The union representing thousands of Metro workers reacted with "concern" to President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment this week of Elaine Chao as Secretary of Transportation, noting that she failed to adequately investigate pay shortages and overtime when she served as President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Labor.
"We have no reason to believe she will stand up for working people now," said ATU 689 president Jackie Jeter. The union also warned that Trump's proposal to fund infrastructure spending through tax credits to private contractors "only benefits the contractors and leaves taxpayers holding the bag." On the weekend labor calendar, don't miss An Evening of Favorite and Sacred Songs with the DC Labor Chorus tomorrow night at the ATU Tommy Douglas Conference Center in Silver Spring, starting at 7:30. Labor Chorus Director Elise Bryant calls the free concert "a musical sanctuary of song for those who fight the good fight for peace and justice every day.” Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1954, the U.S. Senate voted to condemn Senator Joseph McCarthy for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.” McCarthy was a rabid anti-Communist who falsely accused thousands of Americans, mostly people who supported labor, civil rights and other progressive causes, of being traitors. In 2009, court documents filed in Boston said Walmart had agreed to pay $40 million to more than 87,000 Massachusetts employees who claimed the retailer denied them rest and meal breaks, manipulated time cards and refused to pay overtime. Today's labor quote is by folksinger Woody Guthrie Woody Guthrie, who said "There's several ways of saying what's on your mind. And in states and counties where it ain't too healthy to talk too loud, speak your mind or even vote like you want to, folks have found other ways of getting the word around. One of the mainest ways is by singing."
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