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THIS WEEK'S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW
Songs for Minneapolis
On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: highlights from the 2026 Labor Grammys—including the winning song—and we talk with singer David Rovics about songwriting, AI, and why stories move people more than slogans. Plus: powerful medleys from LHF’s new Songs for Minneapolis playlist, a deep-dive interview with David Correia (Set the Earth on Fire) on the 1902 anthracite strike and the roots of modern policing, and, on Labor History in 2:00, the President calls in the feds. Plus, a tribute to beloved WPFW engineer Mighty Myke Nasella.
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Join LHF—Keep the Art and Soul of the Labor Movement Alive
Labor culture doesn’t happen by accident. It survives because people show up. At a time when workers are organizing, resisting, and reimagining their futures, the Labor Heritage Foundation helps connect generations and movements through music, film, radio, art, and history. Your membership helps sustain the artists, storytellers, and independent labor media that keep those connections alive.
Join the Labor Heritage Foundation today and help keep the art and soul of the labor movement strong!
| | | LABOR VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
LHT’s DC Labor Chorus Video Playlist has been updated with four short videos from the Chorus’ performance this Wednesday at the Resistance Singing in Takoma Park, MD, plus an excerpt featuring their appearance in Jay Mallin’s recently-posted “Highly Visible” video, as well as an edited version of their 2025 Holiday Concert.
Got labor video? email us at info@laborheritage.org | | Forward the LHF newsletter to friends, family, colleagues and help us reach our goal of 10,000 readers! 👉 Subscribe free | | PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK
At Thursday’s massive noontime rally supporting the 300+ Washington Post journalists abruptly laid off this week. Read more here. photo by Chris Garlock.
Got picket sign? email us at info@laborheritage.org | | |
LABOR SONG Of The WeekStriking At Kings
Thanks to Labor Radio Podcast Network member Labor Jawn for bringing this new song commemorating the 1938 farmworkers' strike at King’s Farm in Morrisville PA to our attention.
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LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It’s disgusting that one of the richest men in the world is more invested in purchasing favor with the president of the United States than in investing in journalists who are the watchdogs of democracy.”
NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss, reacting to Wednesday’s mass layoffs at the Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos. “Bezos’ actions should alarm every American who cares about their rights in our country,” Schleuss added.
| | Like this newsletter? Help us spread labor art by passing it along! | | CLICK HERE for our complete labor arts calendar; look for our Labor Arts Calendar edition on Monday | | |
TODAY’S LABOR HISTORY
1896: Ironworkers from six cities meet in Pittsburgh to form the International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers of America. Their pay in Pittsburgh at the time: $2.75 for a nine-hour day
1904: It took 1,231 firefighters 30 hours to put down The Great Baltimore Fire, which started on this day and destroyed 1,500 buildings over an area of some 140 acres.
1910: Philadelphia shirtwaist makers vote to accept arbitration offer and end walkout as Triangle Shirtwaist strike winds down. One year later 146 workers, mostly young girls aged 13 to 23, were to die in a devastating fire at the New York City sweatshop.
1919: Seattle General Strike (photo) begins. The city was run by a General Strike Committee for six days as tens of thousands of union members stopped work in support of 32,000 striking longshoremen.
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A Banjo, a Brick, and a Bible
This week on Labor History Today, we remember Pete Seeger and how his songs helped build movements—from union halls to civil rights and environmental campaigns. Then we turn to the 1933 Funsten Nut Strike in St. Louis, led by Black women who organized more than 2,000 workers, and talk with Kathryn Bentley and Colin McLaughlin, the creators of the new play A Brick and a Bible.
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| What made the 1894 Cripple Creek miners’ strike in Colorado unique in U.S. labor history? | | | | LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: John J. Sweeney’s father was a bus driver, his mother a domestic worker, both were Irish immigrants. Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2009, died February 1, 2021 at age 86. Sweeney worked for the Intl. Ladies Garment Workers then the Service Employees, where he served as president, before his time at the AFL-CIO. | | |
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