 This past November, workers in Alexandria’s DASH bus system voted overwhelmingly to join the ATU. Last week, however, the company fired LaTonya Robinson, “probably our best leader during the organizing drive,” reports ATU Field Mobilization Specialist John Ertl. “They got her on two technical infractions of very broadly-written work rules,” Ertl says, noting that “This is a crisis for us as we are just about to enter bargaining, and the company is hoping that her termination may have a chilling effect on the workforce.” Reinstatement of Robinson is now one of the union’s key goals, along with continuing to expose DASH’s anti-union activities (click here to see ATU’s Chris Townsend’s remarks at last week’s DASH Board meeting). Meanwhile, Robinson’s coworkers at DASH haven’t taken her firing sitting down, circulating a petition demanding her reinstatement. “If management thinks this is going to stop us from organizing, they’re wrong because it’s had nothing but the opposite effect,” declared fellow DASH driver and union activist Tyler Boos.
photo: ATU Local 689 activists and DASH drivers Comments are closed.
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