Ron Carey Memorial Meeting February 28, Flushing, New York

[Better Believe It]

Ron Carey Memorial Meeting

A Celebration of the life and work of Ron Carey <1936-2008>

Join family members, friends, Teamsters who served with Ron, labor leaders, journalists, and Local 804 members for a celebration of the life and work of Ron Carey, the first democratically elected General President in Teamster history.

This special event is being organized by supporters and friends of Ron Carey in conjunction with the Carey family.

Speakers will share their memories of the labor leader and union reformer who changed the course of the Teamsters Union and the U.S. labor movement and led the victorious 1997 UPS strike.

Save the Date:

Saturday, February 28
1 PM
Sheraton LaGuardia East
135-20 39th Avenue
Flushing, New York

Event Co-Chairs: Daniel Carey, Ken Crowe, Diana Kilmury, Bob Muehlenkamp, Ken Paff, Pat Pagnanella, Tim Sylvester

Click here to download a leaflet with more information about the event, including directions and a list of event sponsors.
http://tdu.org/files/CareyMemorialAnnouncement.pdf

Send Your Remembrances & Photos of Ron

The Event Co-Chairs are collecting remembrances and photos of Ron to create displays for the Memorial Meeting and to produce a commemorative book for the Carey family.

Please participate by sending a few words about Ron and/or your favorite photo of him. You can send your words or photos via email to [e-mail] or mail them to:

Tim Sylvester
1773 E. 33rd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11234

Send a copy of the photo; originals cannot be returned


RON CAREY

[pleah]

1. I'll give you a K&R

I really don't know who he was, but he must have been someone special. :hug:

[Better Believe It]

2. He was indeed someone special in the labor movement

Ron Carey: Working Class Hero
by Deepa Kumar
Deepa Kumar is the Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the Rutgers University and a Indian. She is the author of the book 'Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization, and the UPS Strike', which attracted a lot of praise and positive critique even before it was published. She is on the editorial/advisory boards of Critical Studies in Media Communication and the Global Media Journal (Indian Edition), and was awarded the Young Scholar Leader Award for 2007 by the National Communication Association's Critical Cultural Studies Division.

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His 1991 election victory against entrenched old guard candidates spoke to a desire for change within the union. Carey once again eliminated all the perks enjoyed by the old guard. As he explained, "We got rid of the limousines, the luxuries, the union's private jet. I cut my own salary from 225,000 to 150,000. We eliminated one of the layers of union bureaucracy . . . put the IBT on a financially sound direction. . . . We expanded and strengthened the organizing department. We tried many different strategies to mobilize members, involve them in the union, make the union stronger."

He was able to win some gains for UPS Teamsters in 1993, but it was in 1997 that a real victory for the union movement was won. A full year before the contract with UPS expired in 1997, Carey and his organizing team had distributed surveys to rank and file members to determine what they wanted with the new contract. Members were then engaged in the process through the contract campaign strategy. Yet, UPS was determined not to give an inch to the Teamsters.

On August 4, 1997 Carey called a national strike against UPS. 185,000 Teamsters walked off their jobs and ground the company to a halt. This was perhaps Carey's finest moment. As a union leader who had risen from the rank and file, who had experienced the frustrating and humiliating conditions of work at a giant corporation, and who had spent his entire life fighting for workers' dignity, he was able to give voice to the anger and aspirations of not only UPS workers but the US working class as well.

Yet, the momentum was lost. Carey was expelled from the Teamsters union for supposedly violating campaign fundraising rules. The corporate elite heaved a collective sigh of relief that a militant union leader was punished for daring to stand up to them. And instead of defending Carey, the labor movement stood by and let him fall. In September 2001, Carey was cleared of all charges against him in a federal court. Yet, he still remained banned from the Teamsters union. The Teamsters under the leadership of Jimmy Hoffa Jr. sought to erase Carey from the union's history. Rather than remember the lessons of the UPS strike, and learn from Carey's successes, the Teamsters leadership wanted to bury his memory

It was in this context that I met Ron Carey. While working on my book on media coverage of the UPS strike I was amazed to read everything that Carey had said and done. I had to record his life and his experiences and so set up an interview with him. When I went to meet him at his lawyer's office in Washington DC, I expected to meet a person who bore the scars of a witch hunt that drove him out of the union, as well as the weight of a life spent fighting an uphill battle both against powerful companies and corrupt union officials. Yet, Carey was not worn down; instead, he was enthusiastic, lively and animated. And it dawned on me that it would take that kind of fighting spirit to lead the life he had.

Ron Carey inspired and touched the lives of thousands of union members and activists. In my conversations with Teamsters around the country, I have heard a range of stories that exemplify Carey's compassion, his courage, and his dedication to fighting the good fight. He showed through example that it is possible to reform a corrupt union, to mobilize rank and file workers, and to stand up against a powerful multinational company like UPS and win. These are important lessons to leave behind as the US economy grinds deeper into recession. Ron Carey will not, and should not, be forgotten.

Please read the complete article at:

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/kumar161208.html

[pleah]

3. Thank you very much.

:hi:

[Better Believe It]

4. For the weekend crew