EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re taking Labor Day off, so there’ll be no newsletter on Monday. Enjoy the holiday! | | |
THIS WEEK’S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR
Detroit’s Ring of Labor
On this week's Labor Heritage Power Hour: “Stand with your back to the river and look through the ring of labor at the square symbols of capitalism that labor built.” The Michigan Labor History Society’s John Dick and Dave Elsila take us on a tour of Detroit’s Transcending labor monument and reveal the union story behind the Motown sound. Then, historian Kelly Goodman traces teachers’ struggles in Detroit and Chicago for well-funded, humane public education. Plus, Hali Hammer shares her favorite labor song.
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LABOR ARTS NEWS BRIEFS
True Concord Orchestra Votes To Unionize: Members cited concerns around safety issues, inconsistent scheduling, a lack of guaranteed working hours and no rights to recorded performances. Read more.
Denver Library Workers Unionize With Overwhelming Vote: Library workers have been organizing since 2020, even before they were legally allowed to engage in collective bargaining. Read more.
NY Newsguild-Represented Forbes Journalists Win First Contract: The deal sets strong editorial integrity protections, establishes a new $68.5K salary floor, includes gold-standard job security protections, and more. Read more.
Seattle Museum Workers Launch Union Effort: MOHAI Workers United — which would represent 32 museum staff — intends to unionize with Communications Workers of America Local 7800. Read more.
100 Simulated Patient Performers Join AFSCME Local 328: “That’s the power of union organizing… More than 100 skilled performers now have better pay, stronger protections and a collective voice at work.” Read more.
WHAT WE’RE READING
AI Meet CBA
When Henry Ford ruled Detroit
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2027 GLAE registration is open!
Registration is now open for the 2027 Great Labor Arts Exchange, quite possibly the earliest we’ve ever opened it! Join us June 18–20 in Silver Spring, Maryland, for a weekend of music, theater, poetry, visual art and more. The 2027 GLAE will include a special Choral Convergence, bringing together labor choruses from across the country.
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Southern Illinois Honors Its Union Mining Legacy
The Illinois Labor History Society honored Southern Illinois union coal miners August 30 at West Frankfort High School, inducting safety innovator John E. Jones and UMWA activist Benny “Chuckie” Wilson into its Union Hall of Honor.
Three local high school students performed a readers’ theater drawn from miners’ oral histories collected through the University of Illinois’ Coal Workers and Communities Listening Project.
Speakers included Illinois AFL-CIO President and former coal miner Tim Drea, former U.S. Representative Glenn Poshard and John Gossett of the Old King Coal Festival.
The program comes as the community prepares to mark the 75th anniversary of the West Frankfort Orient No. 2 Mine explosion, which killed 119 miners on December 21, 1951. Through union recognition, oral history and student performance, the event honored the workers whose struggles shaped Southern Illinois—and passed their stories to a new generation.
More photos here.
| | | | LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK: BVOCAL Choir @ No Kings Boston
March and sing with the BVOCAL chorus -- Boston Voices of Community and Labor -- in Boston's second annual Labor Day Parade Monday, September 7, 10am to noon in downtown Boston.
Got labor video? email us at info@laborheritage.org | PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK
Got a creative picket sign to share? email us at info@laborheritage.org | |
LABOR SONG OF THE WEEK: We Will Resist-DC Labor Chorus
Join the DC Labor Chorus for its annual Labor Day sing-along at the New Deal Cafe in Greenbelt on Monday, September 7, from 2–4 p.m. “Four years running and always a great time!”
Got a Labor song? Email us: info@laborheritage.org
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LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“ 60% of America's journalists are struggling to get a living wage, to be able to afford to live in the communities that they're supposed to cover.”
NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss; tune in to WPFW 89.3 FM on Labor Day at 1pm to hear our interview with him about the organizing wave sweeping small local newsrooms.
Got a favorite Labor quote? Email us: info@laborheritage.org
| | LABOR ART OF THE WEEK
This month the Justseeds Artists' Cooperative is highlighting the artworks they carry celebrating the labor movement. Check out the selection of hundreds of prints, publications and posters they have in stock, in solidarity and for worker power against the boss!
Above: Control the Tools, by Roger Peet. | | |
LABOR POEM OF THE WEEK
Painter
My grandfather was a house painter.
He rested his ladder against the edge
of the clouds, dipped our home into the sky
to paint the walls in soft, fading hues of turquoise.
Zita Murányi, from The Book of Jobs: Poems About Work
Got labor poetry? Email us: info@laborheritage.org
| | LABOR LANDMARK OF THE WEEK: The Peter McGuire Memorial
Pennsauken, NJ
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America dedicated this memorial to their founder, Peter McGuire, in 1962. McGuire was also the first secretary of the American Federation of Labor and may have been the founder of Labor Day (some contend that the holiday was actually founded by the Secretary of New York’s Central Labor Union, Matthew Maguire.)
Details on the LHF Labor Landmarks Map. | | |
THIS WEEK'S LABOR HISTORY TODAY
Detroit’s Ring of Labor
On this week’s Labor History Today: John Dick and Dave Elsila of the Michigan Labor History Society take Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant on a tour of Transcending, Detroit’s spectacular monument to working people and the achievements of organized labor.
Plus, a musical tribute to Dolly Parton and her songs of work, family and working-class life. Labor History in 2:00 marks the Battle of Blair Mountain and FDR’s 1935 effort to make the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.
CLICK HERE to watch a video of our tour of Transcending.
| | We hope you’re enjoying our big Labor Day edition, packed with labor arts, history, music and workers’ stories. Please share it widely and help us spread the culture and spirit of the labor movement! | | |
TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY
1894: Twelve thousand New York tailors strike over sweatshop conditions.
1972: International Brotherhood of Bookbinders merged with Graphic Arts International Union.
1991: In what many believe was to become the longest strike in U.S. history, 600 Teamster-represented workers walk out at the Diamond Walnut processing plant (photo) in Stockton, CA after the company refused to restore a 30 percent pay cut they had earlier taken to help out the company. The two sides ultimately agreed to a new contract after 14 years.
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| How many marched in New York's first Labor Day Parade in 1882? | | | | LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: 60 letter carriers gathered in Milwaukee on August 29, 1889 in the meeting room above Milwaukee’s Schaeffer’s Saloon. The following day, these delegates passed a resolution officially establishing the National Association of Letter Carriers. | | |
SUPPORT LABOR ARTS!
Please CLICK HERE NOW to pledge your financial support to our 2026 program, which includes our annual Solidarity Forever Award, the Great Labor Arts Exchange, the DC Labor FilmFest and much more (check out our website for details!).
Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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