Today’s show is from the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly, where this week, labor news and labor history came together…
We lost two giants of the labor movement this week, former AFL-CIO president John Sweeney and labor folksinger and activist Anne Feeney; on today’s show, we remember them both.
In our first segment, on this week’s Your Rights At Work radio show (WPFW 89.3 FM in Washington, DC), Stephen Lerner, Marilyn Sneiderman, Harold Meyerson and Joe McCartin talked with hosts Chris Garlock and Ed Smith about Sweeney’s legacy as a visionary labor leader.
Stephen and Marilyn both worked closely with Sweeney, Harold covered him as a journalist and Joe, as our resident labor historian, provides the historical context for Sweeney’s life and work in the movement. Click here for Sweeney tributes.
On that same show, Coalition of Labor Union Women president Elise Bryant told us about the free online screening by the DC Labor FilmFest of the new documentary, 9to5: The Story of A Movement, coming up this Tuesday at 7pm Eastern Standard Time.
The brand-new film captures the real-life fight that inspired a hit by Dolly Parton and changed the American workplace. Get your free tickets here.
Elise also shared her memories of Anne Feeney, the labor folksinger and activist who died on Wednesday, and in our second segment, we’ve got an excerpt from the interview the We Do The Work radio show did with Anne recently.
In a bonus track that was not on the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly show, Anne Feeney and George Mann talk about the role of music in the great wave of union organizing during the late 1930s. We conclude with a medley of a few of Anne Feeney’s songs. You can find and order Anne’s music here.
PLUS: On Labor History in 2:00: Strike at Cripple Creek
Produced/edited by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council’s Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. We're a proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network, more than 80 shows focusing on working people’s issues and concerns. #LaborRadioPod
#LaborRadioPod @aflcio @annefeeney
Edited/produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru: Harold Phillips
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