Abstract Please note this interview was recorded over a telephone call. Craig Simpson reflects on his life as a labor organizer, with special attention to the 1978 Metro Strike and the nearly three decades working with the labor movement as an employee of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Craig remembers the events between 1974 and 1978 that led to the 1978 Metro wildcat strike in precise detail. While the previous generation of bus drivers was entirely white men, the...

Abstract In this oral history Michael Golash talks about how his early life influenced his decision to take a leadership role in the 1978 Metro wildcat strike and the ways that the strike played a central role in many of his future decisions. First, Golash speaks about growing up in Albany, New York where observing the city's party-machine helped to formulate his early ideas about politics. The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was another key point in his political development. Golash's...

Abstract Ron Majors reflects on his decades working as a bus operator for WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) and the importance of the union for strengthening the rights of workers. Though he joined Metro in 1980, two years after the 1978 Metro wildcat strike, he saw evidence of the strike's lasting legacy regarding labor militancy all around him. Ron talks about what it meant to always be 'strike ready' and how this affected labor relations. He also speaks about his Catholic...