Religious leaders rally alongside striking Montgomery County trash haulers

[rug]

By Bill Turque, Published: October 29

Safe to say that this was the first time managers of Potomac Disposal heard the wail of the shofar, or ram’s horn, outside their Gaithersburg offices.

Traditionally sounded to evoke soul-searching on the Jewish high holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it was employed Monday by Rabbi David Shneyer to rally striking Potomac trash haulers and gain the attention of company officials.

Shneyer, founder and director of Am Kolel, a Jewish sanctuary and retreat on Darnestown Road in Beallsville, was one of two Montgomery County religious leaders who came out to support the 40 or so picketing workers, who are in their third week of a strike for affordable health care and higher wages. He was joined by Rev. Abhi Janamanchi, senior minister at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda.

Potomac Disposal is one of three contract haulers the county uses for trash, recycling and yard waste, mostly in southern Montgomery. One of the other companies, Unity, has also been hit by a strike. The firms are using replacement workers and supervisors on their trucks in order to continue picking up trash, recyclables and yard waste on schedule.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/religious-leaders-rally-alongside-striking-montgomery-county-trash-haulers/2013/10/29/11778230-4009-11e3-9c8b-e8deeb3c755b_story.html

http://www.am-kolel.org/

http://www.cedarlane.org/

[kwassa]

1. They pick up my trash, and the strike was settled.

I had my oil changed in my minivan today across the street from the Potomac Disposal headquarters.

anyway, here is the follow up story:

Nicole Duarte, a spokeswoman for Laborers International Union of North America Mid-Atlantic Regional Organizing Coalition, called Tuesday’s agreement “a very fair compromise.” The company agreed to pay raises for workers, one paid holiday and sick and vacation days for workers, but weren’t able to agree on a plan to provide affordable health insurance, according to a release from the union.

http://www.gazette.net/article/20131030/NEWS/131039874/agreement-reached-in-gaithersburg-x2019-s-potomac-disposal-strike&template=gazette

[gopiscrap]

2. good, that's the way it should be.

I've walked the line in myt church job with UFCW grocery workers and also with picketing hospital workers and nurses.