Just got this off DailyKos:

I just learned that tonight at the Democratic Convention a former Pillowtex worker from North Carolina and leader of the Southern Region of UNITE HERE, Gloria Craven, will address the Democratic convention to speak on the issue of workers who suffer the loss of medical coverage when the plant they work at closes.

Gloria will take the stage tonight at approximately 8:00 p.m. local time, just a few speakers before Hillary Clinton. With Gloria and Anna Burger of Change to Win speaking tonight it is clear that the Obama campaign truly understands that the way to Renew America's Promise (their theme of the day, is by supporting unions and working people.

Highly recommend you head over and read the rest from Elana Levin of UNITE HERE.

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The past few weeks have been filled with busy, busy days. I have been to my 20th class reunion and I continue to do events around DC for the Obama4UnityBeatsMcCain slate that I am running on for the DC Democratic State Committee. Hell, I’ve even had a friend visit and I had the sheer pleasure of hanging out with UnionReview’s own Richard Negri one night last weekend. In all of this, I’ve been thinking about women, unions and what exactly all of our stories really are and where they are.

This is probably due to the current negotiations with the WTU that I’ve been reporting on for longer than I’d like (seriously, sure looks like Fenty and Rhee are anti-worker in all this). It may have something to do with the recent election of Randi Weingarten, Antonia Cortese and Loretta Johnson at the American Federation of Teachers.

So, as the 88th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment fast approaches, I’ve become even more interested in this discussion, so much so, that I decided that perhaps another Labor History lesson should be posted to remind all of us that the labor movement has always been entwined with other movements, including that of Women’s Suffrage. This brings us to Samuel Gompers and Maud Younger.

Way back in the early years of the 20th century, Samuel Gompers worked to develop a strategy for the adoption of a prevailing wage to be used for workers across the country. A prevailing wage is one where the wage of work accomplished is based on the prevailing wage in that area. So, a contractor in Alabama cannot compete on a contract in Michigan and import workers from Alabama and pay an Alabama wage in Michigan. Need more on the prevailing wage and history of it, I’d suggest this source.

In working for a prevailing wage, he was forced to also discourage those pushing for a minimum wage, enter Maud Younger.

Maud Younger had been born to wealth but didn’t allow her status to be her only defining attribute. As a unionist, Maud was able to bridge different movements by combining her grassroots activism with her socialite status. She used this leverage to work on issues related to an 8 hour work day, 6 day work week, minimum wage and child labor, getting most of these initiatives into law in California within her lifetime. However, the one issue that seems to have been a sticking point between her movement to win for women child labor laws and a living wage was the concept of a prevailing wage which Samuel Gompers wrote, imploring her to desist from minimum wage activities:

I trust that you will proceed with the utmost caution in any effort to establish a minimum wage by statutory law. Speaking fundamentally a minimum wage should be established and maintained by the organizations of labor. If a minimum wage law for working men is established by law, by the same token it is more than probable that it may finally transpire that another law will be enacted, compelling working men to work for such a minimum as a maximum.

Gompers went on to state in his letter to Maud that:

I think it advisable to call to your attention, and trust that you will profit by it, this observation: many person appear to be impressed with the notion that legal enactments will solve the labor problem, and much theorizing is indulged in relative to the extent to which legislation can favorably affect working people, but they fail to counterbalance their reasoning by recognizing a possibility that if laws can be placed upon the statute books establishing minimum wages, and kindred measures, by the same process of reasoning, there may be other laws placed upon the stature books that will be extremely detrimental to working people.

As Gompers worked toward prevailing wage rates on the state level, Maud was hard at work pushing for women and men to obtain a minimum wage to ensure that they were able to feed their families earn a living and find a way out of poverty which would allow their children to go to school instead of working. But for Maud, workers’ rights and women’s suffrage were intertwined. This interconnection propelled Maud to organize from the roots up:

Younger returned to California, where she organized San Francisco’s first waitress union (1908) and was instrumental in the passage of the state’s eight-hour-day work law.

Since Younger viewed working and voting rights as closely related issues, she helped found the Wage Earners’ Equal Suffrage League for Working Women, spoke on the vote in union halls around the state, and encouraged men to support the women’s cause. A master of showmanship, she created publicity for state suffrage with a Wage Earner’s Equal Suffrage League float in the 1911 Labor Day parade in San Francisco. In that year she helped lobby for passage of a woman suffrage amendment to the California constitution.

