Labor in the News: Triumph of the Trashmen & Apple Labor Protests

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Triumph of the Trashmen: “For more than four decades, Maurice Queen has held one of the most coveted jobs in the District government,” wrote Annys Shin in the Feb. 6 Washington Post. “He’s not deputy mayor or chief technology officer. He doesn’t even have a desk. He’s a trash collector. And in a city where good paying jobs are hard to come by for those without college degrees, that makes Queen and his colleagues an object of envy.” Click here for the rest of Shin’s terrific report in the Feb. 6 Washington Post about the District’s sanitation workers, who are represented by AFSCME Council 20. - photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post
D.C. protesters decry Apple labor conditions in China: Meanwhile, in Georgetown, WTOP reporter Hank Silverberg covered the protests against Apple. “Protesters gathered outside the store to denounce labor conditions in Chinese factories, where workers put in long hours for little pay and are also exposed to dangerous chemicals, the demonstrators say.” Click here for the full report.