UMD Workers Battle Abuse at College Park Forum Tonight

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The Fourth Solidarity Forum for Workers Rights and Respect will be held at 7p tonight at the University of Maryland (UMD) at College Park campus. The event is hosted by the Black Faculty and Staff Association BSFA, which earlier this year issued a 56-page report (available on the BSFA website) detailing years of racial discrimination, plantation-like working conditions, verbal and sexual abuse against a large number of Facilities Management employees, including housekeepers, custodial staff, landscaping staff and groundskeepers on UMD's campus. Employees from other UMD departments on campus have since come forward with similar allegations. AFSCME Local 1072 "has battled long and hard to gain respect and justice for the least of our coworkers,” Local 1071 President Greg Johnson told Union City. “Managers and supervisors have opposed us at every turn and administrators have sided with corrupt, incompetent supervisors over workers for the last time. Those days are over. Now it's time for Dr. Loh (UMD President) to demonstrate moral leadership and bring an end to this sorry chapter in the history of UMCP." A strong showing of support tonight “will make a big difference in the lives of these employees,” says BFSA President Solomon Comissiong. “This can be the event in which campus employees, students and community members come together, in solidarity, to reject abuse and disrespect, of any kind, towards anyone.”