Thank you Pat Friend, my good friend and a great trade unionist from AFA/CWA; to my late husband’s and my dear friend and brother Oscar Owens, Secretary-Treasurer of ATU; and to Cindy Hall, the very effective president of the Florida State AFL-CIO.  I appreciate your friendship and your support.

Thank you, my sisters and brothers for electing me to another four-year term as your Executive Vice President.  You are the best.

The last 10 years have been wonderful for me.  I have had the honor and privilege of working with two of the finest, most dedicated trade unionists in the world, John Sweeney and Rich Trumka.  I am so proud to be a part of this team and I look forward to another four years together and to building on the work that we started back in 1995 to improve the lives of working families.

These past four years have given me the opportunity to meet hundreds of thousands of our union members all across this great country.  I have seen the dedication, the commitment and the love they have for our great union movement.  I am constantly encouraged and inspired that what we do in the labor movement is making a difference every day.

Four years ago at the 2001 Convention, I spoke to you about the beautiful words we use in our movement . . . dignity, respect, equality, justice, fairness, and most importantly, hope.

Today, if all things were perfect for America’s working families; if every worker had health care coverage and a secure retirement plan; if all workers had a voice on the job and were treated decently and humanely, if we had no more discrimination against women, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants and the LGBT community, we could continue the use of those wonderful words.  But, that’s not the real world is it?  That’s not what is happening today.  So, we need to use different words . . .

We need to use words like labor solidarity, worker unity,  solid determination, aggressive action and most importantly, a willingness to fight for what’s right.

Why are we ready to fight even harder on behalf of working families all across this country?  Because we cannot . . . we will not let others dictate who we are and what we are about.  No one has the right to destroy our movement.  We will not be stepped on . . . we will not give in or give up . . . we will not allow our rights to be trampled or denied.

I am ready to take the next step.  I am ready to push back.  I am prepared to fight back against those employers who want to deny workers the freedom to join a union or politicians who want to pass laws that are anti-worker and anti-union.  I am ready to continue to fight for civil rights, for human rights and for worker rights.

I am energized and am ready to do battle, are you?  I am ready to march and I am ready for the picket lines, are you?  I am ready for the struggle, but I am also ready for the victories, are you?

Rabbi Marx, in his invocation on Tuesday said ‘send me’ when he spoke about those who need us in this movement.  So I say to you today, where there are workers who are denied a voice at work, send me….  Where there are women who are denied their rightful places and fair wages on their jobs, send me… Where there is a child who is hungry because a parent has lost their job, send me… Where there is a fight against discrimination, send me… Where there is an immigrant who, because of his or her status is denied their rights, send me.

Nobody is going to get us down . . . nobody is going to beat us back.  The next time we hear that a union sister or a union brother needs help . . . let us all say . . . Send me.  What are we going to say?  Send me!  Send me!  Send me!

Thank you.