National Consumers League to honor UMWA International President Roberts with 2012 Trumpeter advocacy award – National Consumers League

September 25, 2012

Contact: Carol McKay, NCL Communications, (412) 945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, D.C.— The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization, will honor United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Roberts with its highest honor, the Trumpeter Award, on Thursday, October 4, in Washington DC. The event will bring together a diverse group of representatives from labor unions, consumer advocates, nonprofit organizations, and industry to celebrate the honoree’s career in service to worker rights.

“The Trumpeter Award is NCL’s highest honor, given to leaders who are not afraid to speak out for social justice and for the rights of consumers and workers. No one fits that description better than Cecil Roberts, a legend among working families and their advocates,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “Roberts’ lifelong dedication to improving the quality of life for workers in the United States has earned him this year’s Trumpeter Award.” 

Roberts’ long and fearless tenure as UMWA leader has led to a great many victories for North American mine workers, including reopening the UMWA’s National Agreement for the first time in the union’s history and winning significant improvements in wages; negotiating new National Agreements that included historic 20-year and out and 30-and-out pension provisions that have benefited thousands of UMWA members to date; and successfully leading the 1989 strike against the Pittston Co., which had cut off health benefits to its retirees and was backing out of obligations to the UMWA Health and Retirement Funds—a victory that earned Roberts the Rainbow Coalition’s Martin Luther King, Jr., award, as well as awards from Citizen Action and the Midwest Academy.

NCL will also honor Linda Hilton, Director of Coalition of Religious Communities at Crossroads Urban Center in Salt Lake City, with the Florence Kelley Consumer Leadership Award, named for NCL’s early leader and awarded to grassroots consumer advocates.

Hilton is being honored by NCL for her work on the funding of critical needs for low-income and homeless residents of Utah, the reduction of Utah’s grocery tax, and increased regulation of the payday loan industry, including scrutiny of short-term loan products offered through credit unions nationwide. She speaks frequently to community and religious groups about the struggles of low-income and homeless families; she trains students and members of faith communities to advocate for low-income citizens; and she conducts community workshops on the need for increased wages for the working poor and adequate benefits for those who are unable to work.

“Linda Hilton’s advocacy for low-income and underserved communities is remarkable, and she has personally had a measurable impact on the lives of people in her community—both those for whom she advocates, and the students and community members she trains to become their own advocates at the grassroots level,” said Greenberg.

The event will feature a reception, dinner, and speaking appearances by NCL leadership and the honorees, as well as:

 

  • Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO
  • Dan Kane, Secretary-Treasurer, United Mine Workers of America
  • Susie Johnson, Director of Public Policy, Washington Office, United Methodist Women

 

Event details

What: National Consumers League’s 2012 Trumpeter Awards Dinner
When: Thursday, October 4, 2012 | 6 p.m. Reception | 7 p.m. Dinner and Presentation of Awards
Where: Capital Hilton, 1001 16th Street NW, Washington, DC
Questions or to RSVP: Larry Bostian, National Consumers League (202) 835-3323 

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About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.