New Kentucky Chapter of LCLAA formed! First convention announced!
By DUSTIN REINSTEDLER
Kentucky State AFL-CIO president
With great pride I am announcing the formation of a new Labor/Social advocacy group in Kentucky.
I first learned of LCLAA a couple months ago while attending a national AFL-CIO conference. Exactly as our other community partners such as APRI, CBTU, and ARA, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) (LACK-LA for short) is a national partner with AFL-CIO. With the growing Latino population here in Kentucky and the obvious and successful organizing efforts many of you have undertaken, it seemed a natural fit to have a Chapter here.
When I first asked Liles and Jeff to help me get this started, we knew instantly that it would grow quickly with lots of excitement. Our first step as to reach out to two great organizers, Rick Hernandez and Ricky Santiago. I also enlisted the help of one of my fellow IUBAC brothers Lou Padilla who serves on the national LCLAA board as an officer. From there, it just snowballed, and I cannot thank each affiliate enough who stepped up to provide a member of this new LCLAA 9-member executive board and the 4 members who have volunteered to be officers. We have since had a great in person meeting at UAW 862 and executed everything leading up to this convention.
What is the purpose/goals of LCLAA?
LCLAA in short is a council designed to help all working people but is led by an executive board of union members. LCLAA will provide pathways to union jobs and apprenticeships, pathways to citizenship, education and language services, education on predatory banking and landlords, education on rights, education on home ownership, political activism, a centralized voice that represents Latino workers, and more.
What can your organization do to help?
The first and easiest thing to do would be join as a member. Anyone can join. I'm a member, as are Jeff and Liles and lots our executive board so far. It's only $40 per year and takes maybe 45 seconds to join from an iphone. You can join our Chapter here Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (neoncrm.com) . Second, you can spread the word and encourage your membership to join and participate in meetings including this upcoming convention. This is all about building up a community and it takes real people with real connections to develop this. One guy might have a son who wants to go into construction and because he knows Chad, he can get him an apprenticeship. One lady might have a niece that is looking for a warehouse job and so on. Third, like we did with ARA when they were getting started, you can make a donation. Kentucky State AFL-CIO is going to match what they did for ARA by giving LCLAA their first $1,000. We certainly do not expect people to chip in that much but every small donation you can make will go a long way while they get on their feet and eventually spread their wings.
The first convention will be held Saturday September 28th at 4 p.m. (EDT) the Teamsters Local 89 hall, 3813 Taylor Blvd, Louisville.
It is no cost to attend, and we have lined up some great speakers like Edgardo Mancilla, Director of the American Community Center, Karina Barillas, Executive Director of La Casita Center, and Congressman Morgan McGarvey. We will also have guests from national LCLAA like Lou Padilla and national AFL-CIO like Charles Clark. Potentially more guests from those groups to follow as invites circulate.
Lastly, I want to again thank everyone who so quickly and vigorously worked to start this council which will generationally help so many people. I'm constantly in awe at what labor can accomplish when solidarity is at play. You can contact the Kentucky LCLAA President Rick Hernandez at 317-691-1960 and rickhernandez@baclocal4.org with any questions or to offer any help.