Labor In The News: Council Support for DC Fire Fighters Draws Attention

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The Metro Council’s condemnation of DC Mayor Vincent Gray’s threat to ask Congress to intervene in a dispute with Fire Fighters Local 36 (Council Meeting Highlights 4/16/2013 UC) has drawn local media attention. “Pressure mounted Monday on Mayor Vincent Gray to pay DC firefighters $36 million in back pay they contend the city owes them for overtime dating back to 2001,” Harry Jaffe reported April 22 on Washingtonian.com, while Metro Council President Jos Williams characterized Gray’s threat as “behavior that you would expect from the governor of Michigan or Ohio or Indiana or Wisconsin" in Alan Blinder’s 4/22 Examiner report.