Striking Ironworkers Highlight Workers Memorial Day Observance

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

"One day longer, we will be there one day longer, till victory come," Metro Washington Council president Jos Williams vowed to a packed room at Wednesday Morning’s Labor Council for Latin American Advancement's (LCLAA) Workers Memorial Day commemoration. “A victory for the strikers at Wings Enterprises is a victory for all workers." The press conference and worker panel -- co-hosted by DC Jobs with Justice, Interfaith Worker Justice of Greater Washington and the the George Washington Student Progressive Union -- focused on striking iron workers at Wings who six months ago walked out over issues including job safety. The press conference was also tied to the release of the 19th edition of the AFL-CIO’s Death on the Job: the Toll of Neglect. "The AFL's report shows that Latino workers are disproportionately vulnerable to workplace accidents," said Jose David Benitez, one of the Wings strikers. "Time and time again we are forced to take on dangerous and strenuous jobs, and are provided with very little safety training or equipment.” Strikers also spoke of the toll on their families, many of whom were present at the press conference, "Many of us have children who are US citizens," said Juan Carlos Soto who was fired by Wings in retaliation for supporting the strike, "Yet we aren't able to adequately provide for them, to give them what every American child should have, because our wages are so low." AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Schuler, faith and student allies, and the Director of Occupational Medicine for the Department of Labor, Rosemary Saks, were also present. - Ruth Castel-Branco; photo: striking ironworker Juan Carlos talking to the media at yesterday’s press conference; photo by Daniel Molina