Maud worked tirelessly for women’s rights, from working with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU now UNITE-HERE) against subcontracting in New York to lobbying Congress for women’s suffrage, missing no opportunity to highlight the cause, including an article in McCall's Magazine where she described some of the difficulties she faced as an activist and a woman:

Though great strides were being made, gains never came easy, as the suffrage movement met with considerable obstacles throughout the country. For instance, in Dallas, Texas, just as the United States was ready to enter World War I, National Women's Party organizers were prevented from hiring halls and hotel rooms for Younger and her colleagues. The mayor of the city refused to allow Younger to hold a street meeting. City officials even refused when Younger offered to submit her speech for review and possible censorship. The party met with similar obstacles in Tennessee. Reportedly, members of the War Association and Home Defense League went to every hotel and meeting place in the state and requested that Younger be refused rooms and halls. They also went to city mayors and asked that they refuse to grant permits for street meetings. In 1919, Younger wrote about her experiences in an article for McCall's magazine entitled "Revelations of a Woman Lobbyist."

Maud Younger passed away June 25, 1936, at her ranch in Los Gatos, California. Despite her age and health, Maud remained focused on women’s rights, serving as the National Women’s Party Congressional chair until her passing. As an ardent supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment, she championed the cause of women and women in the workplace through her tireless advocacy.

As I look toward celebrating the 88th anniversary of Women’s Right To Vote, I, and women all over this country owe a debt of gratitude to the millionaire Waitress, Maud Younger.

Perhaps someday, we can even have an exhibit on Maud in the National Women’s History Museum

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Over 150 of workers from five hotels across Northern Virginia rallied with supporters outside the Hilton Crystal City Wednesday afternoon to launch a worker-approved boycott against unionbusting hotel management company Columbia Sussex. Protesters roared “Don’t check in, check out” until their voices went hoarse and pounded make-shift bucket drums with signs saying “Boycott Hilton Crystal City” while rush-hour traffic crawled past.

I use the UNITE-HERE site when planning a trip or having friends come in from out of town. I use it to first find Union hotels and if I can’t find a union hotel on the list, I can at least find a list to avoid, like the Jury hotels in DC. More from Union City…

Columbia Sussex purchased the Hilton Crystal City – Northern Virginia’s first union hotel – last year and immediately demanded increases in workloads, elimination of pensions and other benefits, and cuts in health insurance coverage. Workers – members of UNITE HERE Mid-Atlantic Regional Joint Board – have been without a contract since last October but have refused to give into management’s demands and voted in April to approve the boycott. “We have to keep fighting for everything we have already won, and this boycott is the best way to do it,” says Regino Romero, who has worked 14 years as a cook at the hotel. “We need to pressure them to win a good contract, with good raises and health insurance,” says housekeeper Ernestina Lopez. Wednesday’s rally precedes a rally for Sheraton Baltimore City Center workers next Thursday at 4:30P. Workers at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center hotel – also owned by Columbia Sussex – called for a similar boycott – still active – of their hotel last October after working without a contract for over a year.

Next up, Sheraton Baltimore City Center

Where
101 West Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD

When
Jul 10 starts at 4:30 pm

The UNITE HERE Mid-Atlantic Regional Joint Board hosts a rally to support Sheraton City Center hotel workers fighting for a fair contract. Workers at the hotel have been in contract negotiations since 2006. Hotel workers voted in October to boycott the hotel in response to company demands to increase workloads, decrease benefits, and have the unlimited right to contract union work out.
For more info, contact the Mid-Atlantic Regional Joint Board, 410-659-2191.

One last note, Columbia Sussex owns and operates loads of hotels, including the Tropicana in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Not that I’m suggesting that you boycott these facilities, but you may want to mention the actions in NOVA and Baltimore to staff if you happen to be in these hotels, even if you’re just passing through.

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I've been following the heinous actions of Aramark for a while, but hadn't noticed this story on striking Aramark workers in Canada:

Hundreds Rally to End Violence against Striking Aramark Workers in Canada
UNITE HERE cafeteria and janitorial staff who work for Aramark at Seneca College's Markham campus near Toronto went out on strike on March 10th. Since that time, striking workers and their supporters on the legal picket lines have been repeatedly hit by cars entering campus. The York Region Police have been called to the picket line after the incidents, charges have been filed, and police are still investigating.

"What we're fighting for is a fair first contract," said Andy Chiu who works for Aramark at the college on the overnight cleaning shift and was struck by a vehicle. "We've worked hard serving food and cleaning this campus for the students. This company makes a lot of money, and we're simply asking for a living wage and to be treated with dignity and respect. No one deserves to be hit by a car for that."

The workers have been asking the foodservice giant to address low wages and benefits and want equity with other Aramark workers at Seneca College. After more than 8 months of bargaining and on the eve of a strike deadline, Aramark responded with a paltry 1.25% wage increase - or less than 10 cents an hour for most staff.

