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District 2 Honors Retiring Staff, Discusses Iraq War, Shop Conditions, Economy and Civil Rights

Berlin, Vermont

Delegates to the UE District 2 Council Meeting in Berlin, Vermont February 20-21 paid tribute to two longtime UE staff and leaders who are retiring this month, heard from workers organizing to become UE's newest members, reported on shop conditions and union activity in their locals, discussed and debated the issue of marriage discrimination, participated in a workshop on US military policy and Iraqi trade union rights and affiliated with US Labor Against the War.

Longtime UE International Representative Harry Authelet, who was taking a special early-retirement option as of March, was recognized with a slide-show presentation of his history in the UE by Director of Organization Bob Kingsley. Brother Kingsley noted that "workers everywhere are better off" because of Brother Authelet's efforts. The retiring International Representative received a framed Huck cartoon from Brother Kingsley, and District President Peter Knowlton presented him with a framed Ralph Fasanella print of the UE Local 219 union hall, which all of the delegates signed the back of. Brother Authelet recalled that during his time in UE there were "great victories, and some defeats, but the most important thing is always the struggle." He left delegates with a challange to preserve the union, and the thought that "the labor movement in the U.S. needs UE." Also honored was long-time UE leader Joe Geraneo, who first joined UE in 1937 but lost his shop to another union. After being active in two AFL-CIO unions, he got a job in an unorganized factory and organized it into UE. Since his "first retirement," he has been working part-time in the Boston UE office, which he will be retiring from.

Meeting just outside of Montpelier, Vermont, where UE is engaged in an innovative organizing project with the Vermont Workers' Center/Jobs with Justice, delegates got to meet and hear from some of the service and retail workers in downtown Montpelier who are organizing a citywide union. Ruth Springer, an employee of J. Morgan's Steakhouse, described the favoritism and injustices that led J. Morgans workers to organize with UE and the retaliatory actions taken by the boss, including cutting union supporters' hours, having union supporters followed around town and spied on, and firing one of the organizing committee. Nonetheless, Springer maintained, "we've already created positive change," including ending management's earlier (and illegal) practice of deducting unpaid bills from servers' wages when customers walked out. Also at the council were workers from the Vermont Center for Independent Living, a disability-rights group based in Montpelier whose employees are organizing with UE. Joyce Werngten described how VCIL's decision to lay off front-line workers in order to raise wages for certain "key people," and their unwillingness to listen to workers' concerns, led to them joining the union.

UE General Secretary-Treasurer Bruce Klipple brought the national union's perspective to the district meeting. He stressed that for the next nine months, "getting rid of George W. Bush" should be the top priority of the union. Noting that Bush's disastrous policy in Iraq has diverted attention from the crises in health care, budget deficits, and the destruction of manufacturing, the UE officer stressed that "we've got to talk to our members about the bread and butter issues" in this election. In a similar vein, Mike Prokosch of United for a Fair Economy presented a workshop on "War and the Economy," which led to a wide-ranging discussion of how to engage and mobilize members around political action in the climate of pro-government propaganda which wars produce. Prokosch also suggested that the agenda of the Bush administration in the U.S. and in Iraq is the same "Shrink, Shift and Shaft" agenda: shrink the protections we have as workers, shift the cost of supporting government from the wealthy to working people, and shaft workers though layoffs, privatization and plant closings. Prokosch drew the link between Bush's war on workers at home with the fight for workers rights in Iraq. He reminded the delegates that as Bush attempts to deprive workers of our rights to organize and overtime in the Bush administration is attempting to deny Iraqi workers the right to organize - under the same anti-union decrees originally imposed by Saddam Hussein.

Delegates also discussed, debated, and ultimately endorsed a statement endorsing the recent decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court which held that the state could not discriminate against same-sex couples in the granting of marriage licenses (complete statement). President Knowlton opened the discussion by noting the vast range of economic benefits denied to same-sex couples (including many UE members) because of marriage discrimination. Many delegates voiced opposition to the statement, arguing that the union shouldn't take positions on what they felt to be a moral issue, but the majority felt that this was an issue of civil rights, and agreed with the statement in noting that UE "has a proud history of confronting racism, sexism, McCarthyism, and anti-immigrant prejudice in the workplace, in our communities, and in the political arena. We know from this history that silence as the boss attempts to divide us only serves to weaken the rights and power of workers."

In other business, the District affiliated with U.S. Labor Against the War, listened to reports from locals on contracts and shop issues, including some "brainstorming" on how shops have been dealing with the issue of "no smoking" policies in the workplace, and heard from guest speaker Marj Power, candidate for mayor in Montpelier and a longtime supporter of UE and other union struggles in central Vermont.