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UNITE! Union
UNITE! Delegates Sworn into Dallas AFL-CIO
The four new AFL-CIO delegates in this May 24 photo are from
newly-affiliated UNITE! locals.
Elaine Lantz of UAW2320 is wearing the pink shirt.
***
AFL-CIO Affiliate Has New Friends
Officers of AFSCME 1199, CWA 6151, IBT 745, and UAW 848 (behind the
camera) joined AFL-CIO leader Gene Freeland (center) to help the
newly-affiliated UNITE! union on May 16
Less than a month after ten UNITE! locals affiliated with
the Dallas Central Labor Council, their new friends were rushing to help them
in a tough situation with an employer in Northwest Dallas. Two nights before, the night manager had physically
attacked UNITE! member Pete DeMay (standing at left) while union members
leafleted employees outside the plant gates at 9001 Ambassador Row. The union
filed criminal charges and an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP). They also called CLC
head Gene Freeland.
About 40 union members and their friends protested the
company’s unfair negotiation tactics and demanded a better contract with a
“rolling picket” -- driving their cars through the company parking lot during
lunch break on May 16. Even on short notice, Brother Freeland was able to get a
good turnout of unionists who were eager to help UNITE!.
The union has several contracts with
employers who hire mostly immigrant labor in the area.
**
The first
Committee of Industrial Organizations (CIO) union in North Texas was the
International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) around 1936. Valiant women stood
up to a completely disgusting assault by Dallas police. The Dallas Morning News co-ordinated a nasty
publicity campaign against them. The AF of L either ignored their plight or encouraged
their tormentors. At one point, police ripped the picketers’ clothes off in
before news cameras! At another point, a large group was arrested. They sang
the union song, “Solidarity” in a Dallas jail cell.
The division between the CIO and the AF of L doomed the ILGWU’s North
Texas organizing drive to failure
**
UNITE!
Affiliates with AFL-CIO!
The
UNITE! union held a celebration on April 21, 2001 that was special for them. It
was even more special for the Dallas labor movement!
The
occasion was the announcement by Vice President Jean Hervey that UNITE! was
affiliating eight local unions in Dallas County with the Central Labor Council.
UNITE! was already affiliated with the AFL-CIO at the national level, but had
not joined locally. They also announced that they were seeking office space in
conjunction with the Center for Human Rights, an immigrants-rights organization
in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas.
Jean Hervey stands by Gene Freeland (white beard) of the AFL-CIO after
they had agreed that eight local UNITE! unions would affiliate with the Dallas
Central Labor Council. “Se Puede”
means, “It Can Be Done!”
More than
any other union, UNITE! has been successful in organizing North Texas’
Spanish-speaking immigrants into the union movement. With tens of thousands
more waiting to be organized, unity in the labor movement will be a big boost
for all.
Historically,
it was especially poignant. The UNITE! union came about in recent years when
the old Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) joined with the
International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU). ILGWU was the first CIO
union to attempt to organize in North Texas, but it’s drive in 1936 was made
impossible by disunity in the labor movement at that time. The future looks
much brighter!
Another
important fact about the April 21 celebration was the relationship that UNITE!
organizer Bobbie Del Castillo (lower left in the photo) has developed with the
Center for Human Rights. The Center is by far the largest and most important
immigrants-rights advocate in the area. Director Paul Kerr organizes major
demonstrations and has brought the immigrants-rights movement into close
harmony with organized labor.
The way
is clear for organizing North Texas’ Spanish-speaking workers!
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