The Rev. Dr. William Barber II addresses CSEA delegates. Barber’s presentation helped set the tone for the 104th Annual Delegates Meeting. Visit CSEA’s website at www.cseany.org to watch Barber’s speech. Barber to CSEA delegates: ‘Know who you are’ MANHATTAN — The Rev. Dr. William Barber II, founder of the Moral Mondays movement and president of the North Carolina NAACP, set the tone for the 104th CSEA Annual Delegates Meeting with a speech titled, “We must know who we are in times like these.” “Knowing who you are is critical to your sanity and your ability to sustain oneself,” said Barber. “America has had at times the kind of split personality, social schizophrenia, a great gulf in what she dreams to be and what she is at times in reality.” He spoke of the “If we come together and know who we are, we are America at its best.” final hours of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, when King delivered his final speech to AFSCME sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn. In that address, King cautioned that the struggle for civil rights and worker rights should never be separated. Barber also warned delegates about “aggressive extremists occupying space in our political discourse.” “When you can run for office like a Tea Party extremist and Koch-funded puppet and literally say to the people ‘elect me and I will take you on a trip to a better America by asking you to agree that the road there is to deny public education teachers, unemployment, earned income, labor rights, minimum wage increase, living wages,’” Barber said. “We must tell the truth and that all this language about labor rights being bad and that living wages will break the company and the country are arguments as old as the ones for not releasing the slaves,” Barber said. After insisting that “poor and working poor must be at the center of our national agenda,” he urged delegates to stay united and fight back. “If we come together and know who we are, we are America at its best,” Barber said. “We are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. And we, the people, have never been defeated.” — David Galarza 104th Annual Delegates Meeting: Strong Communities Work! CSEA set forth an ambitious vision for recognizing the importance of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help make strong communities work as the union held its 104th Annual Delegates Meeting in New York City. Strong speeches by Moral Monday founder the Rev. Dr. William Barber II, labor educator D’Arcy Martin, AFSCME President Lee Saunders, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman helped set the tone for the meeting. “We’ve long been a part of our communities, but we need to strengthen our ties and bring more people together,” CSEA President Danny Donohue told delegates. “There are hopeful signs because there are a lot of people who care about the same things as we do.” CSEA also rolled out the Strong Communities Work website, which celebrates the hardworking individuals whose spirit, energy and commitment make New York a better place for us all. Learn more at http:// strongcommunitieswork.org. On this page through page 10 are highlights from the meeting. Visit CSEA’s website at www.cseany.org to see photos, watch presentations from the meeting’s speakers and get workshop resources. Martin: Stronger communities make stronger unions MANHATTAN — Labor educator D’Arcy Martin provided CSEA members with key ingredients needed to build strong communities during the 104th Annual Delegates Meeting. “Let’s build community inside and then build it throughout,” said Martin. He stressed the need for building strong coalitions with small community-minded groups and organizations. “We are all in the same boat,” said Martin. “Our communities need good jobs with fair wages.” He used the successful campaign to save the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to illustrate the effectiveness of good coalition building. “Without a small community base that is organized, people lose out,” said Martin. He also spoke of a water “re-municipalization” campaign in which the focus wasn’t on saving good jobs, but on the public’s right to good water. He also stressed the need to build Labor educator D’Arcy Martin addresses delegates. Visit CSEA’s website at www.cseany.org to watch Martin’s speech. worker power through an equality agenda. “The best anti-poverty program is a union,” said Martin. “We can’t afford as a labor movement to be looking down on any workers.” He urged members to challenge racism, and “to build coalitions that are a part of, but not necessarily the controlling part, and invite them to share, to contribute.” “We have a choice,” said Martin. “What kind of union do we want to build?” — David Galarza November 2014 The Work Force 7
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