An estimated 600 people marched in Oklahoma City on Thursday, May 2nd, to say that ALEC is NOT OK! The Working Family Rally and March for the Middle Class was kicked off by International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold Schaitberger, who led the crowd from the Coca Cola Event Center, through Bricktown, to the Cox Convention Center where the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) was holding their 2013 Spring Task Force Summit. You can find video of the March and Rally here. You can also read about them in articles from Daily Kos and PR Watch. Pictures from the event can be foundhere and here.
We followed Thursday’s March and Rally up with a Community Forum on Friday at the Cox Convention Center (where we were moved to the arena once ALEC realized how close the CCC let us get to them). The forum began by showing the Bill Moyers’ documentary “United States of ALEC.” Following the film was panel discussion moderated by Stephen Spaulding from Common Cause. Panelists included Dennis Van Roekel (President of National Education Association), Dr. George Young (Pastor at Holy Temple Baptist Church-OKC), Tim Reese (lawyer at Lawter & Associates), Jane Carter (labor economist with AFSCME), Ryan Kiesel (Executive Director of OK ACLU), Dave Cortez (Texas Sierra Club), Nick Surgey (Director of Research atCenter for Media and Democracy), and Phillip Martin (Political Director for Progress Texas).
Friday’s panel discussion focused on how ALEC’s “model legislation” effects workers, teachers, students, environment, minority communities, voting laws, and more. You can learn more about just what ALEC does by visiting this page by the Oklahoma State AFL-CIO, by visiting ALEC Exposed or watching the ALEC Rock video.
“Thank you!” to the Oklahoma State AFL-CIO for organizing these events. To the Oklahoma Building Trades for providing the hot dog dinner following the March and Rally. To TWU Local 514 and IAFF Local 176 for providing buses from Tulsa to OKC for Thursday’s events. And to everyone else who took part in making ALEC is NOT OK! a success.