"We are simply asking Aramark to bring wages and benefits in line with other Aramark workers at Seneca," said Alex Dagg, Director of UNITE HERE's Ontario Council. "Aramark has refused to address these concerns and these workers are now showing, by putting their very safety on the line at this picket line, that they will continue to stand up for fair working conditions."

Many students have also been actively supporting the striking workers, signing petitions, spending time on the picket line and bringing warm drinks.

"The striking Aramark workers are the ones who make sure we can study in a safe, clean environment and prepare and serve food on campus," said Andrew Robinson, a first year student. "They deserve our respect and our support."

Don't worry, they aren't the only Aramark employees out on strike, CBS' cafeteria is as well

Cafeteria Workers Walk Out on Strike at CBS, Vow Not to Return Until Food Service Provider Aramark Settles Fair Contract with Them
On March 27th, Aramark workers at CBS Headquarters walked out on strike. The workers have been without a contract since November 14, 2007. The average Aramark worker there has 9 years on the job and takes home just over $400 per week.

"These workers work hard to serve the staff of one of the largest communications companies in the world. Yet, many of them struggle to make ends meet. They're not asking for a lot - they just want enough to provide a decent life for their families," said Bill Granfield, President of UNITE HERE Local 100, which represents food service workers across New York City. By contrast, CBS Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone made more than $16 million last year.

The strike is the latest in a string of labor disputes at Aramark cafeterias in recent months. Late last year, food service workers at the New York Life building and 55 Water Street went on strike and spent 3 months on the picket line before Aramark finally agreed to a decent contract. On March 4th of this year, 35 Aramark cafeteria workers at two Bank of New York locations went on strike and have yet to return to their jobs. Aramark workers at the Fashion Institute of Technology have also voted to strike.

My fingers are crossed for Aramark employees. I'd like them to realize higher wages and better pay, because $400 a week just doesn't go anywhere, and in NYC, it goes almost no where.

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They've been interwined for much of the time I've studied Labor rights. Owners and Bosses have always tried to use color and gender to divide us, unions stood up and integrated because they knew that together we are strong.

So, when I got this in my e-mail from UNITE-HERE, I cried, had a moment of silence and then started to write away.

Statement from UNITE HERE on the Passing of Reverend James E. Orange, Civil Rights Leader and Union Organizer

UNITE HERE mourns the loss of Rev. James E. Orange, a leader in the civil rights and labor movements and a fighter for working people.

"James was the real connection between the labor and civil rights movements in the South," explains UNITE HERE General President Bruce Raynor. "He personally built the bridge between the two movements for progressive change in the Southern States from the 1960s through today. Person by person, meeting by meeting, march by march, thousands of current and former UNITE HERE members owe James a debt for helping organize workers, win fights and inspire us all."

May your journey to your next life be as inspired as your life.

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Rhode Island Catering Workers Win Better Wages and Benefits

On January 16, Twin River catering workers in Lincoln, Rhode Island ended a two year fight by overwhelmingly ratifying a new union contract that will guarantee fair raises, affordable single health insurance, employer paid pensions, and meaningful job security for another four years. Kerzner International, the Waterford Group and Starwood Capital purchased the facility shortly before negotiations began. Over the two-year course of negotiations, the new owners more than tripled the number of bargaining unit members as it transformed the facility from a small dog track to one of the country's largest gaming facilities.
"After a difficult struggle we are pleased to have reached a fair agreement with Twin River," said Robin Brindle, bartender and worker organizer. "We now know that workers will earn living wages and have access to quality health insurance for the next four years."

And for ARAMARK, yep, the New York strike continues. But that hasn't stopped nearby locals from supporting these strikers through protests at nearby Aramark operations. Again, from UNITE-HERE (New Haven Independent):

"Chicken nuggets, get out!" was the rallying cry as hundreds of workers from Unite Here, AFSCME, students and community allies gathered in New Haven on February 1st with a message to the city's Mayor and Board of Education: it's time to fire Aramark. The New Haven public schools contracted Aramark to manage the schools' food service and maintenance operations. Despite Aramark's promise of savings to the district's taxpayers, the company's operations in the schools ran up a $1.1 million deficit last year.

Frank Douglass, a cook at Yale University and member of Unite Here Local 35, spoke with his daughter, a student in the New Haven schools, at his side. "Last year Yale got rid of Aramark because Aramark wasn't up to the task. If Aramark's not good enough for Yale's students, there's no way Aramark's good enough for my daughter and other children in New Haven."

Busloads of striking Aramark workers from Local 100 in New York City joined the rally. President Bruce Raynor applauded their strength and courage, adding that "it takes incredible bravery to stand up to these global corporations like Aramark."

Read more about all of these actions directly at UNITE-HERE.

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