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WILKES-BARRE — A long-fought battle by the Wilkes-Barre branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is finally over.
As previously reported late last month, the city negotiated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 1310 about instituting Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday. The union agreed to swap the Good Friday holiday for MLK Jr. Day, allowing city hall to be closed on Jan. 15, 2018.
According to a press release from the Wilkes-Barre National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Branch No. 2306, members of the NAACP held closed-door meetings with Mayor Tony George on March 21 and April 5, largely concerning the NAACP’s push for the city to be closed on the national holiday.
The NAACP states in the press release that George had been in negotiations with the city’s unions, which prevented the information in the meetings from being divulged. Since the second meeting, though, the NAACP was made aware of the city’s closure on the holiday next year.
The NAACP’s fight for the closure of the city on the holiday has been going on for about two years, with the NAACP refusing to attend Wilkes-Barre’s official Martin Luther King Jr. Day programs until city hall was closed on the holiday.
Guerline L. Laurore, president of the local NAACP chapter, said she is excited that the city and the NAACP have arrived at a consensus, saying George was instrumental in the change.
“The mayor was always interested in reaching an agreement,” Laurore said. “Even when he was a councilman, he was the most sympathetic to our cause.”
George did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Laurore called the decision a “win-win.”
“It’s a win for the minorities of the city, but it’s a win for the city at large,” she said. “It will show minorities that the city is committed to them.”
At the end of the press release, the NAACP says a major celebration is in the works for next year’s MLK Jr. Day holiday. Laurore said that it’s too early to say anything specific regarding the plans, but she did reiterate that it’s going to be “huge.”