Media Advisory for Monday, April 4

Contact: Pam Tronsor, 215-546-5574 and 717-413-8828 (cell)

News Conference: Labor-Religious-Community Coalition Stands with Working Families in the LehighValley

What: News conference to support the rights of workers in the Lehigh Valley and across the country to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life. We are defending working and middle class families against an extremist agenda trying to eliminate these rights and shift more taxes to workers, students, and lower-income residents while rewarding corporations and the wealthy. To quote Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: “The issue is injustice.”

When: Monday, Apr. 4, 11:30 a.m.

Where: Lehigh Valley Central Labor Council office, 3360 Airport Road, Allentown, PA 18109

Who: Leading civil rights, labor, religious, Latino, and community voices in the Lehigh Valley

Invited Speakers include:

• Rev. Bob Lewis, Justice and Advocacy Committee, Lehigh Valley Conference of Churches
• Rev. Benjamin T. Hailey Sr, Union Baptist Church, Allentown
• Jean C. Brown, Vice-President, NAACP PA State Conference
• Ed Mooney, Vice President, Communications Workers of America District 13
• Rick Bloomingdale, President, PA AFL-CIO
• Greg Potter, President, Lehigh Valley Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
• Jose A. Molina, Director for Community Engagement and Government Affairs at Kutztown University and Member, Board of Directors, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Lehigh Valley
• Alan L. Jennings, Executive Director, Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley
• Ted S. Martin, Executive Director, Equality PA
• Roxie Pauline, Coordinator, Northeast PA Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
• Jesse Epps, Union Leader, Civil Rights Activist, and Founder, National Union for American Families

Why: In too many states, workers are under attack by some politicians and extremist interests who want to eliminate bargaining rights for workers and shift tax burdens to students, working families, and the less well-off.

Politicians who are trying to make workers the scapegoat are finding out that they’ve over-reached. On Apr. 4, we’re remembering that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was killed this day, standing up for the bargaining rights of public workers in Memphis, Tennessee. We’re standing up today and every day to restore the rights of working and middle class families. We are turning out not just to remember Dr. King and what he died for, but to fight for what he died for. We are joining together for our common dreams.

Visual: Following the news conference, participants will leaflet outside the T-Mobile call center in Allentown, to support workers who want a voice in their workplace. Address: 794 Roble Rd, Allentown, PA18109