama, gets in his truck and drives around Birmingham with more than a hundred hot dogs and bottles of water, handing them out to the homeless. Wood has been serving those in need for the past six years because he wants to put Matthew 25:35-40 — “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,” a scripture verse he has plastered on the side of his truck — into action.

But last month, Wood was stopped from handing out food by local police because he was in violation of a new city ordinance, passed in December, that regulates food trucks. The new regulation requires food trucks to get a permit, which can cost as much as $500. Though the ordinance is specifically targeted at retail food vendors, rather than charities, the city nevertheless used it to block Wood.

He was livid. “That makes me so mad,” Wood said in an interview with ABC 33/40 News. “These people are hungry. They’re starving. They need help from people. They can’t afford to buy something from a food truck.”

The pastor accused Birmingham of wanting “to chase them out of the city.”

AP honors photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus at funeral: ‘She found the quiet human moments’

AP honors photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus at funeral: ‘She found the quiet human moments’

Let's meet Saturday at the Festival of Books - LA Observed

Let's meet Saturday at the Festival of Books - LA Observed

Your Local L.A. Newspaper Feels Your Pain

On Keeping Your Ears Open to the Concerns of ‘Regular People,’ Giving the Customers More, and a Newspaper’s Civic Duty


Zocalo Public Square

Greenwald, Poitras enter U.S., collect Polk awards

Greenwald, Poitras enter U.S., collect Polk awards

Lonnie Ernest Duncan Jr. Rest in Peace - Former Pressman LA Times

 November 25, 1929 - March 31, 2014 Lonnie Ernest Duncan, Jr., was born November 25, 1929, in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Lonnie Ernest and Nettie Mae (Smith) Duncan. He passed away Monday, March 31, 2014, in Fullerton, California, following a courageous battle with cancer. 

Mr. Duncan was a man of many names. "Junior", as he was known as a young boy, spent his early years in the Midwest. When he was a teenager, "Ernie" and his family moved to California where he finished high school. To those who knew Mr. Duncan he will be remembered as a kind, gentle and compassionate man who was generous and sensitive to others. He was a man of integrity and earnest in all things. 

A man of humble beginnings, Ernie learned the value of hard work. As a young man he went to work for the Los Angeles Times as a pressman. He would work during the night printing the paper, and, during the day, he and a partner began acquiring and renting construction equipment. As the rental business grew, Ernie was able to leave the LA Times. He eventually bought out his partner and continued to grow the business into a considerable empire in Southern California. 

In 1998, "Mr. D", as he was affectionately known by so many, sold ADCO Equipment to United Rentals and began new ventures in his retirement. While he enjoyed all sports, he especially liked to golf and ski-both water and snow skiing. He was a member of the Hacienda Golf Club in La Habra Heights, and he won the MacGregor Tournament in 1997. He was also the successful owner of a Sprint car in the late 60's. His love of fishing led him to purchase the Katmai Lodge along the Alagnak River in Alaska's prime king salmon fishing region. He also enjoyed traveling and has traveled all over the world. 

He was a Distinguished Member of the International Society of Tastemasters and a supporter of Childhelp USA. On February 23, 2013, Lonnie joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This decision brought him a great deal of joy and happiness. The crowning event of his spiritual journey occurred on March 1, 2014, when he and his wife, Kimberlee, were sealed for time and all eternity in the Newport Beach California Temple. While Mr. Duncan was blessed with success in many ways, his greatest treasure of all was his family. He is survived by his loving wife, Kimberlee; daughters, Teena Duncan and Susan Duncan; sons, John (Candace) Packard, Steven (Elaine) Packard, and Craig (Linda) -Packard; sisters, Dimple McCullough and Sharon (Bud) Harper; many wonderful grandchildren and great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his long-time professional staff, Carol Packard, Willie Rocha, Maria Foster, and Siggie Johnson, who he also dearly loved. 

He was pre-deceased by his wife of many years and the mother of his children, Dolores Duncan. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made, in his name, to St. Jude Memorial Foundation, 101 E. Valencia Mesa Dr., Fullerton, Ca 92835. A service will be held on Friday, April 4, 2014, 10am at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 15265 Mulberry Drive, Whittier, CA. Interment will follow at Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton, CA.  

