When legendary and prolific labor history researcher and author Phil Foner died in 1994, he left behind more than 100 meticulously researched and detailed histories of the U.S. labor movement. But Foner was not merely an historian in the usual university mold; he was a partisan, a lifetime communist, and he saw his work as not just chronicles of past events but serious guides to action for those still on the labor battlefront. His books in many ways became the untold stories of our class struggle.

Alexandria, VA – Transit workers employed by the French multinational rail and transit company Keolis took strike action on January 1, in Loudoun County, Virginia. The ATU Local 689 members had no choice but to take this drastic action in view of company stonewalling at the negotiations table, and in view of the shameful labor relations practices of Keolis. Like many union fights, there are many details and episodes that go unrecorded and unreported (although Labor Notes has a recent article on this struggle). What follows are a few of those background details that will add to our knowledge and improve our ability to continue – and hopefully expand – the work we do to organize the unorganized.