FMTK Central Labor Council Honors 2026 Labor Champion, Labor Ally and Union of the Year
FRESNO, CA – On Friday, April 17, the Fresno-Madera-Tulare-Kings Central Labor Council (FMTK Central Labor Council) hosted its fifth annual Labor’s Choice Awards at Toca Madera Winery, honoring outstanding advocates and unions in the labor movement.
The FMTK Central Labor Council honored Tulare County Supervisor Eddie Valero as the 2026 Labor Champion, the UC Merced Community and Labor Center as the 2026 Labor Ally and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 (IBEW 1245) as the 2026 Union of the Year.
Alysia Bonner, FMTK Central Labor Council president and proud SEIU 521 member, took the stage to welcome the crowd. Bonner recognized the evening’s sponsors and the awardees who completed the Empowerment Institute’s policy series: Brittany King and Dennis Jeppson.
THE 'FALSE PROPHET' FIGHTS BACK
Dillon Savory, executive director of the FMTK Central Labor Council, acknowledged the progress made over the last decade, shifting power from “business-backed, anti-worker institutions” to grassroots organizing.
Savory said that after helping organize a coalition against the Southeast Development Area (SEDA), which he called a “historical disaster for our air quality” and working-class neighborhoods, a prominent developer gave him a new title: “The False Prophet of Union Workers.” The developer also called for Savory’s resignation.
“When they start attacking you personally, you know that you’re winning and you wear that shit on your chest like a badge of honor,” Savory said. “Standing up for working people draws that kind of response.”
He rejected the notion that budgets must be balanced “on the back of the working class,” Savory said. “Workers in this community will not be marginalized for the sake of the ruling class in Fresno. Not on my watch.”
When they start attacking you personally, you know that you're winning and you wear that shit on your chest like a badge of honor. Standing up for working people draws that kind of response.
LABOR CHAMPION: EDDIE VALERO
Introduced by Daniel O’Connell, executive director of the Central Valley Partnership, Supervisor Eddie Valero accepted the Labor Champion award.
O’Connell detailed Valero’s wins: a 7% raise for school district workers, an additional 10-20% career incentive pay for county employees and joining the Teamsters bus drivers’ picket line in Visalia despite intense pressure to stay neutral. “Eddie joined the strike line,” O’Connell said.
When Valero took the stage, he spoke from the heart about his unlikely journey and the meaning of true leadership. “I receive this award tonight with deep gratitude and with a full awareness of what it represents. This is for every worker who wakes up before the sun rises. Every family doing everything they can to get ahead. Every person who has ever been counted out, overlooked, or underestimated.”
Valero, who grew up in the small agricultural community of Cutler-Orosi, said he was never supposed to be here. “I stand before you as the first Latino to serve on the Board of Supervisors since the county was founded in 1852. While that is an honor, it also comes with weight. Being the first means carrying expectations. It means facing resistance. It means, at times, standing alone. But I’ve never believed I was there to be the last. It’s about breaking barriers for access, for opportunity, for representation, so the next generation walks in not wondering if they belong, but knowing that they do.”
Throughout it all, he said, he has held onto one belief: “People must always remain front and center. Not titles, but toil. Not headlines, but hustle. Not politics, but people. The farmworker. The county employee. The caregiver. The bus driver. The families in East Orosi who waited decades for clean water.”
Valero closed, “To the labor movement, thank you for reminding us that dignity is not negotiable. That unity is power. That when workers stand together, they shift the course of history. Your fight is our fight. At the end of the day, we are all connected. As I’ve said before and I’ll continue to say it again: I am because we are.”
People must always remain front and center. Not titles, but toil. Not headlines, but hustle. Not politics, but people. The farmworker. The county employee. The caregiver. The bus driver. The families in East Orosi who waited decades for clean water.
LABOR ALLY: UC MERCED COMMUNITY AND LABOR CENTER
Accepting the Labor Ally award, representatives from the UC Merced Community and Labor Center were celebrated as “the standard” for turning research into real power.
Savory noted that the center didn’t just document the fact that undocumented families were being left out of disaster relief, they helped secure $40 million in direct support for households in Planada and Pajaro that would otherwise have been invisible to the state.
The center also leads the largest academic survey of agricultural workers in U.S. history and now runs the statewide California Workplace Outreach Project.
Ana Padilla executive director of the UC Merced Community and Labor Center, thanked the FMTK Central Labor Council for being the first to believe in their vision a decade ago. “Ten years ago when others told us it couldn’t be done, this Labor Council was the first to share in and help advance our collective vision and dream to establish the first labor center in the UC system in 60 years,” Padilla said. “We are living in a moment when authoritarianism is on the rise, but historically, we know it has been the labor movement that has fought against billionaires and the fascists that try to divide us. Now more than ever, we need labor and community working together to win.”
Padilla added, “One day, when we can finally say that things have really turned around in the Valley, it will be because of the many sacrifices that organized workers have made to build power and fight back.”
We are living in a moment when authoritarianism is on the rise, but historically, we know it has been the labor movement that has fought against billionaires and the fascists that try to divide us. Now more than ever, we need labor and community working together to win."
UNION OF THE YEAR: IBEW LOCAL 1245
State Assembly Member Esmeralda Soria presented IBEW 1245 with the Union of the Year award, highlighting their transformative Organizing Steward program. Since 2014, over 500 members have graduated, deploying to 28 states, from Georgia to Alaska, to knock doors, win elections and build solidarity. During the PG&E bankruptcy, the union secured a seat on the reorganization committee and won a 15.75% wage increase over five years.
Melissa Echevarria, staff organizer for IBEW 1245, accepted the award on behalf of her union.
“Even though we might be a little light on this stage tonight, it’s only because the good work never stops,” Echevarria said. “Every day, our organizing stewards and members do the hard work to make what seems impossible possible. This recognition is a reflection of that commitment, that hustle, that grind and that belief in one another. We’re proud of what we’ve built and we’re even more excited about what’s to come in the years ahead.”
IBEW 1245 assistant business manager, Hunter Stern, added, “It’s not just pissing people off, although that doesn’t hurt. It’s taking those moments and turning them into opportunities for workers. Every stripe, every kind, every dimension.”
Every day, our organizing stewards and members do the hard work to make what seems impossible possible. This recognition is a reflection of that commitment, that hustle, that grind and that belief in one another. We’re proud of what we’ve built and we’re even more excited about what’s to come in the years ahead.
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The Fresno-Madera-Tulare-Kings Central Labor Council drives collective education, information exchange and advocacy among 40 affiliated unions, fighting for 50,000 workers and their families. The council champions economic justice, empowers local unions through education and action and advocates for worker protection, good jobs and workplace equality for ALL WORKERS.