NCL’s Greenberg to be honored by Frances Perkins Center – National Consumers League
October 3, 2013
Contact: NCL Communications, Ben Klein, (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org
Washington, DC—The Maine-based Frances Perkins Center, an organization that carries on the legacy of Frances Perkins, principal architect of the New Deal and first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet, will honor National Consumers League Executive Director Sally Greenberg this week at its annual awards ceremony in Portland, Maine.
Frances Perkins paved the way for future generations of women as the first female appointed to a presidential cabinet position. Perkins served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor for Franklin Delano Roosevelt (and still the longest-sitting secretary of labor in U.S. history), a guest professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University, a social worker, a factory inspector, a New York state commissioner of labor, a champion of the New Deal, and a close friend and advisor to FDR.
The Frances Perkins Steadfast Award: Sally Greenberg
Sally Greenberg joined the National Consumers League as Executive Director in 2007. Under Sally’s leadership, the League continues to fight the exploitation of children and teens in the workplace, and enforces the protections provided by maximum hours laws and minimum wage laws. The League runs a special project on Wage Theft, working for paid sick leave locally and nationally, and coordinates the Child Labor Coalition. Sally came to NCL from Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, where she served as Senior Product Safety Counsel for 10 years.
“I am truly honored to receive this award from the Frances Perkins Center, an organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of one of the 20th Century’s most influential social reformers,” said Greenberg. “Perkins’ early work for the National Consumers League, which introduced her to progressive political figures like NY Governor Al Smith, and later Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is a history the League is proud to share. Perkins is one of my great role models as the League continues to fight for progressive reforms.”
The award is named for Frances Perkins who, after college, ran NCL’s New York chapter, focusing on four areas: poor conditions in cellar bakeries, long hours and poor wages for children, child labor, and workplace fire hazards. Later in life, as Secretary of Labor, Perkins worked to pass unemployment insurance, Social Security, and the law setting wage and hour restrictions known as the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Today, the Frances Perkins Center’s Bernard L. Schwartz Rediscovering Government Initiative provides a progressive framework around the evolving role of government, depicting the ways in which government has fueled innovation, supported social justice, and improved quality of life in America.
What: REDISCOVERING GOVERNMENT: MAKING PEOPLE MATTER
When: October 4, 2013 | 3:30pm – 6:00pm
Where: Wishcamper Center
Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine
34 Bedford St, Portland, ME
For more info: www.francesperkinscenter.org
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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.
