Statewide 24-hr Vigils to Urge Senator Feinstein to Support Workers' Freedom to Join a Union

Feinstein remains lone member of the CA Congressional Delegation not supporting the legislation which would help American workers move out of poverty.

Starting at noon today, workers and community leaders in Los Angeles will take part in a day long/overnight vigil at the Federal Building in Downtown Los Angeles to draw attention to the need for Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act – federal legislation that would aid in the economic recovery of our nation by allowing workers to earn better wages, health care and retirement benefits by signing a card to join a union. Vigils will also be held at Federal Buildings in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento and Fresno.

The vigils are planned in response to the rising heat of the corporate campaign to stop Employee Free Choice, which includes a campaign costing hundreds of millions of dollars funded by corporations such as Wal-Mart.

The Los Angeles vigil will include a launch with community leaders and workers, an event focusing on youth and the future, a media availability with workers who would benefit from the legislation, and a closing ceremony in which workers, religious and community leaders will pray for Senator Dianne Feinstein to support the Employee Free Choice Act. The Senator is the one remaining member of the California Congressional delegation who has yet to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Workers and allies will be at the site for a full 24 hours. Confirmed to attend is Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, L.A. County Fed of Labor.

The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO is the chartered Central Labor Council (CLC) of the AFL-CIO in Los Angeles County and is the second largest in the country, representing over 800,000 workers through over 350 unions. Its mission is to promote a voice for workers so they can remain in the middle class, move themselves out of poverty by joining a union, encourage active participation in the political process by electing pro-union and pro-worker officials and to advance public policies that support workers and their families. As the coordinating center for labor´s political activity, the Federation believes that in educating and mobilizing workers to be politically active they can create and sustain healthy communities, and FIGHT FOR GOOD JOBS that REBUILD THE LOS ANGELES MIDDLE CLASS. Visit the Federation at www.launionaflcio.org.

With 2 million members nationwide, SEIU represents over 700,000 workers throughout California in all of its diversity. SEIU members in California are social workers, nurses, classroom aides, security officers, college professors, homecare workers, janitors, and more.