It's great being here with Milton (Rosado) and Clayola (Brown)...and I'm delighted to see so many good friends here.

I've been looking forward to this summit...because the truth is that for all of us who are struggling to make the union movement more open and more diverse...this is exactly the right time to take stock of where we are––what we've won––where we need to go––and most important, how we get there.

I know we can make progress, because I've seen it in my own life.

When I started out in the union movement in the 1970s, there were too many of our union brothers...in those days, the movement was mainly brothers and not nearly enough sisters...who thought that unions didn't have much of a place for women, or people of color, or LGBT people, or immigrants.

I was a secretary in a small local down in Texas...and never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that someone who looks like me would be standing here today.

But that did happen, and I know I'm not alone––far from it.

A lot of you have stories like mine...and we've made progress because of thousands of acts of courage and vision by union activists all over the country whose names we'll never know.

Now, our job is to move to a new stage...to make our movement more diverse, more open, more inclusive.

Milton, Clay, and I are here to talk about our agenda––the steps we need to take to get to where we need to be.

Bill Lucy and Pat Friend have done a great job of setting the stage with their discussions of the reports on overcoming barriers...and I want to thank them for that.

Over the years, I've seen good proposals for more diversity for the AFL-CIO...but I can tell you that I've never seen any agenda that is as bold––as specific––as far-reaching as the statement that was approved by the Executive Council and is going before the AFL-CIO convention next week.

It's called "A Diverse Movement Calls for Diverse Leadership."

When John Sweeney was talking about it earlier, he called it "one of the most important landmarks for the union movement in our generation" and he said that it will change the face of our movement.

He's exactly right.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, let me give you a preview.

It sets out good, strong moves towards more diversity in our affiliate unions...and in our central labor councils and state feds...and in the AFL-CIO itself.

What will happen if the diversity statement is approved by the convention?

As for the affiliates, each union will be urged to sign a set of diversity principles...and they'll be expected not only to talk the talk, but also to walk the walk and tell how well they're doing it.

Each union that signs the statement will report every year on the representation of minorities and women in their membership––their staff––and their elected leaders at every level.

And the next time the AFL-CIO has a convention, things will be different.

Look around at the delegates at our convention this year and you'll see some of the finest, most dedicated, most effective union activists anywhere in the entire world.

But it's also true that there are not nearly as many women––or people of color––or open LGBT people as would reflect the members we serve.

With the diversity statement, that will change.

The new policy will be that unions have to send delegations to AFL-CIO conventions that reflect their racial and gender diversity...and they'll be asked to include young workers as delegates.

Those are things we'll expect from the affiliates.

For our state feds and central labor councils, it's the same kind of standards.

They'll have to put together clear targets to make their leadership more diverse and they'll have to make plans to meet those targets before the next convention in 2009.

Now, a lot of you know that in the last few years, plenty of state feds and CLCs have made a lot of progress through Union Cities and New Alliance in giving constituency groups a bigger place at the table than they had before.

That's great––and the diversity statement, if it passes, will go a big step farther.

It will require that all state feds and CLCs bring in constituency groups as affiliates.

Finally, we recognize that diverse leadership doesn't just happen––it has to be grown––so we'll boost our training and leadership development for diversity at the state and CLC level.

All of that is what we'll expect from the international unions––the state feds––and the CLCs.

But some of the biggest changes in the diversity statement will take place right at the AFL-CIO, from top to bottom.

Beginning at the top, we'll add representatives of the six constituency groups to the General Board––we'll strengthen the diversity of the Executive Council––and we'll make sure that minorities and women have voices in the Executive Committee.

That's for starters.

And in the next four years, we'll hold the AFL-CIO to the same standard as the state feds and CLCs.

We'll require it to have targets for diversity and plans to reach those targets.

We're going to make the AFL-CIO a model in hiring and promoting minorities and women...and we'll require that when we sponsor or support conferences or trainings, they must have diverse participation.

Finally, we're going to ramp up our efforts to recruit young people with Union Summer and public outreach.

What's behind all of this?

Why do we need the diversity statement?

Because in every level of our movement––our affiliate headquarters and our locals, the AFL-CIO headquarters and state feds and CLCs––it's not good enough to have an inner circle of straight white guys who run everything that really matters.

We need more pluralism in the leadership of our movement...different kinds of people, different types of thinking, different ways of doing things.

The next time we have a summit on diversity...and we're hearing an honest report on the diversity statement...I want people of color, and women, and LGBT people to be at full strength in every part of the union movement...I want them to have full strength in setting the core agenda of our movement...and I want every program in our movement––organizing, political action, everything––to reach out to them and include them.

We should be at the center, not an afterthought.

I want African-Americans and Latinos––Native Americans and Asian and Pacific Islander Americans to have a voice in affirmative action issues––but also to have a voice in budget decisions that determine where our resources go.

I want women to have a voice in equal pay and child care––but also to have a voice on organizing strategy.

I want LGBT people to have a voice on hate crimes and domestic partner issues––but also to have a voice in setting our priorities for political action.

This movement belongs to all of us.

We need a good, strong agenda for diversity.

We need the diversity statement because wherever there's an Asian-American

construction worker who yearns for a decent paycheck, there is our mission.

Wherever there's a Latina telephone operator who hopes for more time off to spend with her kids, there is our mission.

Wherever there's a gay assembly-line worker who wants good health insurance and a pension he can count on, there is our mission.

Wherever there's an African-American health care worker who wants a real voice at work, there is our mission.

Wherever there's an immigrant meat-packing worker who wants a job that doesn't risk her health and life, there is our mission.

Wherever there are minorities and working women who dream of a better life, there is our mission.

That's what we do––that's what we're all about.           

In the name of every minority and woman worker whom you represent and struggle for, I thank you.