UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA CENTRAL PUGET SOUND CARPENTERS LOCAL so 231 BURNETT AVE. NORTH RENTON, WA 95057 (425) 255-5255 FAX; (425) 228-7963 March 19, 2014 TO: Carpenter Locals 41, 70, 96, 129, 196, 816 FROM: Jeff Skillman, Recording Secretary RE: Invitation to attend Labor Activist Mark McDermott’s presentation on Right to Work” legislation and its direct consequences on the Labor movement Dear Brothers and Sisters, At Local 30′s March 10, 2014 monthly membership meeting a motion was passed to invite other area-Locals to a presentation by Labor activist Mark McDermott on “Right to Work” legislation and what its consequences for the Labor movement are, both locally and nationally. Mr. McDermott gave this presentation to the August 2013 Quarterly Delegate meeting and Local 30′s delegates were so impressed with the breadth and importance of his discussion that the motion to invite him to speak to Local 30 was passed. The membership of Local 30 officially invites members of other area Carpenter Locals to attend the April 14, 2014 Local 30 monthly membership meeting to listen and Earn from this important presentation. The meeting begins at 6:00 pm at which time Special Privilege will be granted for Mr. McDermott’s discussion. Local 30 is located at: 231 Burnett Ave. N., Renton, WA. 98057. Please feel free to make this announcement available on your Union bulletin board, Websites and/or Union meetings. A profile of Mark McDermott and his activism is included. We look forward to seeing you here at Local 30 for this important discussion. “MAKING THE AMERICAN DREAM REAL FOR EVERYONE” An interactive economic justice workshop that educates, inspires and stirs working people and their allies to take action to reclaim a more just and secure economic future for all. It builds from the economic difficulties experienced by workshop participants and those close to them. Anchored in a long historical perspective, the workshop explores the struggles of working people to ensure that prosperity is shared fairly rather than concentrated primarily among the wealthy. Using personal stories, history and political and economic analysis, the workshop identifies the root causes of the historic shifts from growing economic injustice to greater economic justice and back to growing injustice today. A central theme is the critical role that organized labor and our allies built the American Dream. The primary goal of the workshop is to energize attendees by bringing individual and collective hope based on our own history as working people that that we, the people, can once again build a more just and secure economic future for everyone. BIOGRAPHY Mark McDermott is a lifelong activist working for economic, social and racial justice and peace. He is working full-time as an economic justice and labor educator doing speeches and workshops across the country with a wide range of unions and community-based organizations. He has been an active member of the Machinists, AFSCME and Steelworkers Unions. He lost his job in a union bust in 1982 and spent 15 months out of work during the long recession of the early 1980’s. During this period of unemployment, he co-founded the Seattle Worker Center which is now a division of the Martin Luther King Jr. County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Mark was a long-time champion of working people and the poor in Washington State during a long career in government. He has served as Assistant Director at the Department of Labor and Industries, Chief Deputy Insurance Commissioner, Policy Analyst on the State Senate’s Commerce and Labor Committee, Director of the Division of Income Assistance for the Department of Social and Health Services, and Senior Labor Policy Advisor for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. He retired after serving as U.S Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis’ Regional Representative for the 8 Northwest and Northern Plains states. In his private life, Mark has served on the boards of the Statewide Poverty Action Network, Fair Budget Action Campaign, One America, Washington State Living Wage Movement, Seattle Worker Center and the statewide Washington Association of Churches where he served as Board Chair. He currently serves on the Board of the Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action, Washington State Labor and Education Center’s Advisory Committee and Program Committee of the statewide Faith Action Network.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 01:00:08 +0000