TWO TOP LABOR LEADERS TO RECEIVE THE RICHARD L. TRUMKA PEACE PRIZE FOR SOLIDARITY
Posted By: February 07, 2023
Capitol Hill. Monday, February 7, 2023.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The World Peace Prize has announced that Ms. Elizabeth Powell, Secretary-Treasurer, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), and Dr. Everett B Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), will be the new recipients of the “Richard L. Trumka World Peace Prize for Solidarity.”
The Presentation Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM at the AFGE Headquarters, 80 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20001.
The office of each Laureate will issue the invitations to this free event—not a fundraiser.
The announcement was made by Fr. Sean McManus, Chief Judge of the World Peace Prize and President of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus/Irish Peace Foundation.
Fr. McManus explained: “The late, great President Trumka, God rest him, on February 3, 2016, at his AFL-CIO Headquarters, helped us to launch the World Peace Prize throughout American Organized Labor. In his memory, we re-named the World Peace Prize for Solidarity the:” Richard L. Trumka World Peace Prize for Solidarity.”
And also in his memory, I now refer to American Organized Labor as “Organized Love of Neighbor” because “Love of Neighbor” means, in effect, the doing of social justice on this earth: “The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.”— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1965 Address to Illinois AFL-CIO.
President Trumka deeply appreciated and enthusiastically supported our linking Organized Labor to the World Peace Prize and that is now an important part of his legacy. View his own 3-minute statement—
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13ZF5S61DVCS7Cuey4YAl3Dn6kA0ztr3C/view
And his son, Rich Jr., has stated:'[My father] appreciated that the World Peace Prize saw what so many others missed…that organized labor through solidarity, and the pursuit of justice, forges the path to peace.’ (January 5, 2023).
President Trumka also greatly welcomed our policy of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our selection of World Peace Prize Laureates.
I have the honor of being the Chief Judge of the World Peace Prize, which is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was founded in 1989 by the late Presbyterian Minister, Rev. Dr. Han Min Su. Its Awarding Council of international and inter-faith Judges are representatives of all nine major world religious groups.
I was pleased to propose both Secretary-Treasurer Powell and National President Kelley for this very special World Peace Prize because both are trailblazers in their own way, and both have
shown —like the late beloved President Trumka, AFL-CIO — life-long commitment to their Union, and to solidarity, social justice, and peace. And social justice is the heart and soul of peace, and of the World Peace Prize.”
Secretary-Treasurer Powell said: “I have already been deeply honored to receive the other two World Peace Prizes—Roving Ambassador for Peace, and World Peace Prize for Labor Leadership. And now to receive the final, third Prize—the re-named Solidarity Prize in honor of President Trumka—is profoundly meaningful to me and to the APWU, and, indeed, significant to all of American Organized Labor, which it to World Peace and Solidarity. I share the joy of the Trumka Family who has stated: ‘We are honored that Rich’s name will live on, always linked with solidarity and peace because the World Peace Prize for Solidarity will be re-named in his honor …’”
National President Kelley said: “I am honored and humbled to receive such a World Peace Prize, especially one named after President Trumka, who personified solidarity. I gratefully accept it on behalf of my great AFGE Union. President Trumka’s key role in launching the World Peace Prize within the AFL-CIO and American Organized Labor is now a significant and integral part of his historic legacy—to Labor, America, solidarity, and world peace. The AFGE will proudly do our part to honor that legacy.”
For more information on both Laureates, please click—