See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=lonnie-ernest-duncan&pid=170474063#sthash.wZBEF8PV.dpuf

Published in the Los Angeles Times on Apr. 3, 2014

Friday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

Print will last a while: Murdoch - The Australian

Inside The New Yorker’s digital strategy - DigiDay

New Newspaper Numbers; New Opportunities - ClickZ

Tribune Publishing to take on $325 million in debt - Chicago Tribune

New York Times Hit With Incredibly Weird Lawsuit - Huffington Post

David Butler, 63, Will Now Oversee 75 Daily Newspapers - Mediabistro

Tribune CEO Won't Seek Re-Election to Yahoo's Board - Wall Street Journal

Freedom of Russian press under scrutiny following Ukraine crisis - The Guardian

LA Times Publisher Eddy Hartenstein' response to Congressman Waxman - LA Times

Congressman Waxman calls on LA Times' owner to change newspaper spin-off plans - SCPR

Salt Lake Tribune lays off employees, cuts print features

Salt Lake Tribune lays off employees, cuts print features

Los Angeles County Teen Challenge Invites You To: QUARTERMANIA

Henry Lozano Director of Los Angeles County Teen Challenge and Urban Ministries Initiatives.












For over fifty years, Teen Challenge has established centers in our nation’s poorest metropolitan areas. The Teen Challenge residential facilities in Southern California are strategically located to offer substance abuse and prevention services to those individuals who need our help the most. These communities often are areas saturated with rampant drug use, violence, crime and poverty.

Our residential facilities often care for those who have lost hope that they can ever break out of these deadly and destructive cycles. Our one-year residential substance abuse recovery program has been designed to equip graduates with the skills needed to be active contributors to their family, faith and community.

Our program-specific curriculum guides students through basic life, work and social skills and is designed to transform hearts and lives from the inside out. The Teen Challenge curriculum is one of several reasons why Teen Challenge has been, and continues to be, so successful.

QUARTERMANIA

Saturday, April 26, 2014
10:30 - 3:00
Calvary Assembly of God
25501 Oak St., Lomita, CA. 90717

DOORS OPEN AT 10:30 FOR BOUTIQUE SHOPPING
LUNCH 11:15 AND AUCTION 12:00 - 3:00

Pre Sale Tickets $15.00 or $20.00 at the door.


Ticket Includes:
1 bidding paddle, door prize ticket, and lunch.
Shopping from all vendors and 50/50 tickets will be sold separately.

Seating is limited! Reserve your place by sending a check to:
Attn: TEEN CHALLENGE
Quartermania Fundraiser
P.O. Box 01589 Los Angeles, CA. 90001
or call Theresa Burgan 323.282.2317

Many items for auction 1-4 quarters per item

All Proceeds will support L.A. County Teen Challenge

Not sure what Quartermania is? Watch the video below for details.

Bring your Quarters, Bring on the FUN!!

Today in Labor History

April 11  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

Ford Motor Company signs first contract with United Auto Workers - 1941

Jackie Robinson, first black ballplayer hired by a major league team, plays his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbetts Field - 1947

United Mine Workers President W. A. "Tony" Boyle is found guilty of first-degree murder, for ordering the 1969 assassination of union reformer Joseph A. "Jock" Yablonski. Yablonski, his wife and daughter were murdered on December 30, 1969. Boyle had defeated Yablonski in the UMW election earlier in the year—an election marred by intimidation and vote fraud. That election was set aside and a later vote was won by reformer Arnold Miller - 1974

Some 34,000 New York City Transit Authority workers, eleven days into a strike for higher wages, end their walkout with agreement on a 9-percent increase in the first year and 8 percent in the second, along with cost-of-living protections - 1980

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issues regulations prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors in the workplace - 1980

Police in Austin, Minn., tear-gas striking Hormel meatpacking workers. Seventeen strikers are arrested on felony riot charges - 1986

Some 25,000 marchers in Watsonville, Calif., show support for United Farm Workers organizing campaign among strawberry workers, others - 1997
(Farmworker’s Friend: The story of Cesar Chavez is a thoughtful and moving book about the inspiring life of the founder and long-time leader of the United Farm Workers of America.  This sympathetic portrayal of Chavez and his life’s work begins with his childhood, starting from the time his family’s store in Arizona failed during the Great Depression and his entire family was forced into the fields to harvest vegetables for a few cents an hour.)

