NationallyRenowned Labor Leader and Member of Obama's Latino Advisory Council,Medina Available to Speak about Economy, Healthcare, Issues Critical toWorking People

 

Nashville, TN--Tonight,Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President of the 2 million-member ServiceEmployees International Union (SEIU), will represent the voices ofworking men and women across the country while attending thePresidential Town Hall Debate in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

Ata time when working families are struggling and are fearful about thefuture of our economy, Medina will be prepared to speak about howObama's plans will foster economicfairness, restore quality jobs, fix our broken healthcare system, andbuild economic and social opportunities for all working families. As amember of Senator Barack Obama's NationalLatino Advisory Council, Medina will also be available to comment onthe historic role Latinos will play in this election and the key issuesat stake--including the economy, immigration and ending the War in Iraq. 

 

Duringthe debate, Medina will be joined by Jean Berg, a nursing assistant andmember of SEIU Healthcare Florida, who will also be available to speakwith 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

 

To arrange an interview, contact Ali Jost at ali.jost@seiu.org or (202) 730-7159.          

 

Biography of Eliseo Medina:

 

ELISEO MEDINA

INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, CLC

 

Described by the Los Angeles Timesas "one of the most successful labor organizers in the country," EliseoMedina has served as international executive vice president of theService Employees International Union (SEIU) since 1996, when he madehistory by becoming the first Mexican American elected to a top post atthe 2 million-member SEIU.

 

Medinahas helped make SEIU the fastest-growing union on the West Coast andthe largest union in California. Since 1996, more than 1 millionworkers across the country have united with SEIU, the nation's largestunion of health care workers and the union with the largest membershipof immigrant workers.

 

Hecurrently is leading SEIU's efforts to help workers in 17 states in thesouthern and southwestern United States--including Arizona, Texas,Nevada, Colorado, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia--unite in SEIU so theywill have the strength to improve their jobs and the services theyprovide in their communities.

 

Medina'scareer as a labor activist began in 1965 when, as a 19-year-oldgrape-picker, he participated in the historic United Farm Workers'strike in Delano, Calif. Over the next 13 years, Medina workedalongside labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez and honedhis skills as a union organizer and political strategist; eventuallyrising through the ranks to serve as the United Farm Workers' nationalvice president.

 

Medina'sinterests in strategic organizing brought him to SEIU in 1986, where hehelped revive a local union in San Diego--building its membership from1,700 to over 10,000 in five years.

 

Hewas a key strategist in the Los Angeles strike by SEIU Local 1877'sbuilding service workers, who in April 2000 won the largest wageincrease in the 15-year history of SEIU's Justice for Janitorscampaign. He also helped more than 100,000 home care workers inCalifornia advocate for the best quality care for the people they serve(seniors and people with disabilities) remain independent in theirhomes by securing funding to improve their quality of life.

 

Medinaalso 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 withhis mother and siblings to join their father, who was an immigrantfarmworker in the U.S. In L.A., he's helped strengthen ties between theRoman Catholic Church and the labor movement to work on common concernssuch as immigrant worker rights and access to health care. The Sacramento Beecalls him a "quietly charismatic" leader "who is helping immigrantworkers win union representation and make their voice heard in thepolitical arena."

 

Medina lives in Washington, D.C.. He and his wife are the parents of three children.

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