Potomac Disposal Strikers Garner Political Support

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Montgomery County Council President and District 4 Representative Nancy Navarro and At-Large Council Member Hans Riemer met yesterday morning with striking workers at Potomac Disposal headquarters. “The company cannot treat you like you’re disposable,” Riemer told the workers, “and the union is the one thing that can turn that around.” Their visit followed a Wednesday visit by Maryland State Senator Victor Ramirez and Maryland State Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez, who also met with Unity Disposal managers to urge a resolution to the ongoing strike. “I salute you,” Ramirez told the workers, “because you aren’t just fighting for yourselves but for other workers in the future.” The Council members on Thursday spoke with the workers, most of whom are constituents, ahead of an early evening mediation session between Potomac Disposal and workers’ representatives. The workers are on strike for a contract that includes affordable health insurance and fair wages. The County Council ordered an investigation into Potomac Disposal’s wage practices after an initial audit found regular violations of the County’s living wage law. The workers were in the midst of organizing a union at Unity Disposal in order to obtain affordable health insurance and fair wages when one worker was fired Oct. 14, two days after speaking in favor of the union at a company meeting. Angered by the firing, the other workers went on strike to demand the reinstatement of their colleague and recognition of their union. Then Unity Disposal fired all the workers who were on strike. Click here to sign the "Stop Treating Your Trash Collectors Like Trash" petition. photo: Rabbi David Shneyer, Am Kolel Jewish Community, on the picket line Wednesday.