In addition to the many woes and missteps that have led to questions about its viability, DC Streetcar now stands accused of illegally firing a third of their employees in retaliation for union organizing. The Amalgamated Transit Union is calling on Metro to take over the beleaguered streetcar agency. “Not only have the Streetcar managers failed in almost every aspect of the development of this new system, but they want to muzzle any criticism by their employees.” said Transit Union President Larry Hanley. “The managers should be fired, not the workers who are trying to make an impossible project work.”
In today’s labor calendar, Dave Zirin – who writes about the politics of sports – will join Etan Thomas and Kevin Blackistone at a WPFW fundraiser tonight at 6:30pm at the Takoma Park Busboys & Poets; go to wpfw.org for details. Here's today's labor history: On this date in 1917, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Adamson Act, a federal law that established an eight-hour workday, with overtime pay, for interstate railway workers. Congress passed the law a year earlier to avert a nationwide rail strike. In 1981, three workers were killed and five were injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Today's labor quote is by Robert Alan: “Today, although there are still sweatshops and other inhumane working conditions for many workers around the world, the labor movement has won numerous victories that many of us take for granted, such as the 5-day work week, 8-hour work day, paid holidays and the end of child labor.”
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