Jos Williams is no stranger to the American Dream. He pursued it as a Jamaican immigrant, obtaining his bachelor’s degree at Howard University. He marched toward it by embracing the economic justice legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. And in 34 years as president of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, Jos – who’s retiring this month -- has championed the right of working men and women throughout metro Washington to live that dream with fair wages, safe working conditions, access to affordable health care and secure retirements. As he prepares to pass the baton to new Council leadership, Jos leaves a legacy of better pay, health benefits and job security for area workers. But he’s not done yet, saying that “I plan to redirect my energy to the global arena.” He points out that today’s labor issues are eerily similar to those that existed at the dawn of the union movement in the late 19th century, a Gilded Age characterized by disproportionate wealth and extreme corruption. Then, as now, hostile employers and unsympathetic governments exploited workers.
“In that era, they were lobbing vicious attacks against workers with guns and batons,” Jos says. “Today, they are armed with suits and maneuvers that undercut workers from Wall Street to the state house to the U.S. Supreme Court. Corporate giants are maintaining profits by paying workers as little as possible.” He insists that this is no longer just an American problem. “It’s a global problem, and we need global strategies to solve it.” Williams will receive the JC Turner Award for Outstanding Trades Unionist at the March 12 Evening with Labor; email [email protected] or call 202-974-8221 for tickets. And you can go to dclabor.org to read our complete profile and see photos of Jos over the years. For the latest list of events of the local labor calendar, go to dclabor.org and click on calendar. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1913, postal workers were granted the 8-hour day. In 1990, more than 6,000 drivers struck Greyhound Lines, most wound up losing their jobs to strikebreakers after Greyhound declared an impasse in negotiations. Today’s labor quote is by Robert Reich “Liberals are concerned about the concentration of wealth because it almost inevitably leads to a concentration of power that undermines democracy.” Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is an American political commentator, professor, and author.
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