Cardin, Brown, Young Democrats to Honor Labor Boycott/Picket Of Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee Spring Ball
Friday, May 3, 2013(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Senator Ben
Cardin (D, MD), Maryland
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown and the Montgomery County Young Democrats are among
those who have announced that they’re honoring a boycott of the Montgomery
County Democratic Central Committee’s May 11 Spring Ball. The metro
Washington-area labor movement is boycotting – and picketing -- the
Montgomery
County Democratic Central Committee’s Spring Ball because the Committee took
a
position in favor of the 2012 Question B referendum, which took away the police union’s
right to bargain the
effects of management decisions. “The Committee took this position despite being asked to
remain neutral on the referendum, which has been the traditional practice in
disputed matters between the party and government,” said Metro Council
President Jos Williams. “Organized labor and the Democratic party have a long
history of working together to protect and advance the interests of working
families,” Williams said. “While we value that relationship highly, our
higher
principle is that of solidarity: ‘An injury to one is an injury to all’.
When
the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee decided to support Question
B, it not only took sides, it took a position in opposition to organized labor
and for that it must pay a price, which in this case is a withdrawal of our –
and our friends and allies -- traditional support for the MCDCC Spring Ball,
and the establishment of a picket line to publically express our disappointment
with the MCDCC.” Added UFCW 1994 MCGEO president Gino Renne, “Labor will
not
tolerate being treated as an ATM and foot soldiers for a party which is often
indifferent -- and sometimes openly hostile -- to working families in
Montgomery county.”
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