Transit Workers Blast Bowser Pick for Metro Board

ATU 689 on Monday blasted the appointment of Corbett Price (right) to the Metro board. Local 689 president Jackie Jeter cited Price’s “reputation as an anti-worker, union-busting, slash-and-burn executive consultant who puts profits over people and public welfare,” in a blistering open letter to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who made the appointment. Jeter noted that one of Price’s first acts as an executive for Prince George’s County’s Dimensions Healthcare System was to fire nearly a quarter of the system’s staff but that he himself was fired within months of being promoted to CEO. He then went on to split his time between a hospital serving Brooklyn, New York’s poorest neighborhoods where he was paid a $500,000 salary, and D.C. General Hospital where he was paid $400 an hour, while slashing more than 1,200 jobs. “This kind of track record illustrates a person who does not put the needs of the public or working families first,” said Jeter. Price’s appointment is through June; Local 689 urged Bowser to replace Price this summer and replace him with “a demonstrated advocate of the people of D.C., transit workers, and expanded transit options.” 

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