SAG-AFTRA NED Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Receives AFL-CIO Award

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland was the recipient of the AFL-CIO At the River I Stand Award on Jan. 14. 

The At the River I Stand Award, named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech delivered during the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike, is a national award presented to a leader who demonstrates an unyielding commitment to civil rights and workers’ rights. Award recipients are chosen by the AFL-CIO Executive Council Committee on Civil and Human Rights each year for embodying “the spirit of the Memphis Sanitation workers in their lives and work.”

Crabtree-Ireland received the award during the 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference in Montgomery, Alabama. It was presented by AFL-CIO Civil, Human & Women’s Rights Program Coordinator Victoria Thompson. 

“I think Dr. King’s ‘Mountaintop’ speech, combined with the tragic loss suffered just the day after, really emphasizes the fact that there is a cost sometimes for the fight for justice, but there is a power in unity,” said Crabtree-Ireland in his acceptance speech. 

He also remarked on the union’s strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, thanking the AFL-CIO for its support and noting the intersection between civil rights and the labor rights movement. 

“We’re not only fighting for better working conditions and pay, but also a respect for creative workers, and that respect needs to extend to everyone in every industry and every type of worker. … That’s what it’s really all about: supporting each other and making a difference for the future,” he said. 

All photos courtesy of the AFL-CIO.