Greeting from the Burgh, where I am exhausted after staying up most of the night reading obituaries about one of my heroes Harry Belafonte.
Read this 1996 Profile of Harry Belafonte
One of the best profiles of Belafonte that I read last night is this long 1996 New Yorker profile by Henry Louis Gates. From the New Yorker:
For one week in February of 1968, something strange happened to the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson: it became the “Tonight Show” with Harry Belafonte. I was a high-school student, growing up in Piedmont, West Virginia, a partly segregated hamlet in the Allegheny Mountains, and television was the only thing that connected any of us there with the larger world. Night after night, my father and I stayed up late to watch a black man host the highest-rated show in its time slot—history in the making.
This was the year my father and I bonded over the Vietnam War—or, anyway, over our ongoing arguments on the subject, the point being that it gave us something to talk about. By now, I knew I had the moral high ground, a fact I determined by a rough head count of the celebrities who had weighed in on my side. So it was in that spirit—vindication on my part, mistrust on his—that my father and I sat together on our rust-red brocatelle sofa in front of the television set. Who had ever seen so many famous black folks (Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Lena Horne, Wilt Chamberlain, for starters) on the “Tonight Show”?
On the second evening, Martin Luther King, Jr., emerged from behind the curtain. “What do you have in store for us this summer?” Belafonte asked him, flashing a provocative smile: white folks were still reeling from the riots that had come with the previous year’s long hot summer. The studio audience laughed nervously.
For more, check out this excellent New Yorker profile fo Belafonte from 1996.
Also, check out this documentary of SEIU 1199 narrated by Harry Belafonte. Please, if you see any good tributes, email them to me [email protected]
Railroad Worker United Call Out Biden’s Re-Election
Shortly after Biden announced his re-election bid yesterday, unions from across the country raced to announce public endorsements of Biden. However, Railroad Workers United, a coalition of railroad workers from various unions, spoke out against Biden yesterday.
After Biden imposed a union contract on railroad workers that they had previously voted down, Railroad Workers United warned that workers should be wary of Biden.
“We must not overlook the crucial labor issues his administration has ignored,” said Railroad Workers United in a statement. “The rank-and-file of rail labor organizations will remember how Biden and his administration failed to defend their rights, just as they will remember how other administrations have acted against them. We must keep a close eye on all politicians and hold them accountable for their promises to protect workers’ rights, regardless of their party affiliation.”
Writers Guild Say It Won’t Extend Deadline to Strike
On Monday, May 1st at midnight, the Writers Guild’s contract with major Hollywood studios is set to expire. If they choose to strike, it would be the first major strike in Hollywood since 2007.
The Writers Guild has instructed its members that if they cross the picket line they will lose membership in the union; making them ineligible to work on many Hollywood projects in the future. The union has stated that they won’t extend the deadline on the contract and intend to strike on May 1st if a tentative agreement isn’t reached.
“There are no plans to extend the deadline,” the guild said in a statement. “Unless you hear it directly from the WGA, you should assume that the rumor is nothing more than that.”
Donate to Help Us Cover the Writers Guild Strike
If over 9,000 Hollywood writers go out on strike next week, it will be a very busy week. We will likely need extra editorial help.
Donate to help us cover the Writers Guild Strike. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our 751 recurring donors today.
UPS Struggling to Keep Strike-Weary Suppliers.
This summer, over 300,000 Teamsters are threatening to strike at UPS. Already, suppliers are weary of using UPS and some are already moving their contracts to other shippers. From Supply Chain Drive:
However, keeping customers at ease is a tall order until an agreement happens. The Teamsters have threatened to strike if a deal isn’t reached by the July 31 expiration of their current five-year contract with UPS. Around 330,000 of its U.S. employees are Teamsters-represented, which underscores just how disruptive a strike would be for the delivery giant and its shippers.
The sooner shippers implement alternative options, the better, competitors say. FedEx has urged its customers to take their UPS business elsewhere to avoid any strike-related disruptions. Regional carriers like LSO have also highlighted their available capacity to concerned shippers.
“Our experts estimate up to 10% of UPS’ order book could be at risk depending on how the contract negotiations go,” Anthony DeRuijter, senior analyst at global research firm Third Bridge, said in emailed remarks to Supply Chain Dive on Tuesday after earnings were released.
For more, check out Supply Chain Drive
Strikes & News Elsewhere
- Oakland Teachers Vote to Authorize a Strike
- New Jersey signs bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers
- 1,800 resident physicians at the University of Pennsylvania medical system are mvoing to unionize
- Across Iran, oil workers are continuing to strike against the repressive regime.
- In Kazakhastan, oil workers are threatening to go out on strike
- Scottish Lighthouse workers go on strike
- Finally, 5 years ago, teachers in Oklahoma went out on a historic strike. NPR has a look at what has changed for teachers unions in the state since and what hasn’t.
Alright folks, I gotta run to watch the Pirates take on the Dodgers.
Donate to help us cover the Writer’s Guild strike next week. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our 751 recurring donors today.
