Caravan, March, and Rally

This is my first post mostly because I had no idea what I wanted to write about, until now. On Saturday July 11th, national AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka joined Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, Jeff Rechenbach, Secretary-Treasurer of the Communication Workers, Robert Jaeger, International Rep for the Plumbers and Pipefitters (covering Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) and hundreds of union and civil rights activists and faith leaders in a statewide caravan, march, rally & catfish fry to call for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. The Little Rock Nine were also visible and in support of the effort. The Little Rock Nine were the courageous students who faced down the ugly face of racism and integrated Central High School. Our rally started at the historic Central High School and marched about a mile in 103 degree weather to the state capitol. It was hot but it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever been a part of. The number of people that came out to show their support from not only Little Rock but across the nation was amazing. It was good to see such a strong and motivated crowd in one area.

I have been working with the representatives from the national AFL CIO that are stationed in Arkansas since February on the Employee Free Choice Act. For this event I was in charge of getting clergy out to support us. I recruited many clergy as well as local elected officials to join in the festivities. Many of the clergy spoke and prayed for our Senators. It was a great experience and I got to meet a lot of incredible people. As of today we are working on a debate on the Employee Free Choice Act so I will keep you all updated on its progress! Hope you all are having a great summer and I can't wait to debrief in Chicago!