UFCW members answer call to service on MLK Day
January 19, 2009
As the country celebrates the Dr. Martin Luther King’s 80th birthday, UFCW members around the United States gathered with others in their communities to answer President-elect Obama’s call for a National Day of Service on Monday, January 19th. The inaugural team suggested in a recent email that January 19th is just the start of a series of calls to service that Obama will ask of the nation in the years ahead.
UFCW rank-and-file members and staff from Local 5 in San Jose, California handed out information on the Employee Free Choice Act to freedom train riders on their way from Diridon Station to San Francisco, CA train station. Riders marched from the train station to the San Francisco Civic Center where the mayor, ministers and community activists spoke on this year’s theme, “Service to Action.” The program was held in coordination with the CA Martin Luther King Association and was just one of the many events UFCW members from around the country participated in today. .
UFCW members have also been active in the days leading up to the National Day of Service. About 500 union rank-and-file members and staff from UFCW Locals 5, 400, 655, 888, and 1000 travelled to New Orleans last week to participate in the Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance Day of Service on January 15th and 16h. UFCW members worked side-by-side with other CTW and AFL-CIO unions, local ministers and residents to clean up community playgrounds and repair homes in New Orleans, LA.
"If we're waiting for somebody else to do something, it never gets done. We're going to have to take responsibility, all of us,” said Obama to Monday’s volunteers. “This is not just a one-day affair."
For more information on the Day of Service or how you can get involved in your community, go to http://www.usaservice.org.
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