By The PA. AFL-CIO
– This Monday we celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who fought for civil rights, dignity, and equal opportunity for all Americans.
While Monday is the official Martin Luther King Holiday, celebrations and remembrances of Dr. King and his work are kicking off this weekend, and will continue throughout the remainder of the month. All across Pennsylvania, we encourage you to take advantage by participating in these events and celebrations.
When Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, he was there in support of sanitation workers and their struggle to form a union. Throughout his life, Dr. King worked at building closer relationships and cementing partnerships between organized labor and the civil rights movement. He understood that unions were critical to achieving social and economic justice for all people. We need to keep building these partnerships if we are to build union density and expand economic opportunity for those who are too often marginalized in our economy and in our society.
On Saturday, January 17 and Sunday, January 18, Labor and Community leaders and Clergy will join to honor the vision of Dr. King, and what he called a glorious partnership between labor and the civil rights movement.
Several representatives of our State Labor Table will receive honorary recognition for contributions to Dr. King’s Beloved Community, including Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Richard Bloomingdale; PSEA President Mike Crossey; SEIU Local 668 President Tom Herman; AFSCME District Council 13 Director of Education Carla Insinga; and CBTU Chair Shirley Yates. These honors will be presented during the Sunday evening worship service on January 18th at the Goodwin Memorial Baptist Church in Harrisburg. The service begins at 6:00 PM and will be led by the Rev. Dr. Mark K. Tyler of Mother Bethel AME Church, Philadelphia. Bishop A.E. Sullivan and the Martin Luther King Leadership Development Institute are among other organizations and individuals who will be honored.
This event underscores the unity we continue to forge with partners across Pennsylvania to meet the challenges we face. These partnerships have played an important role in our recent legislative battles to stop attacks on workers’ rights, including paycheck protection, pension reform, and privatization; as well as on issues such as voting rights, when we fought together to overturn Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law. These relationships will continue to be critical as we fight for a proactive agenda of good jobs, better wages and benefits, and retirement security for everyone.
Also this weekend, hundreds of leaders and members of labor unions and civil rights organizations have come together in Atlanta, GA, the birthplace of Dr. King, to participate in the AFL-CIO’S 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference. The event runs from Thursday, January 15 through Sunday, January 19. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere A. Gebre is helping to lead the conference, which is featuring workshops, actions, and general sessions. You can follow the conference on Twitter @aflcio with the hashtag #1uMLK.
Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=5724
