Drivers Detail Exploitation at Metro Council Meeting
Wednesday, November 20, 2013(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
“Supporting
struggles like these are why we’re in the labor movement,” declared
an emotional Gino Renne at Monday’s Metro Washington Council delegate’s
meeting. The president of MCGEO/UFCW 1994 (left)
explained that his own family, which emigrated from Italy in the 1950’s,
experienced the same kind of exploitation as that now faced by Super Shuttle
drivers who have emigrated to the United States, almost all from Africa. Super
Shuttle drivers Patrick Benhene and Claire Evans (right) described in
painstaking detail the
myriad ways that Veolia – the multinational that owns Super Shuttle –
collects
billions in profits while their drivers desperately try to make ends meet.
Montgomery County taxi drivers also reported about their organizing efforts,
and both AFL-CIO organizer Mateos Chekol and ATU 689 president Jackie Jeter
noted that dealing with Veolia is a common link in many of these struggles.
Said Montgomery County taxi driver Peter Ibik, “Any way you turn, their hands
are in our pockets.” Look for more meeting reports – and draft minutes –
later
this week. photo
by Chris Garlock