Community Corner
Metro Union Holds Bizarre 'Funeral' On Anniversary Of Deadly Fort Totten Crash
The event, involving a casket and mock tombstones, was meant to memorialize the 'death' of the middle-class workforce because of WMATA.
WASHINGTON, DC — In an increasingly nasty battle with WMATA leadership, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 -- which represents Metro workers -- held a mock funeral for the middle-class workforce on the anniversary of the deadly Fort Totten Metro crash that claimed the lives of eight Metro passengers and a train operator.
ATU Local 689 held the press conference at 10 a.m. Thursday morning at the the Jackson Graham Building in D.C. as WMATA leadership met inside to hold a "funeral to remember the life of a once vibrant middle-class workforce at Metro."
The "funeral" was complete with a wooden casket, cardboard tombstones, flowers, and even someone delivering a eulogy.
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ATU Local 689 has been in a vicious battle with WMATA leadership, which is seeking to make steep cuts to Metro to get the system's costs under control. Metro workers could face a cut in pensions, as well as the prospect of competing with private contractors for work.
Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 hold a funeral outside #wmata HQ to eulogize their status as a middle class workforce pic.twitter.com/0n4ouF9bIG
— Rachel Leah Siegel (@rachsieg) June 22, 2017
Meanwhile happening outside metro HQ, @ATULocal689 holding a "funeral" for their status as middle class workers @ABC7News pic.twitter.com/dRloDIYHBI
— Bri Carter (@ABC7Bri) June 22, 2017
Image via National Transportation Safety Board
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