Thanks, Rep. Lewis, for Backing Indiana Working People
Many thanks and kudos to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) for calling the Indiana Democratic Caucus today to encourage lawmakers to stay strong and firm in their efforts to stop the state’s Republican leadership from doing an end-run around the democratic process.
In encouraging the caucus to keep fighting against Republican moves to pass so-called right to work legislation, Lewis told Democratic lawmakers they are taking action not only for Indiana but for the entire nation–and the entire nation is depending on them.
“Make no mistake–the Republicans are out to destroy unions and our democracy.”
Lewis’ participation is especially meaningful because of his relationship with Indiana. He was campaigning for Bobby Kennedy in Indianapolis on April 4, 1968, the day that Dr. King was assassinated.
State Rep. John Bartlett (D), who took part in the call, said ”it is an honor to hear from anyone who has been in the struggle for as long as Congressman Lewis has been.”
His words were a major boost for our morale and he strengthened our resolve.
Lewis, who spoke about the long and constant struggle for economic justice, offered the caucus his assistance whenever needed.
King’s Dream of Economic Justice Still Far From Reality
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| Rep. John Lewis called for working people to “make some noise.” |
Devon Lomax, a member of the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 9 in New York, hasn’t worked for more than a year. One of his colleagues lost his home and ended up panhandling in the subways.
Katie Hofmann, a teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio, says more and more of her students are homeless. Teachers who have not had a pay raise for five years regularly go into their pockets to buy lunch for children who are hungry and whose families have no money.
Lomax and Hofmann were two of the panelists who spoke at the AFL-CIO and The King Center symposium on “Jobs, Justice and the American Dream” this morning. Participants in the first panel, Jobs and the American Dream, agreed that 48 years after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the nation is still far from achieving his vision of a nation where everyone who wants to work has a good job and the freedom to achieve to the best of his or her abilities.
Watch Live Webcast of Historic National Symposium on Jobs, Justice and American Dream
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On Aug. 26, two days before the official dedication of the historic Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C., the AFL-CIO and The King Center will host a national symposium to explore how far we have come in fulfilling King’s dream of a nation of economic equality and justice for all people.
Watch a live webcast of this important symposium on jobs, justice and the American dream. Click here Friday morning at 9 a.m. to join the webcast. Also, check out the live Twitter feed during the symposium on the AFL-CIO website and follow the events on Twitter with the hashtag #jobsjustice.
Two panels of experts, workers, political leaders and activists will talk about the steps we need to take as a nation to make King’s dream a reality. Martin Luther King III, president of the King Center will make remarks along with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker.
The first panel will discuss the threat that a lack of jobs presents to the economic progress for which King fought most of his life. Civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), will highlight the Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t Miss Live Webcast of National Symposium on Jobs and Justice Aug. 26
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You can be a part of the national symposium on jobs, justice and the American dream, hosted by the AFL-CIO and The King Center, on Aug. 26, two days before the official dedication of the historic Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C.
Just RSVP here for our live webcast of the symposium Friday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.
Submit a question for our panels of experts, activists and workers here. Panelists will select from among the questions submitted. The first panel, “Jobs and the American Dream,” begins at 9 a.m. The second panel, “Justice and the American Dream,” begins at 11 a.m.
AFL-CIO, King Center Symposium on Jobs and Justice Set for Aug. 26
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The AFL-CIO and the King Center is hosting a national symposium on jobs, justice and the American Dream on Aug. 26, two days before the official dedication of the historic Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C.
We will live webcast the two featured panels of notable civil rights activists, worker-activists, elected leaders, academics and young people. We’ll let you know the webcast URL next week.
You can participate in this historic symposium by submitting a question for the panelists. Just click here to ask your question. Panelists will select from among the questions submitted.
King Fought to Give Working People ‘Equal Voice’
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The nation is “facing a frontal assault on the American way of life, and the prime target is the hard-working American family,” write AFSCME President Gerald McEntee and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) in a column in the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Their column marking the 43rd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
“As we commemorate the assassination of King, we must never forget that he died in Memphis defending the collective bargaining rights of AFSCME sanitation workers.
“He fought to build a nation in which working people have an equal voice at the negotiating table, and everyone has a shared responsibility to contribute to the welfare of our society that neither wealth nor power can silence.”
They write that just as in 1968, America is living through a time of fundamental change and workers understand “we must shift domestically to confront transformations in the world economy; we must not abandon our fundamental commitment to fairness in the process.
American workers—like city of Memphis and school system employees, laid-off Toshiba and Bridgestone factory workers in Middle Tennessee, both union and nonunion employees—have made concessions to the troubled economy.
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists: Now Is Our Future
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The nation’s economic crisis is the result of failed trade policies and the lack of a U.S. industrial policy that creates and sustains good manufacturing jobs, according to Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) President Bill Lucy.
In his keynote address before 1,200 delegates at the CBTU’s annual convention May 21-25 in Atlanta, Lucy pointed out that as bad as the economy is for all working people, workers of color have been hardest hit. The strides made by African American workers in the 1990s have been wiped out in this current economic crisis, Lucy said, and millions of people of color are no longer making middle-class incomes. (See Video: May 21, Tab 16.)
The time has come to recognize that this is a key moment to make sweeping changes and turn the country around, he said. Quoting former President Franklin Roosevelt, Lucy said:
“Do you judge a nation’s greatness by what it gives those who already have too much or by what it gives to those who have too little? That question is as relevant today as it was 75 years ago.”
