NEWS INDEX 2001 2002 November

Nation's foremost African-American labor leader to speak Wednesday

Mark Reutter, Business & Law Editor
(217) 333-0568; mreutter@uiuc.edu

11/18/02

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Reg Weaver, the president of the National Education Association and the nation’s foremost African-American labor leader, will speak Wednesday night (Nov. 20) at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Weaver’s talk, "Education in America: Securing Our Collective Future," will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Room 35, ILIR Building, 504 E. Armory St., Champaign.

Weaver took office as president of the 2.7 million-member NEA last September. He grew up in Danville, Ill., where he was a middle-school science teacher for many years.

The NEA is the nation’s largest professional employee union. Between 1981 and 1987, Weaver was the president of the 90,000-member Illinois Education Association. Prior to his election as NEA president, he was the union’s vice president.

His talk is free and open to the campus community and general public.