Fight DC Metro’s Racist Policies

Washington, DC, February 6 — Today, Metro workers led a protest against the transit system’s plan to raise fares and against its policy of refusing to hire formerly incarcerated workers.  Protesters included public health workers, government workers, public housing residents, and students.  They ignored attempts by transit police to move the pickets away from the entrance to the evening’s scheduled public hearings, chanting boldly against the racist policies of Metro.
The protesters then joined the hearings, and several spoke out, condemning Metro’s  board for always going after working people at the fare box rather than getting money from the big developers. They make big money from the increased value in real estate that’s located near Metro stations — and it’s virtually tax-free!
Other protesting speakers condemned the policy of excluding ex-prisoners from the opportunity to even apply for jobs at Metro. Some returning ex-prisoners who had been previously hired and have had reliable work records for many years are now being fired because of their previous incarceration.
Protesting speakers noted that these new personnel policies deepen the racist oppression of black workers, since they suffer from racist arrest policies. This has been documented in great detail by the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs in a report that is available at http://tinyurl.com/l6lwwam. Once arrested and “in the system”, these workers are excluded from job opportunities. With 7,000 people returning from incarceration every year in Washington, D.C., it is vital that they have opportunities to work at decent jobs.
Along with PLP members, the Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association (MWPHA) and DC Jobs with Justice organized people to petition and testify in favor of hiring workers with criminal records.  MWPHA fights for jobs and housing to improve people’s health and prevent HIV.  
The growing movement to change this racist hiring policy encouraged the transit union local to present testimony at the hearing. In fact, the union’s current president, who has vigorously resisted taking up the issue, was shamed into calling for a change in the background check policy, although she carefully avoided calling it what it is: A racist attack on workers throughout the region.
Several rank-and-file workers and students who had never spoken before stepped forward to testify, demonstrating the growing strength of this movement against Metro’s policies.  As the effort to reverse these policies develops, these emerging leaders will strengthen the anti-racist movement.  
Local politicians, sensing a groundswell of concern over the issue, have begun to claim that they support changing Metro’s employment policy. But their role in the struggle will be to mislead. Only mass action from the grassroots will keep the pressure on Metro.  
Thinking more broadly, the bosses’ use of more intensely racist policies to intimidate and coerce African American workers reflects the ongoing crisis of capitalism. This greedy profit system has led to budget crises and layoffs everywhere. The bosses are desperate to reduce wages and benefits and speed up workers everywhere to shore up their failing system.  The struggle at Metro is simply another aspect of the fightback against the unjust capitalist system. Until we are able to overthrow it, we will continue to face these attacks. All the more reason to build a revolutionary communist movement against the bosses!