Henson Addresses the AFL-CIO's Central Region Organizing Meeting

IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson joined AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond, NFFE President Randy Irwin, and the Presidents of the Illinois State Federation and Chicago Central Labor Council to kick off the AFL-CIO's Central Region Organizing Meeting this week.  Over 300 labor leaders and activists from across the Midwest gathered in the Windy City to rededicate themselves to the challenge of fighting back against the historic assault on workers and their unions, and to take that message and renewed resolve back to their members. 

The opening session was dedicated to the Trump administration's efforts to destroy the civil service and federal actor unions.  Secretary-Treasurer Henson addressed the conference, speaking to the administration's purposeful assault on federal workers.  She began by quoting Trump's Office of Budget and Management Director Russell Vought: “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected.  We want – when they wake up in the morning, we want them not to want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains.” 

Henson also called on those in the room to understand their role at this moment in history, saying, "We in the labor movement must lead this cause.  We must be the ones who step up and show how to join together and fight back."  AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler also spoke to the importance of solidarity, noting that the assault on federal workers is an assault on all workers.  "Know that we — everyone in the labor movement — are with you in this fight, because this fight is ours together."