Hotel Workers Call on Trump to Hire DC Residents
Friday, July 25, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Inside, billionaire Donald Trump wielded a
golden shovel, outside, the workers leafleted. Hired security officers
barred hotel workers and the general public from attending or viewing the
groundbreaking ceremony
on Wednesday for the Trump International at the Old Post Office Pavilion on
Pennsylvania Avenue, which took place in an enclosed area on the premises. But
that didn’t stop members of UNITE HERE Local 25 from gathering outside to
protest. “The Trumps want to spend as much as they can to build this
ultra-luxury hotel, but they won’t even commit to hire DC residents or pay
good
wages,” said Carlita Munson, who works at the Washington Court Hotel. “It
kind
of speaks to their priorities.” The workers passed out flyers blaming the
Trumps for promoting inequality in the city. “Wonder why we have growing
inequality?” the flyer asks. “This is how it happens: billionaires who are
more
concerned with posh than with people, and expect the rest of us to play
along.”
Sam Epps, the union’s Political Director, added that “Development doesn’t
just mean
building things. It means creating real opportunities for residents. We’re
calling on the Trumps to make a commitment to real economic development that
actually benefits the people who live here.”
- photo: UNITE HERE
25 members Pacos Mora and Eusebio Medrano leaflet; photo by Jose Rivera