Labor Heritage Power Hour

Labor on George Floyd and the fight for justice

Broadcast on June 4, 2020
Hosted by Chris Garlock & Elise Bryant, President, Coalition of Labor Union Women
This week's guests:
RYAN TIMLIN, President, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
TERRY MELVIN, President, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
YANIRA MERINO, President, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
PLUS: Listeners call in to join the conversation.
Music: Tracy Chapman, Talkin' Bout a Revolution
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineering by Katea Stitt

”Workers First” caravan; extending “recognition pay”

Broadcast May 28, 2020
This week's guests:
TEFERE GEBRE, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO, on the June 3 Workers First Caravan
JONATHAN WILLIAMS, Communications Director, UFCW 400, on his union’s calls on Giant to extend “recognition pay” until the COVID-19 crisis is over
ELIZABETH FALCON, Executive Director, DC Jobs with Justice, on tomorrow’s DC Excluded Workers Social Media Blitz
Music: Heroes (We Could Be); Alesso remix Produced by Chris Garlock; engineering by Jerry Paris and Shepsu Baker

Big biz uses COVID-19 to dodge responsibility for worker safety

Broadcast May 21, 2020
This week's guests:
REBECCA DIXON, Executive Director, National Employment Law Project, on how big biz is using coronavirus as an excuse to get permanent protection from all worker lawsuits
LYNN BERNABEI, lawyer, Bernabei & Kabat, on MedStar employee fired for tweeting about hospital’s lack of coronavirus safety precautions
DAMON SILVERS, Director of policy and special counsel for the AFL-CIO: AFL-CIO sues feds over coronavirus workplace safety
Music: “We Just Come to Work Here”
Artist: Ben Grosscup; original lyrics by Harry Stamper; new lyrics by Paul McKennaProduced by Chris Garlock; engineering by Jerry Paris

“American Unemployment Past, Present, And Future”

Broadcast May 14, 2020
This week's guests:
FRANK STRICKER; Author, “American Unemployment Past, Present, and Future; Lies your economists told you—and the truths that can change the nation”
SETH COOK; Principal tubist for the Washington National Opera and Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, member of the DC Musicians Union and a co-owner of the Takoma Beverage Company
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineering by Michael Nasella

UI updates; Meditation during the pandemic

Broadcast May 7, 2020
This week's guests:
LOLITA MARTIN, Staff Attorney, Claimant Advocacy Program: Updates on filing for Unemployment Insurance in DC
NALISHA MEHTA; meditation and relaxation during the pandemic
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineering by Michael Nasella

AU WORKER RIGHTS; LABOR AND THE ENVIRONMENT; ”THE EDGE OF ANARCHY”

DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them.
Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed SmithThis week's guests:ANTHONY RANDOLPH from UNITE HERE LOCAL 23; Tens of thousands more laid off workers filed for unemployment assistance in the DMV last week, for a total of nearly half a million claims over the last five weeks. A small fraction of those workers are lucky enough to be members of a union, and at American University that membership might literally mean life or death. When Compass Group, an American University subcontractor, laid off campus food service workers, UNITE HERE Local 23 sprang into action to ensure members continued to get pension and medical benefits. Without those medical benefits, laid off workers would have little means to access care if they got sick. WPFW reporter Chris Bangert-Drowns spoke with AU employee and UNITE HERE 23 member Anthony Randolph on Monday to get the details.
JOE UEHLEIN with the Labor Network for Sustainability on Earth Day at 50; labor and the environmental movement. The first Earth Day in 1970 had very significant support from the United Automobile Workers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which included money, staff time, printing, and other related resources. Denis Hayes, organizer of the first Earth Day told Labor Network for Sustainability President Joe Uehlein that the first Earth Day would not have happened without labor support. Some of the larger Earth Day planning retreats/meetings were held at the UAW’s Black Lake training center in upstate Michigan. JACK KELLY: "The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age, and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America”
At the peak of the Gilded Age a conflict in one of America’s largest factories exploded into the most extensive and threatening labor uprising in American history. The Edge of Anarchy tells the story of this epoch-making event. The book transports the reader from the fabulous White City of the 1893 World’s Fair to the nation’s industrial heartland, where unprecedented hard times are brewing rage across the continent. In the summer of 1894, more than half a million desperate railroad workers went on strike. Riots broke out in Chicago and other major cities. The nation’s commerce ground to a halt—famine threatened isolated towns. The U.S. Attorney General declared the country to be on “the ragged edge of anarchy.”
Music: You Can't Giddy Up By Sayin' Whoa: The U-Liners (with Joe Uehlein).
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineering by Michael Nasella and Shepsu Baker

HOTEL WORKERS FIGHT TO SURVIVE; ORGANIZING NON-PROFITS; ”THE LONG DEEP GRUDGE”

DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them. Broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM
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Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith
This week's guests:
JOHN BOARDMAN, UNITE HERE LOCAL 25: Update on hotel workers
KATIE BARROWS, NPEU (Nonprofit Professional Employees Union): Why we’re still organizing
Music: GmacCash - On Strike: https://youtu.be/uJOHvQ9cL38
TONI GILPIN, “The Long Deep Grudge: A Story of Big Capital, Radical Labor, and Class War in the American Heartland”Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Jerry Paris

SUPERMARKET WORKERS & NURSES DURING THE PANDEMIC; “MONGREL FIREBUGS AND MEN OF PROPERTY”

DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them. Broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM
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Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith
This week's guests:
JONATHAN WILLIAMS, UFCW 400: Supermarket workers to DC mayor: more must be done
TIM SHEARD, author “All Bleeding Stops Eventually” and Condition Critical! NYC Nurse Issues Harrowing Report From The Medical Frontlines
STEVE FRASER, author “Mongrel Firebugs and Men of Property: Capitalism and Class Conflict in American History”
Music: The Elevator Man; SpudWrench
MICHAEL PETERSON, AKA SpudWrench (at right in photo); elevator engineer, member of Local 124 of the Elevator Constructors Union (in Alabama)Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Katea Stitt

Suing the government on behalf of federal employees exposed to coronavirus; Michael Honey on ”What Happened to Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream of Econo...

DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them. Broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM
Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith
Today’s guests:
HEIDI BURAKIEWICZ, partner at the lawfirm of KCNF DC; Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch: American Federation of Government Employees and Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch Sue Government on Behalf of Federal Employees Exposed to Coronavirus
MICHAEL HONEY, historian: What Happened to Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream of Economic Justice?”
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Katea Stitt

Companies mistreating workers as COVID-19 spreads; Nationals Opening Day finds thousands of concessions workers facing destitution (Hour 1)

DC’s call-in show about worker rights: those you have, those you don’t, how to get them and how to use them. Broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM
Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith
Today’s guests:
DEBORAH BERKOWITZ, Worker Health and Safety Director at the National Employment Law Project: As coronavirus spreads, so do reports of companies mistreating workers
MARGARET SHARP, DC organizing director, UNITE HERE Local 23: Nationals Opening Day Finds Thousands Facing Destitution; MLB response inadequate
1:30: Music: Look For The Union Label, JOE GLAZER
Case Closed, with DAVID SCHLOSSProduced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Katea Stitt