Injured Workers Speak Out

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

"The one good thing that's happened to me since my accident, aside from getting my ability to speak back, was my union,” said Ride-On bus operator Theresa D'Antoine (right) Monday afternoon at a “We Are One” event at the National Labor College organized by UFCW locals 1994 and 400 to commemorate the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and workers killed and injured on the job. “They've been there since I opened my eyes," said D'Antoine, a Local 1994 member who suffered a near-fatal accident last August, adding that “if the County's proposed budget is enacted, with additional costs for health insurance and retirement, I might lose my house. I can't take any more hits." Local 1994 Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Cuffie served as master of ceremonies at the event, which included remarks by UFCW International Secretary-Treasurer Marc Perrone, Local 400 President Tom McNutt, Local 1994 President Gino Renne,  Montgomery County Council President Valerie Ervin, Rev. Kevin Fennell, Maryland State NAACP Political Action Chair Elbridge James, Jean Athey, co-founder, Fund Our Communities, and Montgomery County Council Member Hans Reimer. - report/photos by Greg Kenefick