LA Register called an audacious move for these times - LA Observed

LA Register called an audacious move for these times - LA Observed

Advice Goddess meets Publisher Aaron Kushner

Rep. Waxman Reports Independent Experts’ Concerns About Los Angeles Times Spinoff

News Release: Rep. Waxman Reports Independent Experts’ Concerns About Los Angeles Times Spinoff

Committee on Energy and Commerce
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member

For Immediate Release: April 11, 2014
Karen Lightfoot: (202) 225-5735

Rep. Waxman Reports Independent Experts’ Concerns About Los Angeles Times Spinoff

WASHINGTON, DC— Today Rep. Henry A. Waxman sent a letter to Tribune Company President and CEO Peter Liguori to share the concerns of media and business experts on the Tribune Company’s proposed spinoff of its newspaper unit, which includes the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan newspaper in the country, serving as the primary source of news for millions of people in Southern California.

These experts indicated that the high debt burden, inequitable asset split, and newspaper consolidation plans proposed for the spinoff will place the long-term viability of the Los Angeles Times and other Tribune papers at risk.

In the letter, Rep. Waxman writes, “I hope you will review the assessment the distinguished experts provided to me and then revise the terms of the transaction. When the newspapers become a separate company, they need the financial and other resources necessary to compete effectively in the Internet age.”

The full text of the letter to Mr. Liguori is available below and online here.

http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Liguori-Tribune-Company-LA-Times-Spin-Off-2014-4-11.pdf

Making a Newspaper in 1924

Silent short documentary about newspapers and how they are made. Rather intriguing considering newspapers are quickly becoming a thing of the past. 

This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives
License: Public Domain Allocation

Thursday Night in the Blogosphere

Los Angeles Register is the latest addition to the Southern California Newspaper market

Eye-Catchers of the Day: April 10, 2014 - Daily News Gems

We salute our carriers for their extraordinary efforts - Hometownlife

Newspapers can make you look classy and stylish - New Statesman

Student newspapers move to mobile as interest in print wanes - Poynter

UPS Un-Fires 250 Workers It Axed For Participating In Walkout - AOL

Murdoch says that the New York Post may exist only in digital form - Fortune

You have to put papers on the porch because subscribers are 80 - Romenesko

"Le 1": is France's new A1-size weekly newspaper really the one? - Editors Weblog

Postmedia loss widens to $25-million, but operating costs shrink 8.7% - Financial Post

Boston Globe editor McGrory opines on future of newspapers - Boston Business Journal

Investigation launches into AP photographer’s death

Investigation launches into AP photographer’s death

Today in Labor History

April 10  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

Birth date of Frances Perkins, named secretary of labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, becoming the first woman to hold a cabinet-level office - 1880

A total of 133 people, mostly women and girls, are killed when an explosion in the loading room tears apart the Eddystone Ammunition Works in Eddystone, Pa., near Chester. Of the dead, 55 were never identified - 1917

Birth of Dolores Huerta, a co-founder, with Cesar Chavez, of the United Farm Workers - 1930

Dancers from the Lusty Lady Club in San Francisco’s North Beach ratify their first-ever union contract by a vote of 57-15, having won representation by SEIU Local 790 the previous summer. The club later became a worker-owned cooperative - 1997

Tens of thousands of immigrants demonstrate in 100 U.S. cities in a national day of action billed as a campaign for immigrants’ dignity. Some 200,000 gathered in Washington, D.C. - 2006

Journalism needs the right skills to survive | Poynter.

Journalism needs the right skills to survive | Poynter.

Lonnie White's family is fundraising for a memorial service in Los Angeles on April 26th

LONNIE WHITE MEMORIAL PAGE

Lonnie White passed away on March 29 after suffering for nearly two decades from hidradenitis suppurativa, a rare, chronic skin disease. While the severe condition diminished his energy in recent years, it could not erase the enormous, magnetic spirit he carried in every endeavor throughout his life—from USC, where he was a record setting wide-receiver for the Trojans, to the L.A. Times newsroom, where he worked as a critically-acclaimed sportswriter from 1987 to 2008.

