Former WTU 6 Leader Bill Simons Publishes Memoir

(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.