Rather than highlight a story in the media, today the Committee would like to acknowledge individuals who best exemplify the qualities celebrated on Labor Day. All throughout the day, Members of the Committee will be posting stories about their Labor Heroes. These Labor Heroes come from all walks of life and have positively impacted their families, neighbors, and friends.
We encourage you to share your Labor Hero in the comments here or on Twitter with the hashtag #LaborHero.
Who is your Labor Hero and why?
We encourage you to share your Labor Hero in the comments here or on Twitter with the hashtag #LaborHero.
Who is your Labor Hero and why?
This is an easy one. My labor hero is Lee Conrad, National Coordinator of Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701. I met Lee, while working for IBM, in 1974. He is a tireless organizer and a modern voice for labor; and has been actively pursuing a union contract for IBM workers since 1976. He never gives up. He has traveled the world, on his own dime, to meet and speak with union activists and IBM employees in several countries, i.e. Italy, Germany, France, Japan and Britain. He has spent countless hours doing everything from creating simple leaflets to organizing pickets and grabbing the attention of the international media to the cause. Most notably; Lee has been able to show the world that IBMers are NOT all arrogant wealthy anti-worker wall street lovers.
My Labor Hero was the original "Jewish Barber" - Sigismund Danielewicz. He not only organized his own trade of Barbers, but organized many other unions in California in the 1870's and 80's, including the Seamens Union of the Pacific. But at the 1885 California Trades Federation convention, the main issue on the table was not the 8-hour day, better wages or working conditions, but removing the Chinese from California, by force if necessary. Danielewicz alone spoke out against this resolution. He told the delegates that, as a Jew, he was a member of a persecuted race. Pointing to the mostly Irish crowd, he reminded them that they had only recently been the object of persecution on the East Coast and by England. Workers should be united against capitalists, he told the delegates, not divided against each other. Danielewicz was booed off the stage and declared out of order. The resolution passed, resulting in widespread violence against the Chinese in California. Sigismund Daneilewicz is an inspiration to me for having the courage to stand up for what is right, not what is popular, despite the personal cost. His message reminds me of the words of Charlie Chaplin's fictional Jewish Barber: "Let us fight for a new world, a decent world."