LRA Honors UNITE President Bruce Raynor at 26th Annual Labor Awards Dinner (Mar. 20, 2002)
Created by: Administrator,Last modification on 20 Mar 2002 [06:00 UTC]
On March 20 in New York City, more than 600 union leaders, activists, and supporters joined the Labor Research Association in honoring UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) President Bruce Raynor at the 26th Annual Labor Awards Dinner.
LRA also presented the Ernest DeMaio Award for Trade Union Activism to two members of UNITE: Shirley Cheeseboro of UNITE Local 331 and Leonard Chapman of UNITE Local 1501.
The night's keynote speaker was New York Governor George Pataki. Other speakers at the dinner were Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union President John Wilhelm and 1199 SEIU President Dennis Rivera.
!A Master Organizer
In presenting its 26th Annual Labor Award, LRA acknowledged Bruce Raynor's lifelong commitment to building the power of working people and the labor movement. Starting with his first experiences organizing textile workers in the south, Bruce Raynor has never wavered in the belief that all working people deserve dignity, respect, and the right to improve their lives by joining unions. As President of UNITE, Raynor's passion and commitment to organizing the unorganized remains front and center.
A 51-year-old native of Long Island, New York, Raynor began his career with the labor movement in 1973, when he joined the education department of the former Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA).
Shortly thereafter, Raynor was elected Southern Regional Director and International Vice President of the newly formed Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU). During his tenure in the South, Raynor began building his reputation as a master organizer, spearheading victories such as the drive to organize 4,000 workers at J.P. Stevens, immortalized in the 1979 Oscar-winning film Norma Rae. In a 10-year span, Raynor led organizing efforts that brought in some 20,000 new workers.
Raynor's organizing successes continued after ACTWU merged with the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union in 1995 to form UNITE. First as Executive Vice President and then as Secretary-Treasurer of the new union, he handled most of UNITE's national negotiations, with firms such as Levi Strauss & Co., Liz Claiborne, T.J. Maxx/Marshall's, K-mart, and Pillowtex-Fieldcrest-Cannon.
In both 1999 and 2000, thanks to several highly successful Raynor-led organizing drives, UNITE was able to keep its membership stable, despite the loss of thousands of jobs in the industries the union represents. Today, the union has roughly a quarter of a million members, 100,000 of whom live in the New York-New Jersey area.
In his acceptance speech, Raynor noted that despite the booming economy of recent years, millions of workers in the United States and around the world are still struggling to survive. And the labor movement, Raynor stressed, must take up the cause of all workers and carry the fight for social justice to all fronts.
Recognizing that the true strength of a union comes from its members, LRA presented its DeMaio Award for Trade Union Activism to two extraordinary people — Shirley Cheeseboro and Leonard Chapman — whose lives and work are guided by the same principles that were upheld by Ernest DeMaio. Serving on the board of the Labor Research Association from 1975 until his death in 1990, DeMaio was a constant and selfless fighter who empowered and inspired the thousands of workers to organize into unions.
Shirley Cheeseboro, a who began her life in Cameron, South Carolina, and whose first job was working side by side with her parents and other sharecroppers picking cotton. At 19, Shirley followed her brother to New York City where she went to work for a union laundry called Elite. She worked at Elite until 1973, when she left to raise her two sons.
In1981, Shirley returned to the workforce at Central Laundry, where she still works today. It was at Central Laundry that Shirley devoted herself to her union. She started out as a vocal Shop Steward, representing her coworkers so well that they repeatedly elected her to their contract negotiating committees and as Recording Secretary of Local 331.
But Shirley's involvement didn't stop there. She is actively involved in UNITE's political program, serves on the union's Civil Rights Committee, and has traveled the country as a volunteer member organizer on numerous laundry worker organizing campaigns, most recently in Baltimore, Maryland. Last year, Shirley was elected Co-Chair of the Queens borough chapter of the Working Families Party.
With the Ernest DeMaio Award for Trade Union Activism, LRA recognized the breadth and depth of Shirley's dedication as well as the extraordinary energy she has put into her Union activities.
