Bobby Pierson's speech at Owensboro's annual Labor Day Picnic
EDITOR'S NOTE: Jeff Wilson sent us a copy of Bobby Pierson's speech at today's Labor Day Picnic in Owensboro. Pierson is a retired USW staff representative from Owensboro.
GOOD AFTERNOON! HAPPY LABOR DAY!
I will not take up too much of your time on this Labor Day.
What four words put fear in anti-labor groups? EDUCATED, ENGAGED, UNION MEMBER!
I spent more than 20 years negotiating contracts, processing grievances at my level, and arbitrating cases. I want to speak some on Labor History and successful local unions.
In 1794, Philadelphia shoe makers formed the Federal Society of Journeyman Cordwainers. The first American Labor Day Holiday was on Tuesday September 5, 1882 in New York City.
Over the 230 years of organized labor, the number of struggles, battles, and yes, sadly, deaths of union members, are far more than can be counted in effort to make working people’s lives better. Union members for over 230 years have sacrificed a tremendous amount to provide what so many, both union and non-union enjoy today. Some members think these benefits were simply given by companies and corporations. Those members couldn’t be more wrong.
I encourage you to read “The Day the River Ran Red-The Homestead Strike” “The Pullman Strike,” “The Battle of Blair Mountain-Matewan in Mingo County, WV, and Mother Jones and her army of women and children fighting the robber barons.” These are just a few examples of what people worked and died for to obtain a better life.
Local unions are somewhat like churches. A church’s goal is to provide teaching, encouragement, and support to prepare you for an eternal resting place in heaven. Local unions should be teaching, encouraging, and supporting the membership to make our memberships stronger so we can enhance the benefits from the fruits of our labor. As in churches and local unions, some do a better job than others. Why? Because support, participation, and solidarity, whether in the church or local union makes the entire process more efficient.
Some of our members want to be ‘free riders.’ They do not want to pay dues. They do not want to participate or volunteer. They do not want to support the leadership. They do not want to attend meetings. But, yet, they cannot understand why the leadership can’t accomplish more?
Do not think for one minute that the company is not aware of how many people attend meetings or how strong the membership is. The company also knows how many members are weak supporters because, those members are vocal in their displeasure of their perception of how the union is doing, in the workplace, in public, and on social media.
Think for a moment, how many federal, state, or local laws have been passed by candidates that are not labor friendly? I challenge you to find one meaningful law that favors working people over corporations, that was passed by anti-labor politicians.
The struggles, battles, and efforts mentioned previously, that is what brought significant change in the workplace and in legislation. There is nobody in politics that opposes labor, or in companies, sitting around saying “Gee what can we do to help organized labor be better?”
In the early 90’s Ravenswood-Kaiser Aluminum was on an Unfair Labor Practice strike for 24 months. On June 26, 1998 Local 9423 Century Aluminum-Hawesville went on an Unfair Labor Practice strike for 33 months. Bayou Steel was on an Unfair Labor Practice Strike for 5 years. They were all successful because of strong memberships. There are many, many more examples, both locally and nationally, from all AFL-CIO unions that struggled and sacrificed for what so many have today.
Ask yourself, who passed the National Labor Relations Act? The Fair Labor Standards Act? OSHA & MSHA? FMLA? Americans with Disabilities Act?
Retirees often ask “Why doesn’t the company give me a raise on my pension? I have been retired 20, 30 years with no raise.” Part of the answer is: Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, amended in 1947 as the Labor Management Relations Act (aka) Taft-Hartley, further amended in 1959 as the Landrum-Griffin Act, specifically under Section 8 (a) 3, lists what are Mandatory subjects of bargaining, and what are Permissive subjects of bargaining.
A Mandatory subject does not have to conclude in an agreement but, must be discussed and bargained to impasse. A Permissive subject can only be bargained if both parties agree to discuss it. Retiree’s benefits for those already retired are Permissive subjects. Nothing legally can be done to force the company to negotiate these benefits. And the union cannot legally strike over these issues.
Research who passed Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffin. It was not friends of labor. Who wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare? Who wants to pass a Comp Time Bill to replace the Fair Labor Standards Act?
I am not here to tell you who to vote for. I am here to tell you what you should be voting for. Your jobs, your retirement, your pension security, your Social Security and your Medicare.
It takes us all, to stand up, reject legislation, reject candidates that want to bury organized labor once and for all. Reject Project 2025. Brothers and Sisters, if you haven’t read the 900 pages of Project 2025, I encourage you to do so. If you are a union member, active or retired, a veteran, or on Social Security/Medicare, please read Project 2025. There is nothing in it that is going to help any of you here today.
Government regulates your life from birth to death. When you are born, it is law that you have a birth certificate. When you die, it is law that there must be a death certificate.
So, if that is the case that the government is going to regulate your life, then why not vote for your livelihood?
I will close and leave you with these thoughts.
What can you do to help your local union or Central Labor Council be stronger? Can you attend meetings? Can you volunteer to help Get Out the Vote? Can you serve in some representation capacity? Can you say a good word about your union and refrain from saying something negative, especially in the workplace, on social media, or in the public? If you do not like or understand the way the union is performing in your view, instead of complaining, can you inquire as to how things work in the local and international union and why does it have to work that way? If you do, you may learn something!
Finally, a wagon wheel consisting of only a hub and a rim cannot roll. It must have spokes to complete the wheel. Are you willing to be a spoke?
Thank You
HAPPY LABOR DAY