For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 19, 1996
AFL-CIO Leader Sings Praises of Change at the Nation's Labor Federation
Chicago, IL —Linda Chavez-Thompson, who last year was elected as part of the new leadership of the AFL-CIO, today enumerated the positive changes taking place at the nation's labor federation, including a strong commitment to organizing and political action.
"The American labor movement must get larger and as Jerry McEntee (AFSCME President) and John Sweeney (AFL-CIO President) have told you, we are changing the "old ways" of the AFL-CIO by spending $20 million dollars to organize across this country as never before," Chavez-Thompson said.
Chavez-Thompson specifically pointed to the AFL-CIO's Union Summer organizing campaign, in which over 1,000 young men and women will work in organizing campaigns, voter registration, leafletting and circulating petitions for liveable wage campaigns.
Chavez-Thompson -- who for eight years served as an AFSCME international vice president -- went on to say that the new leadership of the AFL-CIO will be more politically active than it has been in recent years. "We'll provide education and information on the issues that affect working families. Then we'll judge candidates on whether they support the issues that we're fighting for; support for education, Medicare, Medicaid, worker health and safety, and environmental protection and other government programs that help working people....We'll judge candidates on whether they're wearing their union pins where the world can see them, not hidden behind their lapels and not just when it's convenient for the moment."
Chavez-Thompson is the first hispanic woman to be elected to a top leadership position at the AFL-CIO.
