Union leaders gather in D.C. to lobby on issues impacting middle class, economy

May 14, 2009 - More than 700 union activists from across nation, including OCSEA leaders, gathered in Washington, D.C., for AFSCME's annual legislative conference and to lobby Congress on three key issues that will move our nation down the road to economic recovery and help rebuild the middle class.

Before lobbying on Capitol Hill conference participants were briefed on the issues below and talked about how to make a case for working families before legislators and the media.

• The need to invest in public services that keep America strong.
• Reform that guarantees quality, affordable health care for all.
• Passing the Employee Free Choice Act to grow the middle class.

Union members also heard from Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, Former U.S. Rep. David Bonior, chairman of American Rights at Work, U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

The vice president, who addressed the crowd on Tuesday, May 12, said the way to rebuild the middle class is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and level the playing fields for unions.

"You know, I think it should be pretty simple," Biden said of workers' right to organize and bargain collectively for better wages and work conditions. "If a union is what you want, then a union is what you should get. It's simple."

The following OCSEA leaders joined 700 other AFSCME activists from across the nation: OCSEA President Eddie L. Parks, OCSEA Secretary-Treasurer Kathy Stewart, Board of Directors members Louella Jeter, Debra King-Hutchinson, Annie Person and Tim Roberts, and DYS Assembly Activists Brenda Latham, Karl Wilkins, and Robert Glen.

See Related

Make America Happen

Video of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden addressing the AFSCME Legislative Conference (May 12, 2009)

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