The Coalition of Metro Labor Unions is planning a series of Town Halls this month to develop a “People’s Agenda for Metro.” The first one is today at 7pm in Prince George’s County at the UFCW Local 400 offices.
ATU Local 689 president Jackie Jeter says “it is clear to us that the WMATA Board is not going to effectively get public input from each jurisdiction” before approving a new budget. Current proposals include longer wait times for trains, elimination of essential bus lines, and firing 1,000 workers. “These proposals will have real consequences for the people who depend on Metro and the public’s input must be heard,” Jeter added. The coalition represents more than 13,000 workers at Metro, and is urging attendance by allies and the public. “It is important to listen to our ridership so that we can face these challenges together,” said Jeter. For the complete Town Hall schedule – and the latest local labor calendar listings -- go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1869, the nation’s first labor convention of Black workers was held in Washington, D.C., with 214 delegates forming the Colored National Labor Union. In 1914, Ford Motor Company raised wages from $2.40 for a 9-hour day to $5 for an 8-hour day in effort to keep the unions out. And in 1933, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began. Ten of the 11 deaths on the job came when safety netting beneath the site—the first-ever use of such equipment—failed under the stress of a scaffold that had fallen. Nineteen other workers were saved by the net over the course of construction. They became members of the informal “Halfway to Hell Club.” Today’s labor quote is from UAW leader Walter Reuther and Henry Ford II, as they toured a newly built and highly-automated auto factory: Ford asked “Walter, how are you going to get those robots to pay your union dues?” Reuther, without skipping a beat, replied, “Henry, how are you going to get them to buy your cars?”
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