Striking Didlake custodial workers rallied yesterday alongside politicians and labor allies to demand recognition of their union with LIUNA, and plan to continue picketing through next week. “They don’t treat us equally,” said Didlake employee Samantha Ulloa, who lives with epilepsy. “…if we sit down for a few minutes, they say ‘no’ and have us get up right away and work nonstop.” Didlake, whose stated mission is to “enrich the lives of people with disabilities,” is forbidding its own employees from unionizing because they were hired through a federal program for disabled workers. The workers walked off the job two weeks ago todayafter the company ignored the results of their NLRB election and refused to bargain. Yesterday, “[Virginia State] Senator Favola, Delegate Guzman and Arlington Board Chair Katie Cristol rallied with us,” reports NoVA Labor president Virginia Diamond, “and called out this shameful company for their suppression of the rights of the disabled and of the right to organize a union.”
photo courtesy NoVA Labor Comments are closed.
|