{"id":1569,"date":"2012-09-25T11:06:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-25T11:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/national_consumers_league_to_honor_umwa_international_president_roberts_with_2012_trumpeter_advocacy_award\/"},"modified":"2020-12-14T21:55:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T21:55:24","slug":"national_consumers_league_to_honor_umwa_international_president_roberts_with_2012_trumpeter_advocacy_award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/national_consumers_league_to_honor_umwa_international_president_roberts_with_2012_trumpeter_advocacy_award\/","title":{"rendered":"National Consumers League to honor UMWA International President Roberts with 2012 Trumpeter advocacy award – National Consumers League"},"content":{"rendered":"

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September 25, 2012<\/p>\n

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Contact: Carol McKay, NCL Communications, (412) 945-3242,\u00a0carolm@nclnet.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Washington, D.C.\u2014 The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation\u2019s 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\u2019s career in service to worker rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trumpeter Award is NCL\u2019s 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,\u201d said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. \u201cRoberts\u2019 lifelong dedication to improving the quality of life for workers in the United States has earned him this year\u2019s Trumpeter Award.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Roberts’ long and fearless tenure as UMWA leader has led to a great many victories for North American mine workers, including reopening the UMWA\u2019s National Agreement for the first time in the union\u2019s 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\u2014a victory that earned Roberts the Rainbow Coalition\u2019s Martin Luther King, Jr., award, as well as awards from Citizen Action and the Midwest Academy.<\/p>\n

NCL will also honor Linda Hilton, Director of Coalition of Religious Communities at Crossroads Urban Center in Salt Lake City,\u00a0with the Florence Kelley Consumer Leadership Award, named for NCL\u2019s early leader and awarded to grassroots consumer advocates.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cLinda Hilton\u2019s 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\u2014both those for whom she advocates, and the students and community members she trains to become their own advocates at the grassroots level,\u201d said Greenberg.<\/p>\n

The event will feature a reception, dinner, and speaking appearances by NCL leadership and the honorees, as well as:<\/p>\n

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