By The PA. AFL-CIO
– Tuesday, April 5 through Thursday, April 7, 2016
Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel, Philadelphia, PA
Harrisburg, PA – Several prominent National and State leaders will be speaking at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO’s 42nd Constitutional Convention next week in Philadelphia at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel, 17th and Race Streets in the City of Philadelphia. The Convention opens on Tuesday morning April 5th and runs through Thursday, April 7, 2016. Among the notables are Governor Tom Wolf who will be addressing the delegates on Thursday morning, (see attached speakers list and schedule). All of the Convention’s General Sessions will be held in the Liberty Ballrooms of the hotel.
The convention will also be welcoming National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka who will address the delegates on Tuesday morning. Trumka is the top labor leader in the United States, representing 12.5 million working people and very popular with union members.
Approximately 700 delegates and alternates will be representing their union organizations at this Convention. The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO is the largest union organization in the Keystone State with over 800,000 members. Union membership in Pennsylvania grew by over 50,000 members in Pennsylvania in 2015 according to U.S. Department of Labor reports.
Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney and Philadelphia AFL-CIO Council President Patrick Eiding will welcome the delegates and alternates to Philadelphia during the opening ceremonies on Tuesday, April 5. Congressman Robert Brady will speak on Wednesday morning expressing his appreciation to the members of organized labor.
Other notable speakers include: Harry Lombardo, President of the Transportation Workers Union, (TWU) of America; Clayola Brown, President of the A. Philip Randolph Institute; Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale; Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, and Kathy Manderino, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Richard Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder will be leading the proceedings and activities. The theme of the Convention is “Solidarity is Power” emphasizing the importance of unity among all labor unions and all workers in protecting the progress already achieved and in building an even stronger voice for working people and their families.
The delegates and alternates will set the policies and direction of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO for the next two years. During Wednesday’s General Session there will be a Political Program Roundtable moderated by Secretary-Treasurer Snyder to announce the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO member to member education/mobilization of workers and their families in 2016 on behalf of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO’s endorsed candidates.
The convention will also be setting the direction and the goals on National and State legislation. It will include: protecting and creating good jobs, fair trade policies, raising and protecting wages – including the minimum wage and prevailing wages, modernization not privatization of public services – including Pennsylvania’s Wine and Spirits, protecting and expanding good pensions, freedom to organize and form unions, passing public employee OSHA and family protections.
The media is welcomed to cover this Convention of working people and their priorities and hopes for now and the future.
The Convention General Session Times, (subject to change):
Tuesday, April 5th, 2016 – (9:30 AM to 12:00 Noon)
Wednesday, April 6th, 2016 – (9:00 AM to 1:30 PM)
Thursday, April 7, 2016 – (9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon)
Other Pennsylvania AFL-CIO events to be held in conjunction with the Convention:
Wednesday evening, April 6th, 2016 – Pennsylvania AFL-CIO/ COPE Honorees Dinner.
Honorees: Harry Lombardo, President, Transportation Workers Union of America
Michael Barnes, President, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 8
Patrick Eiding, President, Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO
Ryan Boyer, Business Manager, Laborers’ D.C. of the Metro Area of Philadelphia and Vicinity
Media Badges: You must have a media badge to enter the Convention’s General Sessions. Media badges will be available at the guest registration table. The guest registration table will be at the end of the Liberty Foyer, next to the Delegate Registration Desk. On Thursday, April 7th you will have to go the Convention News Office on the second level of the lobby area in Salon 1 to register and receive a media badge.
2016 PENNSYLVANIA AFL-CIO CONVENTION SPEAKERS
(subject to change with inclusion of additional speakers)
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
9:30 AM Patrick Eiding, President, Phila Council AFL-CIO James Kenney, Mayor, City of Philadelphia
10:30 AM Richard Trumka, President, National AFL-CIO
11:00 AM Kathy Manderino, Secretary, PA Dept. of Labor & Industry
11:25 AM Eugene DePasquale, Auditor General, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
11:50 AM Kathleen Kane, Attorney General, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Wednesday, April 6, 2016 9:05 AM Political Program Roundtable, Frank Snyder, Secretary-Treasurer, PA AFL-CIO – Moderator
10:15 AM Congressman Robert Brady
10:30 AM Will Fischer, Executive Director, Union Veterans Council, AFL-CIO
11:00 AM Harry Lombardo, President, Transportation Workers Union of America
Thursday, April 7, 2016 10:00 AM Clayola Brown, President, A. Philip Randolph Institute
11:30 AM Governor Tom Wolf, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
