Public Employee Press

Activists focus on Latino concerns

Union members, community activists and elected officials gathered at the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany on the weekend of April 25-27 for the 21st annual “Somos el Futuro” conference, where they discussed issues relevant to the state’s Hispanic community in workshops and panels.

Sigfrido Benitez, a member of Local 299 and a Supervising Activity Therapist at Harlem Hospital Center, participated in the panel on mental health, which examined current trends in the delivery of mental health services in the state and their impact on the Hispanic community.

Other panels covered timely subjects such as improving educational opportunities for Hispanic children, protecting civil rights for immigrants and the predatory lending, foreclosure and housing crisis.

At the conference’s traditional Saturday morning labor breakfast, where the theme was “Building a Better Future for Working Families,” several union leaders were honored.
Among them was Yolanda Pumarejo, executive vice president of SSEU Local 371.

Pumarejo, cochair of the local’s Latino Heritage Committee, received the Labor Leadership Award. “I stand on the shoulders of some great labor leaders,” said the longtime union activist at the event, which was sponsored by the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

After two days of workshops the conference came to a close on Saturday night with a gala celebration. Guests included U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Congress member Nydia Velazquez and Gov. David A. Paterson, who was honored as the conference’s man of the year.

“He’s legally blind but he has a whole lot of vision,” said State Assembly member Ruben Diaz Jr. as he introduced the new governor.

“Your agenda is our agenda,” said Paterson. “The agenda of equality, opportunity, shared sacrifices and shared services. The state and our government suffer when we don’t take advantage of all the talent in the Hispanic community.”