USW: Black History Month Calls for Reflection and Action

Contact: Fred Redmond, (412) 562-2307

(Pittsburgh) – The United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo Gerard and Vice President Fred Redmond released the following statement today in honor of Black History Month:

“There has always been a bond between the labor and civil rights movements. When Martin Luther King Jr. stood with striking sanitation workers in Memphis in February 1968, that bond strengthened. 

“This month, as the union honors our Black brothers and sisters who have endured great struggle to achieve great success, we must remember that historic bond. We must remember Black history is an important part of labor history.

“Though this is a time of reflection, let it also be a time of action. We encourage people to lend a hand in their communities, in a display of solidarity as well as to honor the many Black labor and civil rights activists who ignited the fire of freedom and workers’ rights all those years ago.

“Our union is strong because of our diverse membership and because of leaders like Dr. King, Bayard Rustin, and A. Philip Randolph, who helped pave the way. We must recommit ourselves to growing and strengthening the movement they built, and organize with their sacrifices at the forefront of our minds.”

The USW represents workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service and public sectors.

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