Why We March: Engineer Ferdi Lazo

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

After fleeing a “gruesome civil war” in El Salvador, Ferdi Lazo (r) has run into another kind of oppression. The Sheraton Crystal City engineer became an active union leader and led his coworkers in delegations, picket lines and a community forum to protest injustice at the Sheraton. Five days after leading a delegation to demand an end to unfair layoffs, Lazoi was fired by HEI, which owns the Sheraton. Lazo will be in the street outside the Sheraton this afternoon, with hundreds of his co-workers at the NoVa hotel workers Rally Against Union-Busting. “Sometimes people would come to me crying after speaking with the bosses because they felt so disrespected. Together in a union, we have strength. We know that we are not alone,” Lazo says. - photo by Adam Wright