If ever a person embodied persistence, it is Leonard Chapman, Jr, of Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Leonard spent thirty-four years working in the Pillowtex textile factory owned by Fieldcrest Cannon. From the time Leonard started, there had been organizing attempts at the mill. In 1974, Bruce Raynor, and other organizers from what was then the Amalgamated Textile Workers Union, arrived in Kannapolis, looking to launch yet another attempt to organize Cannon Mill's 20,000 workers. What they found was a company extremely hostile to the idea of union representation, a company-owned town, and a right-to-work state — not a nurturing environment, to say the least.
But they also met Leonard Chapman, and others like him, who had the courage and tenacity to lead their coworkers, and keep the struggle for recognition alive through what would become a bitter, twenty-five year struggle for representation.
On June 23, 1999, Fieldcrest Cannon workers made history when they voted in favor of forming a union and chose UNITE as their representative. This victory ignited a spark of optimism for union organizers seeking to win new members in the right-to-work and traditionally anti-union South.
Thanks to the persistence, commitment and leadership of leonard and others like him, Fieldcrest workers now have a voice at work. After the election victory, Leonard continued his union activism; he serves as President of Local 1501, representing 2,200 Pillowtex workers at Plant 1; as an executive board member for UNITE's southern region and is active in his local Central Labor Council.
In his keynote address, New York Governor George Pataki talked about his family's history in the labor movement and expressed his support for issues that are important to working people in New York.
Since he was first elected in 1994, Governor Pataki has built a solid relationship with the labor movement in New York and has shown a willingness to fight for legislation that has increased health insurance coverage for New Yorkers and created the right of workers to join unions through card-check recognition at Native American-owned casinos and resorts.
In his speech Pataki said: "Whether its the hotel workers or the hospital workers, many of them are brand new immigrants to America — people who lack the language skills, who lack the educational experience."
"And yet they come here with stars in their eyes, and believe that they — through hard work and belief and the American Dream — can live the American Dream."
" And you [the New York labor movement] do so much to make the happen, and that's why I'm proud you are partners on so many of these issues. And we can do more."
LRA also presented the Ernest DeMaio Award for Trade Union Activism to two members of UNITE: Shirley Cheeseboro of UNITE Local 331 and Leonard Chapman of UNITE Local 1501.
The night's keynote speaker was New York Governor George Pataki. Other speakers at the dinner were Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union President John Wilhelm and 1199 SEIU President Dennis Rivera.
 |
| UNITE President Bruce Raynor (photo by Sam Hollenshead) |
In presenting its 26th Annual Labor Award, LRA acknowledged Bruce Raynor's lifelong commitment to building the power of working people and the labor movement. Starting with his first experiences organizing textile workers in the south, Bruce Raynor has never wavered in the belief that all working people deserve dignity, respect, and the right to improve their lives by joining unions. As President of UNITE, Raynor's passion and commitment to organizing the unorganized remains front and center.
A 51-year-old native of Long Island, New York, Raynor began his career with the labor movement in 1973, when he joined the education department of the former Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA).
Shortly thereafter, Raynor was elected Southern Regional Director and International Vice President of the newly formed Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU). During his tenure in the South, Raynor began building his reputation as a master organizer, spearheading victories such as the drive to organize 4,000 workers at J.P. Stevens, immortalized in the 1979 Oscar-winning film Norma Rae. In a 10-year span, Raynor led organizing efforts that brought in some 20,000 new workers.
Raynor's organizing successes continued after ACTWU merged with the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union in 1995 to form UNITE. First as Executive Vice President and then as Secretary-Treasurer of the new union, he handled most of UNITE's national negotiations, with firms such as Levi Strauss & Co., Liz Claiborne, T.J. Maxx/Marshall's, K-mart, and Pillowtex-Fieldcrest-Cannon.
In both 1999 and 2000, thanks to several highly successful Raynor-led organizing drives, UNITE was able to keep its membership stable, despite the loss of thousands of jobs in the industries the union represents. Today, the union has roughly a quarter of a million members, 100,000 of whom live in the New York-New Jersey area.