Lonnie was born October 7, 1964 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in South Belmar, New Jersey. A star quarterback at Asbury Park High School, he was also a member of the school’s state champion track team. At USC, he majored in broadcast journalism and wrote for the Daily Trojan. He set records for kickoff returns and kick return yardage in 1986 that would last until 2010.

At the Times, he covered high school and college football, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Kings, and was a general-assignment reporter. His work was recognized several times in the Associated Press Sports Editor’s annual writing contest, and he taught the class Sports Commentary at his alma-mater. He authored the book UCLA vs. USC: 75 Years of the Greatest Rivalry in Sports in 2004.

In a piece for USC’s Trojan Family Magazine, he wrote about the birth of his passion for these schools, which would play such a role in his future. “I got my first glimpse of the rivalry over the Thanksgiving holiday in 1972,” writes Lonnie. “I was 8, and I became mesmerized while watching television in my New Jersey home. USC was playing UCLA in a football game at the Memorial Coliseum. Outside my house, it was dark, rainy and cold, a miserable, drab East Coast night. But on television, the sun shone brightly before the early-evening game in L.A., fans in vibrant colors filled the stadium. Cardinal and gold on one side. Blue and gold on the other. I felt as though I were sitting inside the Coliseum.”

Times sports editor Mike James, who worked with Lonnie throughout his career, said, "Lonnie was one of the truly good guys in our business, respected and liked by almost everyone who knew him professionally and personally."

In 2010, Lonnie appeared on Discovery Health Channel's Mystery Diagnosis in an episode that documented his struggle with hidradenitis suppurativa. He is survived by his adoring family, including sisters Terri and Zeline, brother Timmy, his wife Kimberly, from whom he was separated, and a host of nieces and nephews.

Links:

LA Times Obituary
Asbury Park Press Obituary
USC Trojan Obituary 
'Fight On,' Lonnie, 'Fight On'

Newspaper tidbits offer slice of life from the past - Ellwood City Ledger: Local News

Newspaper tidbits offer slice of life from the past - Ellwood City Ledger: Local News

Today in Labor History

April 09 - Union Communications Services, Inc.

IWW organizes the 1,700-member crew of the Leviathan, then the world’s largest vessel - 1930

April 9, 1970: Defying a law prohibiting them from striking, public school teachers in Minneapolis walk out over wages and the right to bargain collectively. A year after the strike was settled, the Minnesota legislature passed the Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PERLA), strengthening collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere

Los Angeles Register Prototype 

The brave new world of newspapers - Post Independent

Progress: Making newspapers a reality - Republican Eagle

Newspaper publisher adding 150 jobs in Austin - Statesman

Should You Bet on the Action at McClatchy? - Motley Fool

What journalism ethics can learn from plumber ethics - Poynter

Eli Broad "Local ownership of the Los Angeles Times" - LAObserved

Surprise! Newspapers Going Way of Buggy Whip, Says FBR - Barrons

HIBU closes its hyperlocal print magazine and lays off hundreds - Romenesko

Are copy editors still necessary in the editorial process? - Editor and Publisher

10/13 Communications acquires Tucson newspapers and websites - East Valley Tribune

Online publication buys McClatchy’s Anchorage paper

Online publication buys McClatchy’s Anchorage paper

This robot wants to make a newspaper for you

This robot wants to make a newspaper for you

IMAGE CREDIT: Dezeen Magazine

Today in Labor History

April 08  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

A total of 128 convict miners, leased to a coal company under the state’s shameful convict lease system, are killed in an explosion at the Banner coal mine outside Birmingham, Ala. The miners were mostly African-Americans jailed for minor offenses - 1911

President Wilson establishes the War Labor Board, composed of representatives from business and labor, to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers during World War I - 1918

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is approved by Congress. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed the WPA during the Great Depression of the 1930s when almost 25 percent of Americans were unemployed. It created low-paying federal jobs providing immediate relief, putting 8.5 million jobless to work on projects ranging from construction of bridges, highways and public buildings to arts programs like the Federal Writers' Project - 1935
(Agitate! Educate! Organize! American Labor Posters: WPA artists’ depictions of workers can be seen in labor posters of that era. In Agitate! Educate! Organize!, Lincoln Cushing and Timothy W. Drescher share their vast knowledge about the rich graphic tradition of labor posters. Here you will find lavish full-color reproductions of more than 250 of the best posters that have emerged from the American labor movement on topics ranging from core issues such as wages and working conditions to discrimination to international solidarity.)

