President Jones delivers his keynote address prior to accepting the Labor Leadership Award.
President’s tribute draws standing ovation
THE INSTITUTO LABORAL de la Raza presented International President Newton B. Jones with its International Labor Leadership Award March 5 in San Francisco. Some 500 labor leaders, community activists and sponsors attended the event, including a large contingent from the International, local lodges and Bank of Labor.
The Instituto is a community support group that provides labor rights education and legal advocacy to the working poor in California, especially immigrants from Mexico, Central America and Southeast Asia.
J. Tom Baca, International Vice President – Western States, introduced IP Jones, calling him a “great labor leader who cares about all working families, whether they be union or nonunion.”
Jones described several key initiatives the Boilermakers union is undertaking. He explained how the MOST trust has pioneered numerous programs to promote safety, advance Boilermaker skills and add value to contractors and owners, highlighting two of the newest programs: the Boilermaker Code and the recruitment of Latinos.
He spoke about the Boilermakers’ involvement in global unionism and how that effort helped one of our cement lodges during contract negotiations with a multinational corporation. He added that raising wages around the world narrows the economic gap between North American workers and those in third-world countries, blunting the “race to the bottom” by multinational corporations.
He also described the importance of Bank of Labor in offering the Labor Movement an option for placing union investments in a financial institution that won’t betray unions like the big Wall Street banks did in 2008.
IP Jones closed his remarks with a special tribute to Betty Reid Soskin, who at 94 is the oldest National Park Service ranger in the United States. Employed at the Rosie the Riveter Museum in Richmond, Calif., at the site of the former Kaiser Shipyards, Soskin was a member of a segregated Boilermaker “auxiliary” lodge during World War II.
Jones told the audience, “In her capacity as a National Park Service ranger, Betty not only recounts the history of the Kaiser Shipyards and the women and men who worked there — she tells the story of inequality, bigotry and segregation that existed during those times.
“She reminds all who listen of the important lessons that history teaches us, so that we can become a better people, better unions and a better America.
“On behalf of my organization, I offer Betty and all former Boilermakers who at one time belonged to an auxiliary local, an apology for what must have been a demeaning life experience.”
Jones invited Soskin to the stage in an emotional moment that brought the audience to its feet in a prolonged ovation.
Soskin embraced Jones and acknowledged his remarks, stating, “I forgave you [the Boilermakers union] long ago, but I’ve never really had the feeling . . . that we were on the same page until just a few moments ago. Thank you very much. Thank you.”
