Fresno, CA - Fifty years after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., workers’ rights are still being jeopardized. Reviving King’s call for a “revolution of values” and movement for economic and social justice, on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, Yvonne Walker, President of SEIU Local 1000, will speak about Janus v. AFSCME and the implications for worker's rights today.
Media and community members are encouraged to attend the free event. A press conference will be held at 10:30 am in the Fresno State Peace Garden, and the public presentation will take place from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at the Fresno State Residence Dining Hall. The latter will also include comments from Charié Payne (Fresno State NAACP Collegiate Chapter President), Dr. Walter Brooks (Dean Emeritus at Fresno City College), and Dr. Matthew Jendian (Professor of Sociology at Fresno State) as well as video excerpts from Rev. William Barber and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Doors open at 5 pm with a reception, including refreshments, before and after. Admission is free and open to the public (courtesy parking code available upon request by calling 559-278-2234). Participation welcome by people of all abilities. For accommodations, contact meperez@ csufresno.edu or 559-278-2234. RSVP at http://bit.ly/APR4MLK.
Fifty years ago, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called for a “revolution of values,” inviting people who had been divided to stand together for economic justice. People from diverse backgrounds— black, white, brown, and Native—throughout the United States responded by building a “Poor People’s March on Washington” in 1968 to demand a Marshall Plan for America’s poor. Although King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, Coretta Scott King led a two-week demonstration in Washington, D.C. on May 12, 1968, demanding an Economic Bill of Rights.
To plan and promote the anniversary of this movement, the Fresno Chapter of the NAACP joins with SEIU Local 1000 and other unions with representation in the Central Valley, including California State University Employees Union (CSUEU) and California Faculty Association (CFA). The event also has the support of Central Labor Council of Fresno, Madera, Tulare, and Kings Counties, Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party, and Fresno Police Department.
Watch live interview with SEIU President Yvonne Walker and other community leaders on The ONME Network from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM, Wednesday, April 4th. Watch it on your mobile device through the FREE ONME app (www.app.onmetv.com) or via website link: www.onmetv.com
About the Organizations
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. Founded February 12, 1909, by 60 individuals—including Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, William English Walling, Dr. Henry Moscowitz, Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Mary Church Terrell—the NAACP is the nation’s oldest, largest and most widely recognized civil rights organization. Its more than half-million members and supporters throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, leading grassroots campaigns for equal opportunity and conducting voter mobilization. For questions or to join the Local #1038 branch of NAACP, contact LeRoy Candler at 559-240-8297. [www.naacp.org] Local 1000 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a united front of 100,000 working people employed by the State of California who contribute almost $6 billion dollars to the California economy and who work in more than 1400 worksites. SEIU fights to ensure that state workers—and all workers—are treated fairly and respectfully in the workplace, and are protected from unsafe work conditions.
The purpose of Local 1000 is to have the power necessary to give its members—and all Californians—the opportunity to have a good life, live in sustainable communities and enjoy the fruits of social, economic and environmental justice. Beyond those traditional labor roles, SEIU believes unions have a duty to do more for its members than just represent them in contract negotiations and enforcement. SEIU believes that the union must be relevant in its members’ lives beyond the workplace. SEIU stands with its members to build communities in which they can raise healthy and happy families. SEIU believes our country is divided by an economic and legal system structured to shift wealth away from the workers who produce it and to benefit (almost exclusively) those who capitalize it. SEIU believes that to have prosperous, healthy communities, working families must make a living wage to support themselves and to help those around them. SEIU also believes unions joining with other organizations that share common values can build the power necessary to change things. Through organization and a united purpose, all Californians can achieve a good life. Together, we can build sustainable communities that support good paying jobs and a socially and economically just society. [www.seiu1000.org]
California Faculty Association (CFA) is a union of 28,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches who teach in the California State University system. The CFA was established to strengthen the cause of higher education for the public good; to promote and maintain the standards and ideals of the profession; to provide a democratic voice for academic employees; to provide legislative advocacy; and to maintain collective bargaining agreements covering salaries, working conditions, and other items and conditions of employment. In classrooms on the 23 CSU campuses, CFA members work hard to teach their students the critical thinking skills, the technical know-how and the cultural insights they need to be thoughtful, productive and artistic participants in our society. CFA helps to prepare California’s teachers, nurses, engineers, local and state officials, journalists, filmmakers and countless others who come through the CSU for an education. [www.calfac.org]
The CSU is the largest four-year university system in the United States. By original design, it exists to provide an opportunity for everyone seeking higher education. As a union that advocates for that ideal, CFA stands for: 1) Quality education for students; 2) Fairness for those who earn a living as teachers; and 3) Policies that ensure access to higher education. California State University Employees Union (CSUEU), which represents 15,000 employees in the CSU system, was incorporated in 2005 after serving its members as a division of the California State Employees Association for more than 80 years. CSUEU’s purpose is to maintain the highest possible quality of life of all its members and their families by negotiating a strong living wage, augmented by employer and union benefits. CSUEU’s focus is protecting, maintaining and enhancing wages, hours and working conditions for our bargaining units and represented members. CSUEU’s vision is a time when education becomes such a high statewide priority that funds are generously allocated in each year’s state budget for the CSU to fulfill its loftiest educational goals while providing its staff with consistently excellent salaries and benefits, all for the betterment of California’s future. [www.csueu.org]