FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Stephanie Gadlin
August 22, 2013 (312) 329-6250
CHICAGO UNION MEMBERS JOIN NATIONAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON TO REALIZE THE DREAM
Teachers, labor leaders to conduct press conference at 4:30 p.m. Friday on South Side
CHICAGO—On Friday, August 23rd
at 4:30 pm, more than 150 members of Chicago’s largest public service
union locals will gather at Letter Carriers Hall, 3850 S. Wabash to get
on the bus to Washington DC for the Realize the
Dream 50th Anniversary March on Washington. Before boarding,
the group will hold a press conference to talk about how they plan to
take message about Chicago’s public school crisis to the historic event.
Calling
themselves the Chicago Labor Freedom Riders, members of the Chicago
Teachers Union (CTU), National Nurses United (NNU), National Association
of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 11, Service Employees International
Union (SEIU), Action
Now, and the International Socialist Organization (ISO) organized buses
bound for Washington, DC this weekend to join sisters and brothers from
hundreds of union locals as well as churches and community
organizations to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary
of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Chicago
Labor Freedom Riders began organizing in July, immediately following
the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin.
Recognizing that the outpouring of anger and anguish over the verdict
would find expressions
of solidarity and a new activist orientation in the August 24th
march, a small group of rank-and-file union members appealed to leaders
in their union locals to support their efforts at bring buses to DC.
“Today’s
attack on public services—including schools, public hospitals and the
postal service—are a special threat to African Americans’ right to full
equality, including a decent standard of living. Public service
institutions are subject
to greater scrutiny against discrimination of all kinds than is found
in the private sector. For that reason, African Americans have found
employment and achievement in public service to a wider extent than in
the corporate world,” said CTU Recording Secretary
Michael Brunson.
“So the current wave of austerity, anti-union attacks and hostility to government programs disproportionately targets the African American community. The attack on public sector unions has ominous implications for the Black community. That’s why labor rights and civil rights go hand in hand.”
The Realize the Dream 50th
Anniversary March on Washington was initiated by Rev. Al Sharpton’s
National Action Network. The march is co-sponsored by dozens of national
and international unions, church and community organizations.
On Saturday, August 24th, participants will hear from the
presidents of the American Federation of Teachers (CTU’s parent
federation), SEIU the National Organization of Women, SEIU, National
Coalition of La Raza and other political and community
leaders.
The
bus will travel overnight to Washington DC. Riders will participate in
the Saturday events at the National Mall and take the return trip
overnight to Chicago, arriving Sunday morning.
###
The
Chicago Teachers Union represents 30,000 teachers and educational
support personnel working in the Chicago Public Schools, and by
extension, the more than 400,000 students
and families they serve. The CTU is an affiliate of the American
Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers and is
the third largest teachers local in the United States and the largest
local union in Illinois. For more information please
visit CTU’s website at www.ctunet.com.
SG:oteg-743-tr
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