President Harry S. Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize the nation’s steel mills to avert a strike. The Supreme Court ruled the act illegal three weeks later - 1952

Al-Jazeera journalists mark 100 days in Egyptian jail amid calls for their release

Al-Jazeera journalists mark 100 days in Egyptian jail amid calls for their release

Advance laid off more than 300 people in N.J. | Poynter.

Advance laid off more than 300 people in N.J. | Poynter.

Pennsylvania: Strong Newspapers, Strong Communities

"Strong Newspapers, Strong Communities" --A video documentary highlighting the strength and innovation of Pennsylvania's community newspapers, developed by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association (PNA), the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Foundation and made possible by the PNA Foundation Fellows Fund for the Future program. 79 Dailies. 132 Weeklies. 188 Online Publications. Pennsylvania Newspapers: Strength in Numbers.

Monday Morning in the Blogosphere

Appears to be an unenforceable municipal code on Skid Row?

Sunday Tribune hikes price 50% - Robert Feder

Christie-Critic Paper Cuts Newsroom by 25 - Newsmax

The Intense World of High School Newspapers - Huff Post

Eye-Catchers of the Day: April 7, 2014 - Daily News Gems

Strong Newspapers, Strong Communities - Editor and Publisher

QR codes turn newspapers into shopping malls - QR Code Press

Can 'digital pence' ever add up to the 'print pound'? - The Guardian

8 shocking facts the media doesn’t have the courage to tell you - Salon

The two-decade-long erosion in newspaper circulation - Digital Journal

News revenue declines despite growth from new sources - Pew Research

Rutgers AD: If Star-Ledger died, ‘That’d be great’

Rutgers AD: If Star-Ledger died, ‘That’d be great’

Today in Labor History

April 07 - Union Communications Services, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board attorney tells ILWU members to “lie down like good dogs,” Juneau, Alaska - 1947

Some 300,000 members of the National Federation of Telephone Workers, soon to become CWA, strike AT&T and the Bell System. Within five weeks all but two of the 39 federation unions had won new contracts - 1947

Fifteen thousand union janitors strike, Los Angeles - 2000

Vote For General Jeff For Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council

Photo Credit: Michael R. Moore












Vote for General Jeff for Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council

General Jeff is a resident of Skid Row

When: Today April 3rd, 2014

Time: Noon till 8:00 pm

Where: L.A. Central Library

Everyone in Skid Row can vote

Paper doesn't know beans about Chile - LA Observed

Paper doesn't know beans about Chile - LA Observed

Cops shoot to death homeless man for camping

The Albuquerque Police Department in the state of New Mexico is coming under fire following the release of video footage taken from the helmet-mounted camera of an officer who shot and killed a man earlier this month for camping.

James Boyd, a 38-year-old homeless man thought to be schizophrenic, was shot by the Albuquerque PD on Sunday, March 16 after he became engaged in an hours-long standoff with officers who caught him illegally camping in the Sandi foothills. He was pronounced dead the next day.

For more go to: http://on.rt.com/gojqmj
Video courtesy of Albuquerque Police Department.

Find RT America in your area: http://rt.com/where-to-watch/
Or watch us online: http://rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air/

Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTAmerica
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/RT_America


h/t Advice Goddess

Today in Labor History

April 03 - Union Communications Services, Inc.

