Tuesday, October 7, 2014

AFL-CIO Union Leader Richard Trumka's Divisive Speech on Michael Brown

After making it perfectly clear the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri was about race, Union Leader Richard Trumka goes on to say, "Lesley McSpadden is our sister, a Union Member", and "Darren Wilson is our brother, a Union member" - "our brother shot our sister's son".



While it is clear race is an issue in some law enforcement encounters with citizens, it is not clear and will not be clear until all the evidence is out, whether or not the shooting of Michael Brown was justified.  Until then the question of racial profiling in this incident should be put away.  Additional videos from Trumka's September speech.

Richard Trumka, signs a letter to Congress calling for a “federal czar” to oversee police forces.

The Police Union speaks up:
In a letter published Aug. 21, Cabral wrote about the unfair criticism on police officers as a whole as a result of what happened in Ferguson — “[Police officers] are not responsible for the gangs, black on black crime or the infant mortality rate” — but also wrote about the need for police forces to have the equipment they need to combat violence they face on a regular basis.
“As for the militarization of police departments, I believe that law enforcement officers should have available to them all tools necessary to do their job and protect their community,” he wrote.


More on Trumka:
On July 1, 2008, Trumka delivered a speech attacking racism in the 2008 presidential election.[6][33] A video [34] with an excerpt of the speech attracted more than 535,000 hits on YouTube as of July 1, 2009.[6] Trumka's video was "surely the first YouTube moment in the history" of the labor movement.[35]
Trumka was elected president of the AFL-CIO after the retirement of John Sweeney in 2009[3] and president of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD in May 2010.[36]
In March 2013, Trumka confirmed that organized labor would make an effort to work more closely with groups trying to aid immigrant workers, as the national debate on minimum wage and fair employment in the restaurant industry heated up.[37]
On September 15, 2014 in St. Louis, Missouri President Trumka gave a major speech on the issues surrounding the Michael Brown shooting in nearby Ferguson, showcasing his oratory and leadership skills.[38] (references and more on Trumka)