Labor Radio-Podcast Daily

Annual festival celebrates workers and their issues through the arts throughout the month of May. Today’s labor history: 1,129 workers killed in Bangladesh clothing factory collapse. Today’s labor quote by Mumia Abu-Jamal.

“A powerful victory for the 31,000 hardworking men and women of Stop & Shop who courageously stood up to fight for what all New Englanders want.” Today’s labor history: Canadian Labour Congress founded. Today’s labor quote by Stop and Shop striker Ida Mae Stull.

“So full of gamification elements that it resembles a casino in which the gamblers – the drivers – often lose.” Today’s labor history: the Red Jacket Coal disaster. Today’s labor quote by Stop and Shop striker Kristen Johnson.

On this week’s show: Fifty years ago, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and 100 others were arrested while picketing a hospital in Charleston, South Carolina in a demand for union recognition. Charleston was – and still is -- a notoriously difficult place to organize, and our guest Leon Fink says it “stirred the soul of the whole city.” Matthew Hild and Keri Leigh Merritt’s new book, “Reconsidering Southern Labor History,” explores the nexus of race, class and power in the history of labor in the South, and how a new generation of southern labor scholars are changing our understanding of labor's past, present and future in the region. Beth English talked with Keri Leigh and Matthew on a recent episode of the Working History podcast. Questions, comments or suggestions welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. Produced & engineered by Chris Garlock and Patrick Dixon. Oh Freedom! - The Golden Gospel Singers https://youtu.be/veiJLhXdwn8 Ain' Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round – Sweet Honey In The Rock https://youtu.be/D2wdkDaipNo

“This is affecting every worker, every blue collar worker in America right now at this very moment.” Today’s labor history: the Great Furniture Strike. Today’s labor quote by Kristin Johnson.

“I remember us going to get food from the food bank…” Today’s labor history: West Virginia coal miners strike, defend themselves against the National Guard. Today’s labor quote by Reverend Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Privatizing “would cut service to Metro’s hundreds of thousands of daily riders.” Today’s labor history: deadly explosion at West Texas fertilizer plant kills 15. Today’s labor quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Unions “stand in unbreakable solidarity with our sisters and brothers in New England.” Today’s labor history: activists blockade D.C. meetings of the World Bank and IMF. Today’s labor quote by Ben Grosscup.

“The lack of information has only made things worse.” Today’s labor history: American Federation of Teachers founded. Today’s labor quote by A. Philip Randolph.

On this week’s show: Paul Shackel’s fascinating tale of “How a 1897 Massacre of Pennsylvania Coal Miners Morphed From a Galvanizing Crisis to Forgotten History.” And in this week’s “Cool Things from the Meany Labor Archives,” Ben, Allan and Chloe explore the efforts to hijack and rewrite the history of the 1912 “Bread & Roses” Lawrence textile strike. Interviews by Chris Garlock and Allan Wierdak. Questions, comments or suggestions welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. Produced & engineered by Chris Garlock. Bread and Roses-Women of the World https://youtu.be/94mSln34ZwA Bread & Roses-Queen Cee https://youtu.be/ZK6U24syzxI