Some 20,000 textile mill strikers in Paterson, N.J., gather on the green in front of the house of Pietro Botto, the socialist mayor of nearby Haledon, to receive encouragement by novelist Upton Sinclair, journalist John Reed and speakers from the Wobblies. Today, the Botto House is home to the American Labor Museum - 1913

UAW Local 833 strikes the Kohler bathroom fixtures company in Kohler, Wisc. The strike ends six years later after Kohler is found guilty of refusing to bargain, agrees to reinstate 1,400 strikers and pay them $4.5 million in back pay and pension credits - 1954

Martin Luther King Jr. returns to Memphis to stand with striking AFSCME sanitation workers. This evening, he delivers his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech in a church packed with union members and others. He is assassinated the following day - 1968

Study: Sun-Times has most bylines by women, NYT fewest

Study: Sun-Times has most bylines by women, NYT fewest

Thursday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

450 men and women braved the ice cold winds yesterday to receive food, 

we will be back on Wednesday April 16th to distribute food.

Older Adults and Technology Use - Pew Research

Sun-Times adds bitcoin to its realm - Robert Feder

Is The Guardian in line for a Pulitzer? - Editors Weblog

News biz revenue has shrunk by a third since 2006 - Poynter

Matt Leinart wants you to buy some newspapers - CBS Sports

Star-Ledger cuts 167 jobs, including 40 newsroom positions - NJ.com

Oregonian moves from broadsheet to compact newspaper - Oregon Live

Lofty Newspaper Project Is Closed After Two Years - New York Times

Can Turning Newspapers into Shoppable Storefronts Revive Print Media? - PSFK

Newsonomics of Digital First Media’s Thunderdome implosion - Nieman Journalism Lab

Ugliest Los Angeles Times Home Page

By no means is this the ugliest LAT home page we've seen, but I just can't help but wonder how making the site look like a travel ad -- oh wait, it is a travel ad -- instills trust and brand loyalty.

Today in Labor History

April 02  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

The Union Label Trades Department is chartered by the American Federation of Labor. Its mission: promote the products and services produced in America by union members, especially those products identified by a union label, shop card, store card, and service button - 1909

The Supreme Court declares unconstitutional a 1918 Washington, D.C., law establishing a minimum wage for women - 1923

Major league baseball players end a 232-day strike, which began the prior August 12 and led to the cancellation of the 1994 postseason and the World Series - 1995

On March 28, the players voted to return to work if a U.S. District Court judge supported the National Labor Relations Board's unfair labor practices complaint against the owners (which was filed on March 27). By a vote of 27–3, owners supported the use of replacement players. The strike ended when future Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a preliminary injunction against the owners on March 31. On Sunday, April 2, 1995, the day before the season was scheduled to start, the 232 day long strike was finally over. Judge Sotomayor's decision received support from a panel of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which denied the owners' request to stay the ruling.

The 1995 season, which was revised to 144 games instead of the normal 162 (a decision that was made on March 26), began on April 24 under the conditions of the expired contract despite the lack of a collective bargaining agreement. The regular officials continued to be locked out until May 3.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994–95_Major_League_Baseball_strike

Los Angeles Times Staff Complimented for their work

From: "Maharaj, Davan" 
Date: March 30, 2014, 12:27:35 PM PDT
To: yyeditall 
Subject: Our journalism

All:

Today's front page is a dazzling display of journalism, a moment worth lingering over, and celebrating.

Alexandra Zavis and Rick Loomis' firsthand account of the murderous anarchy in the Central African Republic is a tour-de-force of gutsy reporting and great storytelling, in words and pictures. The foreign, copy, photo, design and web desks all did inspired work on tight deadlines to create a powerful presentation online as well as in the paper. No one who reads it will soon forget this chronicle of Muslim refugees' desperate, 400-mile flight from machete-wielding mobs.

No less impressive was the reconstruction of the deadly Washington State landslide by Maria La Ganga, Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Matt Pearce and Paresh Dave. It was a model of a hard-to-pull-off journalism form -- brimming with drama, human detail and lucid explanation.

Then there was Ron Lin's authoritative take on the science behind Friday night's earthquakes and Chad Terhune's sharp analysis of the next great uncertainty facing the Affordable Care Act: the cost of caring for the newly insured and what it will do to the insurance premiums we all pay.

To quote Sunday editor Mary Braswell, not one given to reckless overstatement: "We can still rock it."

Yes, we can. And that is something to celebrate.

