Labor Justice Radio

On Thursday, June 16th, the Philadelphia Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) held their annual Working Women's Awareness Week Awards Reception. Labor Justice Radio (LJR), a program of the Media Mobilizing Project, was among the honorees. A proclamation from U.S.

Del Monte Fresh Produce Company recently traded in their union-run Camden operation for a non-union competitor. The move is expected to cost the International Longshoremen's Union 200-300 local jobs and result in lower safety standards for workers. In the words of one union member who has worked for Del Monte in Camden for more than a decade, "In the end it will create more working poor."

In response, the International Longshoremen's Union has called for a boycott of Del Monte.

Hourly workers wishing to feed their infants breastmilk are now protected by law to take unpaid breaks and have a private space that is not a bathroom to pump milk while at work. As of March 23, the Affordable Care Act, known as health reform, began requiring employers to support breastfeeding employees. Three local businesses are models of how employers can give the time and space necessary to support working mothers in providing the best nutrition to their babies. For more information, visit www.momobile.org

Produced by Kistine Carolan.

When officials closed down Camden's Tent City this past May, they promised the 54 homeless residents that it was not an eviction, but the first step to a better life. Now, less than 6 months later, many of them are once again homeless and some have created a new Tent city encampment near the original site. 

The Way to Work program is a statewide initiative that has put 12,000  adults back to work in full time employment and 14,000 youth into summer employment. This program is slated to be cut off on September 30th. Many people across the state are pushing to extend this program, in hopes of lessening the unemployment crisis instead of adding to it.

On August 12th, Philadelphians gathered to protest the detention and deportation of Ly Hov Khol, a refugee of the Khmer Rouge Regime and an active member of Philadelphia's Cambodian-American community. Ly was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is now being held at a detention center out of state, awaiting his impending deportation to Cambodia. Watch a video of the August 12th protest.

On this episode of Labor Justice Radio:

+SEIU members fight for fair treatment in Delaware

+Philly responds to city budget cuts

+Queer immigrants talk about repression and resistance

+Day laborers speak about their right to work

+Music and local news

Labor Justice Radio brings you a translated version of a piece by Radio Tlacuache. On April 27, Radio Tlacuache members visited the Home Depot in Northeast Philadelphia to interview day laborers. This Home Depot is a place where day laborers gather to look for work. On that day, there were almost 50 people hoping to be hired for work. These workers spoke about what a typical day is like for them, and shared their thoughts about the draconian immigration law that was recently passed in Arizona.

Up to six million workers are injured each year in the United States. 6,000 are killed outright. At least 50,000 die each year from work related disease. Every year, Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health (PhilaPOSH) recognizes Workers Memorial Day and honors people who have been killed on the job. This memorial ceremony is part of a larger campaign to raise awareness about the rights of workers' and the importance of safe working conditions across all industries.

In this audio piece, Kate Harkins, of Temple University's Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) discusses what she learned from listening to the stories of Temple Nurses and Allied Professionals (members of PASNAP).