Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for July 16, 2006 NEW DIGS FOR 773

From the Southern Illinoisan...

Laborers, politicians break ground on new union headquarters in Marion

by jason lee, the southern

MARION - Labor leaders, elected officials and a crowd of workers gathered Saturday in Marion to dedicate the site of a new headquarters and future training center for The Southern & Central Illinois Laborers' District Council and Laborers' Local 773.

Held under a large tent filled with labor members and their families, the event was as much a campaign rally for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was on hand to take part and remind the audience of his administration's support for union workers in Southern Illinois.

"If anybody messes with you, they're going to mess with this governor because I'm on your side and I'm going to fight for you," said Blagojevich, who will run for re-election Nov. 7 against Republican candidate Judy Baar Topinka.

"Unlike our friends on the other side of the political spectrum, we believe the right values are that work should be rewarded and that everyone has a right to go to work in a safe place," Blagojevich said. "Your union is on the front lines of getting those things in political policies."

The new buildings along Illinois 13 will serve as headquarters for SCILDC's nearly 11,000 members and Local 773's more than 4,000 members that include construction workers, grounds maintenance workers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, security officers at John A. Logan College and staff at state's attorney's offices in six Southern Illinois counties.

Construction is expected to start soon on a new training center, which will offer laborers a variety of hands-on and classroom instruction to address the continual changes in equipment, construction techniques, and materials.

"We are celebrating your union and the fact that you get the training you need at this great facility," said Blagojevich. "You all have a right to be safe on the job, and his facility goes a long way toward doing that."

Also in attendance was U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-IL as well as SIU President Glenn Poshard, Local 773 President Edward Smith and Labors International Union of North America General President Terry O'Sullivan, who perked up the crowd with a spirited speech about the plight of the labor movement in America.

O'Sullivan said only 12.6 percent of workers are currently unionized.

"We're at a crossroads as a country and a movement," he said.

Highlighted the importance of the upcoming election, O'Sullivan urged workers to elect officials who support organized labor.

"This election truly is the election of a lifetime," he said. "What happens in '06 and what happens in '08 will define the political and legislative agendas that we will face as laborers and trade unionists for decades to come."

O'Sullivan criticized the Bush administration, which he described as "the most anti-union and anti-worker administration in the history of this country."

"This is a mean-spirited bunch from top to bottom that is hell bent on destroying the American dream and silencing the voice of working people in this country," he said.

O'Sullivan urged workers to get involved to strengthen their cause.

"It is critically important that we take back this country," he said. "We can't rely on anyone but ourselves."