Union leader speaks about workers rights, civil rights
Jack Willems
Issue date: 2/5/07 Section: News
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"His speech at the AFL-CIO Congress was the most passionate and progressive speech I'd ever heard," she said.
Stephan Nazarian, a student who witnessed the speech, thought it was a bold choice for a speaker because Arkansas lacks a history of organized labor, he said. Bernitha Jones, another student, found the way Roberts spoke about Wal-Mart fascinating because she worked as a buying agent for Wal-Mart, she said.
Roberts is a sixth-generation coal miner who has been elected as the president of the UMWA three consecutive times. He first became president in 1995. He received the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's Martin Luther King, Jr. award and awards from Citizen Action and Midwest Academy for his role in the negotiations between UMWA and Pittston Co. in 1989. Roberts is a Vietnam veteran.
The Hartman Hotz lecture series was established by Dr. and Mrs. Palmer Hotz to honor the memory of his brother, Hartman Hotz. The purpose of the lectures is to "provide an impetus to original thought." Chief Justice Warren Burger, G. Edward White, Shirley Abbott, Daisy Bates, Thomas Grisso, George Fletcher and George McGovern are among the past speakers.
Stephan Nazarian, a student who witnessed the speech, thought it was a bold choice for a speaker because Arkansas lacks a history of organized labor, he said. Bernitha Jones, another student, found the way Roberts spoke about Wal-Mart fascinating because she worked as a buying agent for Wal-Mart, she said.
Roberts is a sixth-generation coal miner who has been elected as the president of the UMWA three consecutive times. He first became president in 1995. He received the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's Martin Luther King, Jr. award and awards from Citizen Action and Midwest Academy for his role in the negotiations between UMWA and Pittston Co. in 1989. Roberts is a Vietnam veteran.
The Hartman Hotz lecture series was established by Dr. and Mrs. Palmer Hotz to honor the memory of his brother, Hartman Hotz. The purpose of the lectures is to "provide an impetus to original thought." Chief Justice Warren Burger, G. Edward White, Shirley Abbott, Daisy Bates, Thomas Grisso, George Fletcher and George McGovern are among the past speakers.
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