For Immediate Release
Thursday, August 27, 1998
AFL-CIO Labor Leader Chavez-Thompson: “We need to lift America up.”
Honolulu, Hawaii —AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson, the highest-ranking female labor union official in the country, told AFSCME Convention delegates and guests that their participation in the Convention is strong because "You know in your heart how much we need to lift America up."
Chavez-Thompson spelled out what had to be done. "Lifting America up means raising the living standards for everyone who works for a living ... making life more secure and fair ... winning health care and safe retirements. Lifting America up means making paychecks equal for women and people of color. Building our state and county and local governments, strengthening our communities and boosting our local economies so we can all have more libraries, greener parks, cleaner water, and safer streets."
The Labor leader praised AFSCME for moving ahead on two important areas: political action and organizing. Chavez-Thompson was wary of Labor’s enemies. "We know that there is a struggle not just with anti-union, anti-worker attitudes [but with] the supervisors who watch every move you make and block your efforts, the employers who try to privatize your work, who try to take away your rights, your benefits and deny you fairness and justice, who deny you respect and dignity," Thompson said.
Chavez-Thompson, who rose through the AFSCME ranks to become an AFSCME International vice president before becoming elected as AFL-CIO executive vice president, said the struggle of organizing in 1998 is the same as for civil rights, freedom of speech, a fair trial and freedom of religion.
The labor leader said that she understands the struggle. "As a double minority person--a women and a person of color (a Latina), I know that the AFL-CIO helps in our struggle to be included, to be at the table helping to make decisions, providing our leadership in our communities."
