Dear OMA member,
This Monday, Jan. 19, you will have the day off in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This didn’t happen by accident. Your union fought hard for this at the bargaining table and won. We proposed this holiday in multiple rounds of negotiations. The City said no. We kept pushing. Members showed up to City Council and spoke during public comment in support. We didn’t back down, and we secured it.
Dr. King lost his life in Memphis while standing with striking sanitation workers fighting for union recognition and fair wages—a reminder that the labor movement and civil rights movement have always been connected. National holidays are not guaranteed for local government workers. Local agencies must choose to recognize them. MLK Day wasn’t recognized by all 50 states until 2000.
Every workplace that honors this day does so because workers fought for it. We’ll continue to fight for you at the table and continue the efforts set in motion and enshrined because of the work of people like Dr. King.
In Solidarity,
OCEA
