1 min read

Season 4, Episode 11

Spriggs: civil rights support labor rights

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Guest Name:


William Spriggs

Guest Website:


aflcio.org

Guest Social Media:


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Supportive Documents:


AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs appeared on the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the correlation between labor rights and civil rights. 

Today (Jan. 16) is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day to celebrate, remember and honor the late civil rights leaders. King was born on Jan. 15, 1929 and spent more than a decade as the nation’s prominent civil rights leader before he was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968.

Spriggs expressed his disappointment with the leaders of southern states who pushed for So-Called "Right to Work" laws, which undermine worker safety, employee training and the right to organize. He said those who speak against labor rights are the same people who speak against civil rights. 

Spriggs spoke also about the dignity of work and how states refuse to increase their minimum wage standards. Pennsylvania, for instance, continues to keep its minimum wage at the unlivable rate of $7.25 per hour. This rate was established in 2009, and a lack of progression makes Spriggs believe it will continue.   

Listen to today’s episode to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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