THIS JUST IN: Daycon Strikers Win Long Battle for Justice
Friday, November 9, 2012
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)It took two and a half years but the Teamsters 639 strike against Daycon is
finally over. The Upper Marlboro, MD-based janitorial and maintenance supply
company is calling the last remaining strikers back to work after a US Court of
Appeals ruling Tuesday upheld NLRB rulings in the union’s favor. “We won
every ounce” said a jubilant Local 639 Business Agent Doug Webber. In addition
to being ordered to bring all the union members back to work, Daycon owes
strikers back pay and benefits “and must return to the table and bargain
fairly” for a new contract, Webber told Union City last night. Local 639
members at Daycon struck in 2010 when management illegally implemented their
bargaining proposals and although the strikers subsequently offered to return to
work, the company refused to re-hire them and engaged in what the NLRB
determined were a series of unfair labor practices. “We’re proud of our
members, who hung in this fight for the long haul,” said Local 639 President
Tommy Ratliff. “And we couldn’t have won this battle
without the support of the Metro Washington Council, the Community Services
Agency, and the entire local labor community, which came together to support
this struggle.” Said Metro Council President Jos Williams, “As if any more
proof were needed after our wins at the ballot box on Tuesday, Local 639’s
victory shows once more that solidarity, as always, works!” - report by
Chris Garlock; photos of the 2010 Daycon strike by Adam Wright and Chris
Garlock