Metro using Red Line shutdown to expand privatization, harming riders and workers, union says11/30/2017
 Metro’s decision to use private contractors for shuttle service between Silver Spring and Fort Totten has resulted in unreliable service that's incon-veniencing Red Line riders and showing contempt for Metro employees, ATU Local 689 charged on Wednesday. “No one on the Red Line during rush hour can afford to get to work two hours late without fear of discipline,” Local 689 president Jackie Jeter said in response to the long wait times and delayed service over the last three days. Despite an agreement with Local 689 to provide shuttle service, Metro has brought in private contractors from as far away as Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois and North Carolina, who are unfamiliar with the region, while Metro’s fleet of buses -- able to transport twice as many passengers as the shuttle buses -- sit idle. Metro "had time to prepare," said Jeter, "yet here we are with private contractors who can’t get the job done." The union represents 9,200 active Metro workers. photo courtesy ATU 689
 The Union Plus team works hard to bring union members discount benefits that help stretch their paychecks and get the goods and services they need for themselves and their families. So it makes sense that the UP team -- which includes OPEIU Local 2 members -- is also a generous supporter of the Metro Washington Council Community Services Agency's Holiday Basket Project. This year, UFCW Local 400 single mom Kimberly Mitchell (left) was the recipient of Union Plus' holiday cheer, receiving over $300 worth of Giant Food Store gift cards. "Thanks for all you guys do!" said Mitchell, in appreciation to both the UP team for their contributions and CSA. Click here to learn more about the Union Plus discount benefits. photo by Freda McDonald
 "My friends, it is solidarity of labor we want. We do not want to find fault with each other, but to solidify our forces and say to each other: 'We must be together; our masters are joined together and we must do the same thing.'"
 Click here to check out this week's Today in Labor History, a new podcast produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
“Fighting Mary” Eliza McDowell, also known as the “Angel of the Stockyards,” born in Chicago. As a social worker she helped organize the first women’s local of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union in 1902 - 1854 Mother Jones died at the Burgess Farm in Adelphi, Md.; “I’m not a lady, I’m a hell-raiser!” - 1930 More than 12,000 members of the Insurance Agents Union strike in 35 states and Washington, D.C., against the Prudential Insurance Co. - 1951 Unionists and activists shut down World Trade Organization meeting, Seattle, Wash. - 1999 Compiled/edited by Union Communication Services |
