AFL-CIO King Day celebration Jan. 13-17

Candlelight March to Save Collective Bargaining to Highlight King Day Celebration
by James Parks, Jan 12, 2011

Martin Luther King Jr. addresses striking sanitation workers in April 1968, the day before he was killed in Memphis.

More than 400 union and civil rights activists will march to Cincinnati’s City Hall Jan. 14 to condemn the plan recently elected Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) has to strip Ohio child care and home health care workers of their right to bargain for a better life.

The march is part of the annual AFL-CIO King Day celebration Jan. 13-17 in Cincinnati. Through the march and throughout the conference, activists will send a message that Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of social and economic justice is not dead even in this tough political climate. Workers who provide vital services to the Cincinnati area—including home and child care providers and transit workers—will share their stories and concerns about Kasich and his allies’ attempts to blame and punish low-income workers for the state of the economy. The activists will focus on developing strategies to advance the issues of good job creation, immigration reform and economic equality.


Cincinnati child care provider Ella Hopkins, who will speak at the march, says:

I struggle every day to get by in this tough economy, just like every other Ohio working person, and do the best I can for my family, and for the Cincinnati families who depend on me to care for their children while they are working. Why does Gov. Kasich want to make it harder for all of us to support our families and do the right thing for the parents and children we serve?

The group also will recognize local leaders who have provided outstanding leadership in the fight for justice during an awards banquet on Jan. 16. AFL-CIO President Emeritus John Sweeney will receive the group’s top national award for his years of commitment to equality, diversity and justice.

Community service is a major portion of each year’s celebration, putting into action the union values of collective assistance for those in need. This year, participants will spend the first full day of the conference providing help to charitable and social action groups and organizations across the city.

Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, will deliver the keynote address for the conference, and Jacqueline Berrien, chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), will speak at the awards banquet. Other conference speakers include AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and Letter Carriers (NALC) President Fredric Rolando. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) will join conference participants via video.

In conjunction with the celebration in Cincinnati, working Americans around the country will hold roundtables, marches and rallies to remind their lawmakers that King’s vision for the nation included not only civil rights but also an economy that served all Americans—a vision that is far from fulfilled.