PressNationally
Renowned Labor Leader and Member of Obama's Latino Advisory Council,
Medina Available to Speak about Economy, Healthcare, Issues Critical to
Working People
Nashville, TN--Tonight,
Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President of the 2 million-member Service
Employees International Union (SEIU), will represent the voices of
working men and women across the country while attending the
Presidential Town Hall Debate in Nashville, Tennessee.
At
a time when working families are struggling and are fearful about the
future of our economy, Medina will be prepared to speak about how
Obama's plans will foster economic
fairness, restore quality jobs, fix our broken healthcare system, and
build economic and social opportunities for all working families. As a
member of Senator Barack Obama's National
Latino Advisory Council, Medina will also be available to comment on
the historic role Latinos will play in this election and the key issues
at stake--including the economy, immigration and ending the War in Iraq.
During
the debate, Medina will be joined by Jean Berg, a nursing assistant and
member of SEIU Healthcare Florida, who will also be available to speak
with the media.
WHAT: Media Availability with SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina
WHEN: Tuesday, October 7; 9:00 p.m. EDT (8:00 p.m. CST) - 11:00 p.m. EDT
WHERE: Belmont University, 1900 Belmont Boulevard, Nashville, TN
Biography of Eliseo Medina:
ELISEO MEDINA
INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, CLC
Described by the Los Angeles Times
as "one of the most successful labor organizers in the country," Eliseo
Medina has served as international executive vice president of the
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) since 1996, when he made
history by becoming the first Mexican American elected to a top post at
the 2 million-member SEIU.
Medina
has helped make SEIU the fastest-growing union on the West Coast and
the largest union in California. Since 1996, more than 1 million
workers across the country have united with SEIU, the nation's largest
union of health care workers and the union with the largest membership
of immigrant workers.
He
currently is leading SEIU's efforts to help workers in 17 states in the
southern and southwestern United States--including Arizona, Texas,
Nevada, Colorado, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia--unite in SEIU so they
will have the strength to improve their jobs and the services they
provide in their communities.
Medina's
career as a labor activist began in 1965 when, as a 19-year-old
grape-picker, he participated in the historic United Farm Workers'
strike in Delano, Calif. Over the next 13 years, Medina worked
alongside labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez and honed
his skills as a union organizer and political strategist; eventually
rising through the ranks to serve as the United Farm Workers' national
vice president.
Medina's
interests in strategic organizing brought him to SEIU in 1986, where he
helped revive a local union in San Diego--building its membership from
1,700 to over 10,000 in five years.
He
was a key strategist in the Los Angeles strike by SEIU Local 1877's
building service workers, who in April 2000 won the largest wage
increase in the 15-year history of SEIU's Justice for Janitors
campaign. He also helped more than 100,000 home care workers in
California advocate for the best quality care for the people they serve
(seniors and people with disabilities) remain independent in their
homes by securing funding to improve their quality of life.
Medina
also has a deeply felt interest in SEIU's work on immigration policies.
When he was 10 years old, he immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico with
his mother and siblings to join their father, who was an immigrant
farmworker in the U.S. In L.A., he's helped strengthen ties between the
Roman Catholic Church and the labor movement to work on common concerns
such as immigrant worker rights and access to health care. The Sacramento Bee
calls him a "quietly charismatic" leader "who is helping immigrant
workers win union representation and make their voice heard in the
political arena."
Medina lives in Washington, D.C.. He and his wife are the parents of three children.
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