Keep sending rants, story ideas, cooking recipes, & party invites to [email protected]
Love & Solidarity,
Melk
Folks,
Greeting from the Burgh, where I am exhausted after staying up most of the night reading obituaries about one of my heroes Harry Belafonte.
Read this 1996 Profile of Harry Belafonte
One of the best profiles of Belafonte that I read last night is this long 1996 New Yorker profile by Henry Louis Gates. From the New Yorker:
For one week in February of 1968, something strange happened to the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson: it became the “Tonight Show” with Harry Belafonte. I was a high-school student, growing up in Piedmont, West Virginia, a partly segregated hamlet in the Allegheny Mountains, and television was the only thing that connected any of us there with the larger world. Night after night, my father and I stayed up late to watch a black man host the highest-rated show in its time slot—history in the making.
This was the year my father and I bonded over the Vietnam War—or, anyway, over our ongoing arguments on the subject, the point being that it gave us something to talk about. By now, I knew I had the moral high ground, a fact I determined by a rough head count of the celebrities who had weighed in on my side. So it was in that spirit—vindication on my part, mistrust on his—that my father and I sat together on our rust-red brocatelle sofa in front of the television set. Who had ever seen so many famous black folks (Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Lena Horne, Wilt Chamberlain, for starters) on the “Tonight Show”?
On the second evening, Martin Luther King, Jr., emerged from behind the curtain. “What do you have in store for us this summer?” Belafonte asked him, flashing a provocative smile: white folks were still reeling from the riots that had come with the previous year’s long hot summer. The studio audience laughed nervously.
For more, check out this excellent New Yorker profile fo Belafonte from 1996.
Also, check out this documentary of SEIU 1199 narrated by Harry Belafonte. Please, if you see any good tributes, email them to me [email protected]
Railroad Worker United Call Out Biden’s Re-Election
Shortly after Biden announced his re-election bid yesterday, unions from across the country raced to announce public endorsements of Biden. However, Railroad Workers United, a coalition of railroad workers from various unions, spoke out against Biden yesterday.
After Biden imposed a union contract on railroad workers they had previously voted down, Railroad Workers United warned that workers should be wary of Biden.
“We must not overlook the crucial labor issues his administration has ignored,” said Railroad Workers United in a statement. “The rank-and-file of rail labor organizations will remember how Biden and his administration failed to defend their rights, just as they will remember how other administrations have acted against them. We must keep a close eye on all politicians and hold them accountable for their promises to protect workers’ rights, regardless of their party affiliation.”
Writers Guild Say It Won’t Extend Deadline to Strike
On Monday, May 1st at midnight, the Writers Guild’s contract with major Hollywood studios is set to expire. If they choose to strike, it would be the first major strike in Hollywood since 2007.
The Writers Guild has instructed its members that if they cross the picket line they will lose membership in the union; making them ineligible to work on many Hollywood projects in the future. The union has stated that they won’t extend the deadline on the contract and intend to strike on May 1st if a tentative agreement isn’t reached.
“There are no plans to extend the deadline,” the guild said in a statement. “Unless you hear it directly from the WGA, you should assume that the rumor is nothing more than that.”
Donate to Help Us Cover the Writers Guild Strike
If over 9,000 Hollywood writers go out on strike next week, it will be a very busy week. We will likely need extra editorial help.
Donate to help us cover the Writers Guild Strike. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our 751 recurring donors today.
UPS Struggling to Keep Strike-Weary Suppliers.
This summer, over 300,000 Teamsters are threatening to strike at UPS. Already, suppliers are weary of using UPS and some are already moving their contracts to other shippers. From Supply Chain Drive:
However, keeping customers at ease is a tall order until an agreement happens. The Teamsters have threatened to strike if a deal isn’t reached by the July 31 expiration of their current five-year contract with UPS. Around 330,000 of its U.S. employees are Teamsters-represented, which underscores just how disruptive a strike would be for the delivery giant and its shippers.
The sooner shippers implement alternative options, the better, competitors say. FedEx has urged its customers to take their UPS business elsewhere to avoid any strike-related disruptions. Regional carriers like LSO have also highlighted their available capacity to concerned shippers.
“Our experts estimate up to 10% of UPS’ order book could be at risk depending on how the contract negotiations go,” Anthony DeRuijter, senior analyst at global research firm Third Bridge, said in emailed remarks to Supply Chain Dive on Tuesday after earnings were released.
For more, check out Supply Chain Drive
Strikes & News Elsewhere
- Oakland Teachers Vote to Authorize a Strike
- New Jersey signs bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers
- 1,800 resident physicians at the University of Pennsylvania medical system are mvoing to unionize
- Across Iran, oil workers are continuing to strike against the repressive regime.
- In Kazakhastan, oil workers are threatening to go out on strike
- Scottish Lighthouse workers go on strike
- Finally, 5 years ago, teachers in Oklahoma went out on a historic strike. NPR has a look at what has changed for teachers unions in the state since and what hasn’t.
Alright folks, I gotta run to watch the Pirates take on the Dodgers.
Donate to help us cover the Writer’s Guild strike next week. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our 751 recurring donors today.
Keep sending rants, story ideas, cooking recipes, & party invites to [email protected]
Love & Solidarity,
Melk
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