Former WTU 6 Leader Bill Simons Publishes Memoir
Thursday, July 10, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Bill Simons’ memoir of the struggles and
triumphs during his tenure as president of the Washington Teachers’ Union has
just been released. “A Giant for Justice” recounts
the 1968 march on the Capitol by DC teachers – their first walkout – to
demand
a pay raise from Congress. Simon led that march, as well as two successful
strikes in 1972 and 1979 that helped build the WTU into “a powerful and
respected voice on behalf of DC teachers and the students they taught and cared
about.” Simon was also one of the founders of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU). A native Washingtonian,
Simons
attended D.C. public schools, taught there for 18 years and then served twice
as president of WTU Local 6 for 25 years. In April, 1994, he served as an
AFL-CIO observer in the first democratic elections in South Africa.
“Generations of union leaders to come can turn to this book for a concise
statement of Bill’s work and use it to guide them in their own pursuit of
justice,” says Amazon.