Caroline Kennedy Urges Workers to Complete Ted Kennedy’s Dream
Caroline Kennedy today challenged delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention to fight for and achieve the causes to which her uncle, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, dedicated his life—health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act.
After thanking union members for their “tremendous outpouring of support following Sen. Kennedy’s death, she said her uncle succeeded because he cared about people and “no one held a dearer place in his heart than the labor movement.
He believed every worker deserved to be treated fairly. Day after day uncle Teddy stood with labor because it was the right thing to do.
Sen. Kennedy and retiring AFL-CIO President John Sweeney worked hard throughout their lives to help working people, and now the next generation must find ways to meet the challenges working people face with the same determination and tenacity displayed by her uncle and Sweeney, she said.
It’s time to build a new economy that puts the needs of working families first, that ensures each and every worker has a voice on the job and pass the Employee Free Choice Act and guarantee quality health care for every man, woman and child.
Obama to Address AFL-CIO Convention
 |
|
President Barack Obama will address our AFL-CIO Convention in Pittsburgh on Sept. 15, marking a major shift in the relationship between the union movement and the White House. For the past eight years, the Bush administration waged war on America’s workers, and union members took a big step toward taking back America by playing a major role in electing Obama and a Democrat-controlled Congress.
Obama will address a convention that will make history by electing a new leadership team. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney is retiring after 14 years at the helm.
Along with Obama, the Sept. 13-17 convention will hear from many prominent political and union leaders, including Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Caroline Kennedy and NAACP President Benjamin Jealous.
