Two days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, Anna “Razor Blade” Flemmings took to a podium in pearls and a red Communications Workers of America union T-shirt and spoke her mind.
“I want better for me, my coworkers and our children,” said Flemmings, 58, who handles calls to 1-800-MEDICARE for Maximus Inc., a government contractor. A couple dozen of her Maximus coworkers, mainly Black women working out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, sat at round tables covered in white plastic tablecloths. Paper plates of baked chicken and macaroni and cheese sat before them and their guests, a handful of children and allies in other labor unions. Behind Flemmings, a projector balanced atop a box of Moonpies showed a photo of Maximus workers at a demonstration in front of the call center just a few miles away.
