Channing Kennedy

[VIDEO] Racial Justice and the Employee Free Choice Act: Richard Trumka Interview pt. 2

In the second installment of Tammy Johnson’s interview with AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Richard Trumka, Mr. Trumka outlines the Employee Free Choice Act and its potential to bring equity to communities of color.

Visit FreeChoiceAct.org to learn about and endorse the Employee Free Choice Act.

Richard Trumka became a hero of the 2008 election when he delivered a powerful speech to the United Steelworkers Union, calling for full mobilization behind then-candidate Obama and addressing the race issue head-on. Last week, President Obama named Trumka to his board of economic recovery advisors.

Trumka on the ability of unions to correct for wage discrepancies and unfair workplace practices:

Because collective bargaining emphasizes fair pay and equal treatment in the workplace, union membership can be particularly important for women, African Americans, and Latino workers, as well as white workers. … It takes low-wage jobs, and it brings them up.

Trumka on the need for the Compact for Racial Justice in a post-Obama America:

We still have a lot of work to do to address these things, and to strike a real blow against what I consider to be the most evil system on the face of the earth, and that’s racial discrimination.

Watch the first installment of our interview with Richard Trumka here on Racewire.

Posted at 9:51 AM, Feb 10, 2009 in Video & Multimedia | Permalink | View Comments