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Black History Month Profiles: Robert K. Cook
This year, for Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making Black history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only the conditions for working people in our community, but also across the country. Today's profile is Robert K. Cook.
A ship captain, marine pilot, historian and mentor, Capt. Robert K. Cook is a founding member and president of the Organization of Black Maritime Graduates (OBMG). OBMG was formed in 1994 by six graduates of the SUNY Maritime College who wanted to help improve the education possibilities for young African American and minority students. OBMG's goal is to provide assistance and encouragement to Black and other minority undergraduates who are full-time students and pursuing a career in the maritime profession.
Kenneth Quinnell
Mon, 02/15/2021 - 08:50
Tags:
Black History Month
Black History Month Profiles: Sandra Parker Murray
This year, for Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making Black history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only the conditions for working people in our community, but also across the country. Today's profile is Sandra Parker Murray.
Sandra Parker Murray is an executive board member for Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7777 in Denver and a telecommunications worker with more than 20 years of experience at AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Avaya. Parker Murray is a political activist and fierce advocate for the rights of working people. Whether it is testifying in front of lawmakers, fighting to win job protections, advocating for her community or organizing at her local, Parker Murray has been at the forefront always making her voice heard and inspiring others to do the same.
Kenneth Quinnell
Sun, 02/14/2021 - 09:40
Tags:
Black History Month
Black History Month Profiles: Sherese Williams
This year, for Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making Black history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only the conditions for working people in our community, but also across the country. Today's profile is Sherese Williams.
A second-generation bus driver and union member, Sherese Williams has a good job and a livable work schedule, for which she credits her union. Her love for the work she does, combined with a talent for connecting people, led to her volunteering for increasing levels of responsibility at the Portland Community College Federation of Classified Employees (PCCFCE), American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 3922. Williams serves as vice president of organizing for PCCFCE. She launched the Member Organizer Institute in 2018.
Kenneth Quinnell
Sat, 02/13/2021 - 09:32
Tags:
Black History Month
A Big Deal: The Working People Weekly List
Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.
The Amazon Warehouse Union Vote in Alabama Is a Big Deal: "Amazon responded quickly to the pandemic spike in online shopping. It added 400,000 employees in the first nine months of last year. It added new facilities and new airplanes to deliver goods. And across the company’s fulfillment centers, the pressure on Amazon workers to get orders out fast, to 'make rate,' became more intense than ever. That dogged pursuit of efficiency has pushed some workers to a breaking point. This week, employees at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, are voting on whether to unionize. On Thursday’s episode of What Next, I talked to Washington Post reporter Jay Greene about what the workers want, how management is fighting back, and what this action—the first of its kind at Amazon in seven years—could mean for future unionization efforts at the company. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity."
Hollywood...
Take a Stand for What We Deserve: What Working People Are Doing This Week
Welcome to our regular feature, a look at what the various AFL-CIO unions and other working family organizations are doing across the country and beyond. The labor movement is big and active—here's a look at the broad range of activities we're engaged in this week.
Actors' Equity:
In December of 1939, Butterfly McQueen became the first Black lifetime member of Equity. This rare membership is assigned to members for extraordinary volunteerism and involvement in our union. #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/eAZcVXhNT6
— Actors' Equity (@ActorsEquity) February 11, 2021
AFGE:
@POTUS promised to be the most 'pro-union president', and within his first three weeks in office he has already restored many vital protections for 2.1 million federal workers across the country. #1u pic.twitter.com/yT3EqTbEbP
— AFGE (@AFGENational) February 10, 2021
AFSCME:
“You don’t get things done just by going to management or HR... We as workers need to take a stand for what we deserve.” – Jenny Suarez, a respiratory therapist at University of...
Black History Month Profiles: Rayneese Primrose
This year, for Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making Black history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only the conditions for working people in our community, but also across the country. Today's profile is Rayneese Primrose.
In August 2020, artist Rayneese Primrose, a member of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 764, discovered that her Lady Liberty artwork was selected by the Rockefeller Center as part of the Flag Project, in which artists designed flags that fly high from the iconic flagpoles surrounding the Rink at Rockefeller Center. Inspired by the Statue of Liberty and influenced by Maya Angelou’s poem "Still I Rise," Primrose said she reimagined the Statue of Liberty as a symbol that truly represents everyone.
Kenneth Quinnell
Fri, 02/12/2021 - 09:32
Tags:
Black History Month
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: St. Paul Labor Federation Distributes Food to Community
Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
The St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council, in partnership with the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, hosted a free-food distribution event on Feb. 3. Volunteers loaded up 30-pound boxes of food and made them available to anyone in need, free of charge. The operation, which was a contactless, drive-through operation, provided hundreds of boxes of food to people in the community of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Last week, union members volunteered to distribute 117,000 pounds of food to families in the area, with several distribution events scheduled.
Kenneth Quinnell
Fri, 02/12/2021 - 08:03
Tags:
COVID-19, Community Service
Pathway to Progress: Baltimore Caulkers Take Charge of Their Own Future
History has long been portrayed as a series of "great men" taking great action to shape the world we live in. In recent decades, however, social historians have focused more on looking at history "from the bottom up," studying the vital role that working people played in our heritage. Working people built, and continue to build, the United States. In our new series, Pathway to Progress, we'll take a look at various people, places and events where working people played a key role in the progress our country has made, including those who are making history right now. Today's topic is the story of Baltimore caulkers who bought their own shipyard in the face of systemic discrimination.
Pro-slavery forces before the Civil War often used racist appeals to labor in their efforts to sway public opinion. They fear-mongered that freed Black workers would undercut White workers in the labor force and would cost jobs and drive down wages. Free Black workers, before and after the war, were often used as scabs, and they couldn't refuse the offer, as other work options were limited or...
Black History Month Profiles: C. Faye Harper
This year, for Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making Black history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only the conditions for working people in our community, but also across the country. Today's profile is C. Faye Harper.
C. Faye Harper currently serves as the 10th international vice president for the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). She also serves as a trustee and business representative for IATSE Local 834. She has been with the union for nearly 30 years. She said her activism was driven by never having seen a person of color on the IATSE General Executive Board. "As a leader, it’s necessary that someone of color see that there is representation and somebody represents who they are," Harper said. In 2016, Harper was elected to the General Executive Board, becoming the change she wanted to see in the world.
Kenneth Quinnell
Thu, 02/11/2021 - 08:37
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: FLOC Hosts Vaccination Clinics
Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) is working to ensure Black and Brown communities in Toledo, Ohio, have access to the vaccine. The union held its first vaccination clinic, where 30 members of the community who are older than 75 or have underlying health conditions received their first shot. FLOC held another vaccination event this past Friday. “We’re succeeding in getting health officials to re-think distribution to reach Latinos and Black folks who are having the highest mortality rates,” said FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez (not pictured). Throughout the pandemic, communities of color have experienced much higher rates of mortality from COVID-19.
Kenneth Quinnell
Thu, 02/11/2021 - 08:36
