Leo Gerard to Speak in New York City

Media Advisory

Event: 1^st Annual Sumner Rosen Memorial Lecture Set for May 18; Leo Gerard, Steelworkers’ President, To Deliver Keynote Talk on Publicly-Supported, National Health Care

Date/Time: Thursday, May 18: Reception 6:00 pm; Lecture 6:45 pm – 8 pm

Place: SEIU 32BJ Auditorium, 101 6^th Avenue, Manhattan (at Grand Street)

Contact: Alan Saly – LCG Communications: 718.853.5568; alan@lcgcommunications.com

Leo Gerard, one of the nation’s most prominent labor leaders, and an outspoken proponent of national health care for all, will be the keynote speaker at the First Annual Sumner Rosen Lecture on Thursday, May 18^th @ SEIU 32BJ headquarters. The event, which will be chaired by Ed Ott, Political Director of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, is presented by The Five Borough Institute and Rekindling Reform, and is co-sponsored by more than 25 labor, health care, religious, community and other organizations.

Mr. Gerard’s address, entitled, “The Labor Movement and United Action for Health Care for All,” will officially launch the Sumner Rosen Lecture and Advocacy Fund. Sumner Rosen was a prominent academic and labor activist who passed away in August of 2005, leaving a legacy of advocating universal access to health care and occupational and environmental protection for all. He was a founder of the Five Borough Institute and Professor Emeritus of Social Work and Social Policy at Columbia University.

Leo Gerard, the son of a miner, is the President of North America’s largest industrial union, the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, (commonly referred to as the Steelworkers’ Union) representing over 850,000 active members. His address comes at a time when the labor movement is re-thinking its approach to national health care legislation. Mr. Gerard is expected to address issues of universal coverage, cost control, and prescription drug coverage.

Your coverage is welcome.

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About Rekindling Reform: Rekindling Reform is a joint project of more than 65 organizations in New York State aimed at moving our nation toward affordable quality health care for all by stimulating informed public discussion and helping to build a social movement to accomplish this goal - www.rekindlingreform.org

About the Five Borough Institute: The Institute is a non-partisan research and educational organization whose mission is to encourage the development and implementation of sound and progressive public policies. Its focus is on urban economic and political issues, especially those that affect New York City and it surrounding region, including global economic forces that threaten the jobs and livelihood of working people - www.fiveborough.org

Co-Sponsoring Organizations: AFSCME DC 37●Committee of Interns & Residents SEIU●Communications Workers of America Local 1180● Community Service Society of New York●Congregation B’nai Jeshurun● Congress of Senior Citizens●Cornell Labor Programs●Council Municipal Retiree Organizations●Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition●Healthcare NOW●Jews For Economic and Racial Justice●Joseph Murphy Institute for Labor & Public Affairs● Long Island Coalition of National Health Plans●Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University●Make the Road by Walking●Metro NY Health Care for All Campaign●National Association of Social Workers NYC Chapter●National Jobs for All Coalition●New Immigrant Community Empowerment●NYC Labor Council for Latin American Advancement●New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health●New York Immigration Coalition● New York Jobs With Justice● New York State Nurses Association● Physicians for a National Health Program●Professional Staff Congress CUNY, AFT, AFL-CIO●Public Health Association of NYC●Transport Workers Union Local 100●United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1500●United University Professors●Workers Defense League