They Marched For Justice

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Northern Virginia hotel workers heated things up yesterday afternoon in their ongoing struggle to form a union. More than 150 workers and labor activists chanted “No contract, no peace!” to the thumping of drums as they marched outside the Sheraton Crystal City, demanding a free and fair process to unionize. “All I want is to have my job back and be allowed to join a union if that’s my choice,” Ferdi Lazo - an engineer who was recently fired for organizing (Why We March: Engineer Ferdi Lazo UC 7/30) - told Union City. “We demand to be treated with respect,” he added. Northern Virginia Labor Federation President Dan Duncan told Union City that “We’re going to stay out here until we get a contract,” as he walked the picket line, adding “All our brothers and sisters stand united and deserve a decent wage and a fair process to form a union.” After marching for over an hour, a small group of labor and community leaders entered the hotel – looking for answers about why the workers are being treated so poorly - and confronted the manager, who asked them to leave. “We’ll be back,” they said.
- story/photo by Adam Wright