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EDITOR’S NOTE: “My favorite labor song is Electric Boogie,” says AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride on the latest “My Favorite Labor Song,” a feature on the weekly Labor Heritage Power Hour radio show. “I first learned the Electric Slide from union members when I was 26 years old,” Elissa says, and since then, she’s danced it “at union conventions, in parking lots, behind union halls. on a picket line and even in a jail cell after being arrested for civil disobedience. To me, the song is about power and solidarity and joy and pulling people in and being together, and just one lyric brings that up for me; ‘Are you coming with me?’ So, are you coming with me? To organize, to build power and to win for workers? I hope so.”
To share your favorite labor song, record a brief voicemail including your name, union and home town and state, the name of the song, and why it’s your favorite labor song. Send to [email protected]
- Chris Garlock
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Women’s history is America’s labor history
This Women's History Month, the AFL-CIO recognizes that women's history is not a separate history; it’s not a single month. Women's history is also America’s history, and it’s America’s labor history, too. Women workers have always been a crucial part of the fight for justice in the labor movement. And women's history is not just the past—it’s also the present. That’s why the AFL-CIO is celebrating a new generation of women labor leaders and activists as well, featuring workers from across the country, including Lori Ulrich of AFSCME, a disability services coordinator for Montgomery College. The Federation’s Civil, Human and Women’s Rights Department has put together a list of recommended reading for the month, making it easy for you to support women authors and to buy union-made.
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Arts Exchange Contest adds drag category
“Strike a Pose for our first-ever Great Labor Arts Exchange Union Drag award,” says Annabelle Heckler. The new category joins songs, poems and hip-hop in the annual contest at the Great Labor Arts Exchange, which is being held in conjunction with the 2024 Labor Notes Conference, April 18-21 in Chicago. “What better way to unite to fight right wing anti-trans legislation and drag bans, celebrate drag performer organizing, and celebrate our labor history of drag as joy and resistance?” says Heckler. Submissions must be an original drag performance that addresses peace, justice, union solidarity and related intersections; competitors must submit this form by 5p Friday, April 19. As in the other categories – all of which are still open for submission -- the winner receives a $200 prize and performs their piece again in the concert Saturday night, April 20, which will also be livestreamed. Graphic by Annabelle Heckler
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Auditions open for “The Return of John Brown”
Auditions for longtime labor organizer Gene Bruskin’s latest musical are scheduled for March 18-24. “The Return of John Brown” is “a musical drama that merges past, present and future as legendary abolitionist John Brown mysteriously returns and finds that things are still not right.” Four performances are planned for late April/early May. For more information and to schedule an audition, email [email protected] or call 301-512-7922.
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Missing A. Philip Randolph?
A recent DC Labor Walk ended in mystery: the bust of A. Philip Randolph at Union Station was missing. A helpful Amtrak worker told me it had been taken away for repair but when multiple emails and calls to Union Station management went unanswered, I got worried. And a little suspicious; labor history is always battling erasure. Fortunately, I knew exactly who to alert: labor landmarks guru Saul Schniderman. Within 24 hours, Saul had solved the mystery. After contacting Ed Dwight, the bust’s original sculptor, Saul learned that Amtrak had indeed wanted to repair the statue – the eyeglasses in Randolph’s hand had been broken off years ago – and Ed, who was unable to take on the project, referred them to sculptor Ivan Schwarz of StudioEIS, who recommended that Amtrak contact a foundry in Lancaster, PA, which will repair the glasses, as well as do the necessary restoration work. “So, it is in good hands,” Saul reports. The Randolph bust is scheduled to return to Union Station this summer.
- Chris Garlock. NOTE: the DC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America will be leading a DC Labor Walk on May 12; stay tuned for details!
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ON AIR: LISTEN TO OUR RADIO SHOW! The Labor Heritage Power Hour, hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant, airs every Thursday at 1p on WPFW 89.3FM in Washington, DC, and you can listen to the show's podcast here: We Were There: Celebrating women’s labor herstory: Bev Grant on the origins of “We Were There”; a sample of Work Stoppage’s “Women in the US Labor Movement” series; Why AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride loves “Electric Boogie”; Les Leopold on “Wall Street's War on Workers” and, on Labor History in 2:00, Lucy Parsons and Frances Perkins. | | |
From National Nurses United (NNU): #UnionStrong RNs at @HCAFLHealthcare Osceola Hospital & Lake Monroe Hospital rallied this week in preparation of contract negotiations with the health care giant. @HCAhealthcare reported $5.2 billion in profits in 2023 – we know they can afford to invest in safe patient care! | |
We Were There-Bev Grant & the Brooklyn Women’s Chorus | |
The Labor Origins of Women’s History Month | |
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History has a long-range perspective. It ultimately passes stern judgment on tyrants and vindicates those who fought, suffered, were imprisoned, and died for human freedom, against political oppression and economic slavery.
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
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LHF's comprehensive listing of labor's cultural events: music, films, theater, books, history and more...
Click here to add your labor arts event!
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HISTORY: "The Festival of Struggle: A Forgotten Workers' Celebration"
Tue, March 12, 12:15pm – 1:30pm
Green Room, MSU Library, and available as an online webinar; the password is odwodl
MUSIC/HISTORY: We Were There: Bev Grant & The DC Labor Chorus
Tue, March 12, 7pm – 9pm
Busboys and Poets, 235 Carroll St NW, Washington, DC 20012
(doors open at 6:30p) FREE but you must RSVP
HISTORY: Lessons from the Pauper's Grave: Why A Memorial to Leadville's 19th Century Shanty Irish Touches the Most Profound Social Issues of Our Time
Wed, March 13, 6:30pm – 8:00pm
University of Colorado Denver, Student Commons Building, Room 1600 (map)
RADIO/PODCAST: Labor Heritage Power Hour
Thu, March 14, 1pm – 2pm
WPFW 89.3 FM or listen online
Bread & Roses Soundoff and Weaving Textile Justice Workshop
Sat, March 16, 12pm – 3pm
Join us at this free workshop. Everyone is welcome! RSVP HERE
Hosted by The Bread & Roses Heritage Committee, Lawrence, MA
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March 8, 1908
Thousands of New York needle trades workers demonstrate for higher wages, shorter workday, and end to child labor. The demonstration became the basis for International Women’s Day
March 8, 1926
New York members of the Fur and Leather Workers Union, many of them women, strike for better pay and conditions. They persevere despite beatings by police, winning a 10 percent wage increase and five-day work week
On this week’s Labor History Today podcast, When Mother Jones teamed up with a U.S. Senator to battle West Virginia feudalism: David Corn, Washington D.C. Bureau Chief for Mother Jones, brings us “A Story of Mother Jones (the Labor Organizer) That’s Relevant a Century Later”.
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Sorry, no quiz this week, due to technical difficulties. See you next week!
LAST WEEK'S QUIZ: Screen Actors Guild member Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Academy Award, honored on Feb. 29, 1940 for her portrayal of “Mammy” in “Gone with the Wind” | |
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"The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too."
Please CLICK HERE NOW to pledge your financial support to our 2024 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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