In his acceptance speech, Raynor noted that despite the booming economy of recent years, millions of workers in the United States and around the world are still struggling to survive. And the labor movement, Raynor stressed, must take up the cause of all workers and carry the fight for social justice to all fronts.
Honoring Rank and File Leaders
Recognizing that the true strength of a union comes from its members, LRA presented its DeMaio Award for Trade Union Activism to two extraordinary people — Shirley Cheeseboro and Leonard Chapman — whose lives and work are guided by the same principles that were upheld by Ernest DeMaio. Serving on the board of the Labor Research Association from 1975 until his death in 1990, DeMaio was a constant and selfless fighter who empowered and inspired the thousands of workers to organize into unions.
 |
| DeMaio Award Recipientes Lenoard Chapman and Shirley Cheeseboro (photo by Sam Hollenshead) |
Shirley Cheeseboro, a who began her life in Cameron, South Carolina, and whose first job was working side by side with her parents and other sharecroppers picking cotton. At 19, Shirley followed her brother to New York City where she went to work for a union laundry called Elite. She worked at Elite until 1973, when she left to raise her two sons.
In1981, Shirley returned to the workforce at Central Laundry, where she still works today. It was at Central Laundry that Shirley devoted herself to her union. She started out as a vocal Shop Steward, representing her coworkers so well that they repeatedly elected her to their contract negotiating committees and as Recording Secretary of Local 331.
But Shirley's involvement didn't stop there. She is actively involved in UNITE's political program, serves on the union's Civil Rights Committee, and has traveled the country as a volunteer member organizer on numerous laundry worker organizing campaigns, most recently in Baltimore, Maryland. Last year, Shirley was elected Co-Chair of the Queens borough chapter of the Working Families Party.
With the Ernest DeMaio Award for Trade Union Activism, LRA recognized the breadth and depth of Shirley's dedication as well as the extraordinary energy she has put into her Union activities.
If ever a person embodied persistence, it is Leonard Chapman, Jr, of Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Leonard spent thirty-four years working in the Pillowtex textile factory owned by Fieldcrest Cannon. From the time Leonard started, there had been organizing attempts at the mill. In 1974, Bruce Raynor, and other organizers from what was then the Amalgamated Textile Workers Union, arrived in Kannapolis, looking to launch yet another attempt to organize Cannon Mill's 20,000 workers. What they found was a company extremely hostile to the idea of union representation, a company-owned town, and a right-to-work state — not a nurturing environment, to say the least.
But they also met Leonard Chapman, and others like him, who had the courage and tenacity to lead their coworkers, and keep the struggle for recognition alive through what would become a bitter, twenty-five year struggle for representation.
On June 23, 1999, Fieldcrest Cannon workers made history when they voted in favor of forming a union and chose UNITE as their representative. This victory ignited a spark of optimism for union organizers seeking to win new members in the right-to-work and traditionally anti-union South.
Thanks to the persistence, commitment and leadership of leonard and others like him, Fieldcrest workers now have a voice at work. After the election victory, Leonard continued his union activism; he serves as President of Local 1501, representing 2,200 Pillowtex workers at Plant 1; as an executive board member for UNITE's southern region and is active in his local Central Labor Council.
A Governor Who Stands With Labor
In his keynote address, New York Governor George Pataki talked about his family's history in the labor movement and expressed his support for issues that are important to working people in New York.
Since he was first elected in 1994, Governor Pataki has built a solid relationship with the labor movement in New York and has shown a willingness to fight for legislation that has increased health insurance coverage for New Yorkers and created the right of workers to join unions through card-check recognition at Native American-owned casinos and resorts.
In his speech Pataki said: "Whether its the hotel workers or the hospital workers, many of them are brand new immigrants to America — people who lack the language skills, who lack the educational experience."
"And yet they come here with stars in their eyes, and believe that they — through hard work and belief and the American Dream — can live the American Dream."
" And you [the New York labor movement] do so much to make the happen, and that's why I'm proud you are partners on so many of these issues. And we can do more."
 |
| (l to r): HERE President John Wilhelm, Gov. George Pataki, 1199 SEIU President Dennis Rivera, and Bruce Raynor (photo by Sam Hollenshead) |
© 2002 Labor Research Association
