Local Voices at the Convention: Energy, Diversity, Next Generation
Thursday, September 12, 2013(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
"The energy in the room was just
wonderful," said Doris Reed (ASASP, at right in
photo), who took time off from her vacation to
stop by the AFL-CIO convention in Los Angeles
on Tuesday. "People were really feeling it. We
came out of the room knowing that we're all in
the same movement, we know where we need to go
and what we need to do, and I think people
realize that if we don't come together, the
labor movement is not going to survive." Reed
also pointed out that "it's mainly the
leadership that comes to these conventions and
we need to involve more of the rank and file
back home to get people fired up and
enthusiastic, to give people something to look
forward to and something to fight for." AFSCME
MD Council 67's Glen Middleton said the
convention was "about building for the future,
and I'm so glad that President Trumka talked
about the next generation and how important it
is for us to build this labor movement with
young workers." Mark Dudzic, National
Coordinator for the Labor Campaign for Single
Payer -- and Co-Chair of the DC Labor Filmfest
-- said that he's "really excited at the
promise this convention shows towards
bringing in a broad and diverse
constituency to ensure that the AFL-CIO is a
movement of all working people, so I'm really
very hopeful that we're going to come out of
this with a bigger and more organic movement."
The IBEW's Jim Spellane agreed, saying that
"The movement is really opening itself up and
building the way for future strength. It's
great that we're going to have more energy and
more participants to get that
done."
- Chris Garlock
- Chris Garlock