Florida Senate Recognizes IVP Wynn

January 01, 2006

Florida's state Senate recognized AFSCME IVP Jeanette Wynn

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who would have turned 78 on Jan. 15, the Florida state Senate adopted a resolution celebrating his “heroic life, vibrant leadership, and historic accomplishments.”

In the spirit of the occasion, the Senate also recognized AFSCME and Council 79 Pres. Jeanette Wynn, “whose union is the reason why Dr. King was in Memphis, when he was struck down by a bullet.” Wynn – an International vice president and the first labor leader to be acknowledged on the floor of the Florida Senate – joined state Sen. Tony Hill as he read an excerpt from Dr. King’s speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” which Dr. King delivered to sanitation workers, and their supporters, the night before he was killed. It was those striking workers – and their struggle for raises, rights and respect – whom Dr. King came to Memphis to support in 1968.

“We have a long and proud history of involvement in the fight for civil rights,” said President McEntee in a statement marking the slain civil rights leader’s birth. “The sanitation workers in Memphis, all members of Local 1733, were fighting to get the city to recognize their union. Today, thousands of workers are keeping Dr. King’s spirit alive by fighting for their rights, and for a voice at work.”