Union City Radio for Friday, May 31

“It’s a mess,” said one local bus driver on Tuesday on the first work day after Metro shut down six Blue and Yellow line stations south of National Airport. ATU Local 689 blamed poor management by General Manager Paul Wiedefeld for stranded passengers and delayed shuttle buses, saying that “We believe that issues like this are the inevitable result of attempts to privatize and contract out work that would be best handled by the hardworking, well-trained workers of Local 689.” Saying “It puts passengers and our operators at risk,” ATU 689 president Raymond Jackson called on WMATA to return all operators to their regular routes immediately.

On today’s labor calendar, meet the millennials fighting back against unpaid work when the DC LaborFest screens CALL ME INTERN today at noon at the AFL-CIO.
For all the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.

In today’s labor history, on this date in 1943, some 25,000 White autoworkers walked off the job at a Detroit Packard Motor Car Company plant when three Black workers were promoted to work on a previously all-White assembly line. The White workers returned after the Black workers were relocated.  

Today’s labor quote is from the 1943 song "Rosie the Riveter";
Rose Will Monroe, popularly known as Rosie the Riveter, died in Clarksville, Indiana on this date in 1997. During World War Two she helped bring women into the labor force…
"All the day long,
Whether rain or shine,
She's a part of the assembly line.
She's making history,
Working for victory,
Rosie the Riveter.”

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"Rosie the Riveter" by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, released in early 1943.