National Labor Leader to Address CSEA Conference

ALBANY, NY (03/31/2011)(readMedia)-- National AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker will address nearly 500 CSEA members at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, Sunday, April 3. Holt Baker will speak about the war on public service workers in advance of the AFL-CIO's nationwide "We Are One" rallies to fight back beginning Monday, April 4.

The CSEA members from across the state will be in Albany for the union's biennial Women's Conference.

Holt Baker, the first African American executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, and one of America's leading women in the fight for working families, has been a tenacious grassroots organizer and an international union representative. Holt Baker comes out of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), CSEA's International union.

This event will lead into a week of events, including several in the Capital Region, to honor the hardworking families of America and deliver the message "We Are One." Working people, civil rights groups, students and immigrants will join together starting April 4 to stress this message of solidarity.

The April 4 date coincides with the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis in 1968. King had gone to Memphis to support AFSCME-represented sanitation workers seeking fairness and respect.

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Holt Baker and CSEA President Danny Donohue will be available for media interviews on April 2 between 5 and 6 p.m. at the Desmond Hotel. Call CSEA Director of Communications Stephen Madarasz at 518 598-4705 to schedule.