A discussion I find myself in from time to time deals with getting the progressive online community more involved with labor -- where I spend most of my life. Recently I told a friend that if we shared our stories, above and beyond our organizing struggles (which are undoubtedly critical to understand), perhaps people would feel they knew a little more about us and what we are about.
This diary highlights two stories that will never get on the news, and most likely, you wouldn't have heard about any other way.
Let's hang out below the fold.
We recently met a woman while on vacation. Small talk between her, my wife and myself began. The woman asked what I did for a living and I told her that I work for the Teamsters Union. She said, "Yuck!" And I laughed. I meet a lot of anti-union people, but I know a lot of these folks are anti-union because they only know the terribly popular albeit negative things that unions sometimes get caught up in. Very few know of all the good we do. So, I asked her if she knew of any of the good we do. She didn't, and I took that as an opportunity to take our conversation a little deeper.
She said she never heard of Helmets to Hardhats, an awesome nonprofit organization that many unions in the country support. H2H. among other things, helps returning vets get work in the trades when they are released from their service to the country. The organization is also known to assist families whose children don't come home from the war(s).
I told her about H2H because regardless of the fact that many people are opposed to the war(s) (I am), most folks support our troops (I do). The unions are proud supporters of our troops and show that support with organizations such as H2H.
I had a chance to work on a H2H/Teamsters function last year. I told the woman a little of that story, which I posted about here on Kos and on my own site Union Review:
Today in Dwight, Illinois there was a media day hosted by the Chicago Teamsters and Illinois Veterans Foundation; an event to celebrate the supporters of the Lori Fraher Project.
Lori Fraher is a gold star mother who lost her only son, Lance Corporal Ray Holzhauer, in Iraq on March 15, 2007. While attending the soldier's funeral, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn was asked to assist Lori with some construction problems at her home. One year later, the Teamsters and Will Grundy Building Trades are building Lori and her daughter a brand new home. The house should be completed by September of this year.
This is a project that ties in a lot of organizations and a lot of unions. It ties in a lot of dedicated workers and apprentices working on their first job, one which they will never forget as they go forward in their trade.
Teamster Local Union President Mike Yauger, a veteran himself, works as the liaison between the International Union and an organization called Helmets to Hardhats, affectionately known as "H2H." With the fierce determination to help this family, Yauger and H2H brought together trades people from unions representing Carpenters, Plumbers, Electricians, Pipe Fitters, Drivers, Millwrights ... and many others. There was not one individual at the worksite today that was not part of one union or another - regardless of the local, jurisdiction, the Joint Council, Central Labor Council or Federation ... everyone came together to focus on one ultimate goal: building a new home for a woman who lost her heroic son to the war.
I personally got in the trade union world because I did a lot of nonunion jobs where I was treated unfairly. I couldn't take it anymore and, before I could get back to college, I started a union job -- and my whole world turned around. I was able to get good pay, perform quality work with pride, and had a contract that laid out a grievance procedure. Shortly after getting there (I think it was six months), I was elected as the shop steward. I was relected four years in a row. Aside from my personal professional life getting better fast, I soon realized that everything I believed in politically was carried out in the union movement in one way or another.
My work with Civil Rights, the lesiban and gay communities, worker rights (obviously), and pretty much anything else that I believe in, work for/stride for ... it is all carried out in the union movement. That's pretty cool, right? One of the things that Gwen (my wife) and I talk about is domestic abuse we hear about in the news ... Gwen knows some survivors and has re-told their stories.
Today I forwarded her a story that we posted earlier to TeamsterMagazine.com, and one which I would like to post again here (below). It is about a group called Spring of Tampa Bay and how five Teamster women are giving back. From The Spring web site:
Domestic violence is the single leading cause of injury to women in this country.
Since 1977, The Spring has provided sanctuary and services to more than 50,000 abused adults and their children in Hillsborough County. One of the largest programs in the nation, The Spring is the largest of Florida's 42 certified domestic violence shelters and the first in the United States to have an accredited school on site for resident children.
The story:
A group of five Local 79 Women’s Committee members recently took part in a program with The Spring of Tampa Bay, a domestic violence shelter. The women’s committee provided outreach to the residents of the facility to educate them about the Teamsters, including what union jobs can provide and which companies in the Tampa Bay area have a Teamster work force.
"This is a group of mostly women who could benefit greatly from a stable job with affordable health care. Being in the South, not many people are aware of union jobs, so we were educating a group of deserving individuals that may get the most out of our presentation," Simon said. "The response was phenomenal."
Giving Back
Simon and her co-presenters provided valuable information on Teamster and labor history to an audience with little prior knowledge of unions.
"You could see the light bulb come on when we explained about working under a contract and having a grievance procedure," Simon said.
Although the women’s committee does not have the power to obtain positions for others, they shared their knowledge, as well as important guidelines for how to secure a stable employment future.
"I think it’s important to get the word out on what other women’s committees are doing to give back to the community in which we work and live," Simon said. "There’s so much more I’d like to do because I am so thankful that I have a Teamster job. I see this as my way of giving back."
So, the reality is that this story of the Tampa Teamster Women is not making it on the news tonight. Beyond Teamster Magazine's circulation, no one will hear about this --well, maybe I can change that.
Stories of these Teamsters in Tampa and Chicago are important for the progressive community online. Stories like this open the doors of labor a little more to those that would be supportive of us -- if they knew anything about us. I hope, in a small part, this diary does that.