Two Distinguished Labor Leaders to Receive World Peace Prize

Posted by Jim on November 29, 2016

John Sweeney, AFL-CIO President Emeritus and Elizabeth Powell, Secretary-Treasurer, APWU

JOHN SWEENEY ELIZABETH POWELL

CAPITOL HILL. Tuesday, November 29, 2016—— The recipients of the 2016 World Peace Prize, “Roving Ambassadors for Peace” have been announced.

The Prize will go to two leading members of the American Labor Movement: AFL-CIO President Emeritus Mr. John Sweeney and Ms. Elizabeth Powell, Secretary-Treasurer, American Postal Workers Union (APWU).
Fr. Sean Mc Manus — President of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus and Chief Judge of the World Peace Prize Awarding Council (WPPAC)— said: “I have the honor of being the Chief Judge of the World Peace Prize Awarding Council (headquartered in Seoul, South Korea), and was pleased to be able to propose both John and Elizabeth for the Award on the basis that if one works in solidarity for justice for working men and women, one is, indeed, working for peace. I was delighted that our 14-member panel of international and interfaith judges unanimously agreed. We strongly believe that the Labor Movement should be recognized as powerfully contributing to world peace—based on equality and justice. That is, also, why the 2015 World Peace Prize –Top Award was presented to AFL-CIO President Trumka. The ‘Roving Ambassador for Peace’ is the second-tier Award.”

The presentation of the “Roving Ambassador for Peace” award will take place on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 2:30 -4:30 PM at the AFL-CIO Headquarters, 815 16th St., N.W., Washington D.C. 20006.

Fr. Mc Manus explained: “The World Peace Prize was initiated in Seoul, South Korea in 1989 by the
visionary Reverend Dr. Han Min Su, a Presbyterian Minister who has dedicated his life to promoting world peace by bringing together East and West and representatives of all the major world religions: Judaism, lslam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Russian Orthodox and Zoroastrianism.

Fr. Mc Manus concluded: “John Sweeney personifies the strong and proud record of Irish-Americans in the history of the Labor Movement’s struggle for justice. Elizabeth Powell, a strong and proud African- American, is the first woman to hold the position of Secretary-Treasurer in the APWU. She personifies the Dream of Martin Luther King Jr. as she blazes the trail for justice, equality and peace, thereby building up the ‘Beloved Community’— the term Dr. King made famous.”