Today on Sojourner Truth, our annual Labor Day special.
Labor Day 2020 will be like no other due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Generally celebrated across the U.S. as the day to unofficially mark the end of summer with picnics, barbecues and other ways to spend time with friends and family, this year, many will have social distancing on their minds. Scientists and medical experts are rightly worried that gathering in crowds will result in a spike in COVID-19 cases, as happened with the Memorial Day weekend.
Still, it is important to know the roots of Labor Day as well as to remember the struggles facing Labor Unions today, as well as the struggles of workers outside of organized labor working in the fast food industries, the gig economy, as unpaid caregivers and those in southern states where so-called right to work laws get in the way of labor union organizing. I am happy to say that the station I work out of is a labor union shop and I want to give a shout out to all my fellow workers and to our SAG-AFTRA representatives.
We congratulate the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Labor Coalition with whom we have partnered over the years for our Labor Day Special. This year will mark their 41st annual Labor Day Event. This year, due to the pandemic, they will not hold their annual parade, but instead they are partnering with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor to feed 2,500 people in need of food assistance.
Our guests are Larry Barragan, Armando Olivas and Felipe Caceres. Larry is a member of United Steelworkers Local 675 and the Chairman of the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Labor Coalition. Armando is the Executive Director of Labor Community Services at the LA County Federation of Labor. Felipe is a community and labor organizer who works for SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles. We also hear a poem by award-winning poet Mark Lipman, entitled The Price of Doing Business.
