For far too long our local Democratic leadership has taken working people for granted, triangulating them, offering only crumbs while implementing anti-working class policies. A prime example is the urban structural adjustment program, World Bank/IMF style, imposed by the Control Board and its handpicked Mayor Tony Williams. Fenty was elected with high hopes for a change in regime, but we got the same program with a younger Mayor. The Federal City Council (FCC) continues to set the agenda for our Mayor with too much compliance of the City Council. John Hill, CEO of the FCC, was Executive Director of the Control Board (June 1995 —April 1999). Donald Graham is VP, Membership & Finance and Chairman of the Board of the Washington Post, the paper of record for editorial support for Fenty’s policies. And Frank Keating is President of the FCC. Keating is the former Republican Governor of Oklahoma, and a strong Bush supporter. Go to the FCC website and check it out for yourself: http://www.federalcitycouncil.org/.
From: http://www.dclabor.org/
Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO
UNIONS HIT DC MAYOR AT DNC FOR BEING "ANTI-WORKER"
Calling DC Mayor Adrian Fenty a "budget-shattering, union-busting, promise-breaking political boss whose poor performance and bad management are costing DC taxpayers millions of dollars," District of Columbia unions fanned out Wednesday morning to expose Mayor Fenty's record and generate support from state delegations at this week's Democratic National Convention in Denver. Alerted to the action - which was quickly picked up by the news media -- Fenty was a no-show at the DC delegation breakfast. "Mayor Fenty's hostility to workers and unions is completely at odds with the Democratic Party's longstanding commitment to these major constituency groups," said Metro Council President Joslyn N. Williams. "This year's party platform includes the strongest support ever for organized labor, and Barack Obama himself has been outspoken in his support for the right of workers to organize and the importance of the labor movement in a free and democratic society." Added Williams, "Mayor Fenty has turned a deaf ear to workers, unions, community groups and the City Council. As we gear up to elect Barack Obama President and bring the winds of change to the White House in November, we are deeply disappointed that the Mayor of our nation's capital has refused to meet with us, to talk with us, and to work with us to solve the District's many challenges." In a full-color flyer being distributed to state delegations, District unions accused Fenty of taking "aggressive steps to undercut workers and organized labor in the District of Columbia," including costing the District when he had to rehire union workers fired without proper investigation, breaking his promise to rebuild DC schools using union labor, trying to gut seniority rights for unionized DC teachers, creating a crisis for rank and file District employees by refusing to appoint qualified people to fill vacancies on the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), unilaterally abolishing city jobs held by some union leaders, "a retaliatory move to intimidate unions who have pushed for reform through partnership." The District unions pledge that they "and other allies of working families will expose (Fenty's) anti-union, antidemocratic record whenever he campaigns around the country."