--Davan and Marc

Mayor Eric Garcetti and the State of the City Address

Tribune Company To Receive Cash Distribution from Classified Ventures' Sale of Apartments.com

PR Newswire

CHICAGO, April 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Tribune Company announced that it will receive a gross cash distribution of approximately $160 million from Classified Ventures' sale of Apartments.com, following the close of the transaction today.  Tribune Company is one of five media companies that own Classified Ventures.  The company said previously that it will use the proceeds from the cash distribution for general corporate purposes.

TRIBUNE is one of the country's leading multimedia companies, operating businesses in broadcasting, publishing, and interactive. The company's broadcasting group owns or operates 42 television stations, WGN America on national cable, the national multicast networks Antenna TV and THIS TV, Tribune Studios and Chicago's WGN-AM. In publishing, Tribune's leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and Daily Press. Popular news and information websites complement Tribune's broadcast and print properties and extend the company's nationwide audience.

SOURCE Tribune Company

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1826167#ixzz2xfxcn5WU

Tuesday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

TEACH PEACE

Top 10 media stories from March - Robert Feder

'Miami Herald' VP Puts Digital First - Ocean Drive

The Future's Newspaper Rack Is - Net News Check

Hoax earthquake letter rings in April Fools’ Day - Poynter

Cognex keeps newspapers hot off the press - SHD Logistics

Colombian newspapers send newsprint to Venezuela - El Universal

Bridging the gap between print and digital advertising - Editor and Publisher

For Retail And Newspapers: Growing Online Revenues Are Key - Seeking Alpha

University newspaper gains 500 subscribers after implementing paywall - Editors Weblog

Minnesota Timberwolves owner makes formal offer to buy The Star Tribune - Romenesko

Today in Labor History

April 01  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

Many believe that Cincinnati on this day became the first U.S. city to pay fire fighters a regular salary. Others say no, it was Boston, back in 1678, exact date unknown - 1853

United Mine Workers of America win 8-hour day - 1898

San Francisco laundry workers strike for wage increases and an 8-hour day - 1907

What was to become a 13-week strike begins today in Hopedale, Mass., when hundreds of workers seeking higher pay and a 9-hour day gathered in the street near the Draper Corp. loom-making plant. The president of the company declared: “We will spend $1 million to break this strike,” and, in fact, did, aided by hundreds of sworn “special policemen” with clubs. Police were drawn from a three-state area as well - 1913

Unionized miners at West Virginia’s Coal River Colliery Co. (CRC) strike for union scale. CRC was an investment venture of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE), with shares owned by BLE members - 1924 (Source: Conflict at Coal River Collieries: The UMWA Versus the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, by Thomas J. Robertson & Ronald L. Lewis)

Strike of cotton mill workers begins in Gastonia, N.C. During the strike, police raided the strikers’ tent colony; the chief of police was killed. The strike leaders were framed for murder and convicted, but later freed - 1929

Some 400,000 members of the United Mine Workers strike for higher wages and employer contributions to the union’s health and welfare fund. President Truman seizes the mines - 1946

Forty thousand textile workers strike in cotton and rayon mills of six southern states, seeking higher pay, sickness and accident insurance, and pensions - 1951

Longest newspaper strike in U.S. history, 114 days, ends in New York City. Workers at nine newspapers were involved - 1963
(Making the News: A Guide for Nonprofits and Activists: 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? You’ll want this book.)

Major league baseball players begin what is to become a 13-day strike, ending when owners agree to increase pension fund payments and to add salary arbitration to the collective bargaining agreement - 1972

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters merges with Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees - 1978

Eleven-day strike by 34,000 New York City transit workers begins, halts bus and subway service in all five boroughs before strikers return to work with a 17 percent raise over two years plus a cost-of-living adjustment - 1980

United Cement, Lime & Gypsum Workers Int’l Union merges with Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers & Helpers - 1984

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers granted a charter by the AFL-CIO - 1989

The U.S. minimum wage increases to $3.80 per hour - 1990

The United Mine Workers of America dedicates the John L. Lewis Mining and Labor Museum at Lewis’ boyhood home in Lucas, Iowa - 1990

The U.S. minimum wage increases to $4.25 per hour - 1991

Players begin the first strike in the 75-year history of the National Hockey League. They win major improvements in the free agency system and other areas of conflict, and end the walkout after 10 days - 1992