Las Vegas, Aug. 8, 2014 – The Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) today opened its two-day International Conference with more than 120 delegates and guests in attendance.
The conference began with an introduction from SOAR President Bill Pienta, speeches from International Officers and District Directors and a tribute to the late International President and SOAR founder Lynn Williams, who passed away this year.
International President Leo W. Gerard thanked the delegates for SOAR activism on behalf of the union in the United States and Canada and urged them to double their efforts to promote and defend the interests of organized labor and working families in the upcoming U.S. mid-term elections.
“This year in the United States is the most important election of our lives,” Gerard said. “We can’t have a fight that is this important with people sitting on the sidelines … If we can bring working people together with the social justice movement…, if we can do the work and tell the truth, we can win.”
In addition to considering resolutions submitted from chapters in the United States and Canada, the SOAR delegates will elect officers and district board members before the conference adjourns.