Labor Unions

from my own union-established bank:

On March 25, 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory killed 146 young, mostly women, garment workers. Many of the victims were immigrants who, like immigrants today, had come to America in search of a better life. Their deaths galvanized labor unions, progressive organizations and workers in New York and around the country to fight for better working conditions, fair pay for all workers, and for a say in how their workplace was managed. One of the unions that led these fights, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, founded Amalgamated Bank in 1923 so that workers, labor unions and progressive organizations would be able to bank with an institution that believed in their cause.

Read below the fold...

Affinis didn't have time this morning to write a blog post on the ongoing actions at Pacific Coast seaports by the ILWU (International Longshore Workers Union or is it International Longshore and Warehouse Union?) Local 21 at Longview, WA. So I'll attempt to do one in the meantime. Read below the fold...

(Cross posted at The Montana Maven )
Newt Gingrich suggested that perhaps a good idea for poor highschoolers would be to work as the janitors in their high school in their off hours which would "be a way to instill a work ethic while also saving money". A lot of liberals jumped on him for this screaming, "That's an awful idea. That is child labor and it's racist to boot."

Well, it sounds racist. But most of all it sounds stupid and way out of touch with the lives of regular Americans. So it's not only racist, but it's elitist. Read below the fold...

In a major speech today, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka outlined a vision of what a true labor movement should be. Read the speech here:

We have listened hard, and what workers want is an independent labor movement that builds the power of working people—in the workplace and in political life.

Working people want a labor movement strong enough to help return balance to our economy, fairness to our tax system, security to our families and moral and economic standing to our nation. Our role is not to build the power of a political party or a candidate. It is to improve the lives of working families and strengthen our country.

Read below the fold...

Amelia “Milka” Sablich (Check this site out - soooooo much more about her - I took some from it, thank you, and there's a page dedicated to her here.)

A lesser-known rebel girl who is definitely worth mentioning is Amelia “Milka” Sablich, also known as the “girl in flaming red” after her bright red clothes. Hailing from Trinidad, Colo., this 19-year-old was compared to the famous Mother Jones, however, the media decided Milka was much tougher. Given that she was known to get into physical fights with men, including police, it’s hard to take that away from her! Read below the fold...

Pearl McGill Read below the fold...

Sometimes remembered tangentially for being a love interest of Big Bill Haywood, Jessie Ashley was an IWW figure in her own right. As one of the few women attorneys in the early 20th century United States, she dedicated her career to defending jailed unionists, and later in life, to advocating for a woman’s right for access to birth control. From a highly-educated and wealthy background, Ashley and many of her East Village compatriots were looked at with suspicion by some in the ranks of the IWW, but she threw herself into solidarity work without hesitation. Read below the fold...

Read below the fold...

Helen Keller
Read below the fold...

Mary Harris Jones, better known as “Mother Jones” and born in the rebel county of Cork, Ireland, was once described as “the most dangerous woman in America,” which must be up there with being “more dangerous than a thousand rioters”! She stated in her autobiography that her family had been involved in the “struggle against British rule” in Ireland. Indeed her grandfather was hanged as a result of his activity in the nationalist movement. Mother Jones played a huge role in bringing the issue of child labor to the forefront of the political agenda, writing in her autobiography: Read below the fold...

A brief intro to this series. Since it is union time with all this attack on unions and it is women's history month, and I am a Wobbly, I thought I would take the time to highlight some very important women from the history of the Wobblies. Enjoy.

Read below the fold...

Going from Madison, WI and being among tractors and 100's of thousands of protesters to Mt. Olive, IL and the graves of 100's of Union Miners and The Most Dangerous Woman in the World was a very humbling experience for this Industrial Worker of the World. If Mother Jones were alive today she would be in Madison and a general strike would be underway. This I firmly believe. Read below the fold...

That's a quote from the blurb announcing that Family Farm Defenders is organizing a tractorcade into Madison this weekend. They're going to support their friends, family and neighbors. They're going because many of them work within co-ops and so understand the value of collective action. And they're going because their new Governor wants to gut the only kind of health care many of them can get/afford.

May Madison bask in solidarity and echo with the marble-in-a-coffee-can sound of compression ignition. Read below the fold...