by Steve S DeGregorio | Sep 4, 2014 | stories
My whole family has been strong Union forever. My Grandpa was the hardest working man I knew, along with my father. They taught me all about Union and what it strives for. I am happy to have learned such great things from both of them.
by Don Treinen | Sep 4, 2014 | stories
My ancestors came from Luxemburg in the 1860’s. They settled in Minnesota. On my mom’s side my grandparents owned and ran a small resort on one of Minnesota’s thousands of lakes. In those days, people largely did what their parents did before them. They made a living and supported their family. They cut ice in the winter, by hand, and stored it in sheds, covering it with saw dust to keep it through the summer season. Hard work, long hours, but rewarding to them. On my dad’s side, my grandparents were farmers, running a small family dairy farm. The family in Luxemburg farmed also, and the farming genes came to America with them. Thus, my father was also a farmer. In those days especially, farmers had to do everything from building farm buildings to repairing farm machinery, to planting, tilling, harvesting, and storing forage for the cattle over the winter months. My upbringing did not endear me to farming, but it did teach me a wide range of skills, which I apply ion daily life even to this day. My union background grew partly out of this experience. We were a large family and everyone watched out for everyone else – much the same role as union leadership. We had to work together for the common good. We had to listen to each other and understand each other. We had to learn the best ways to do things – for our collective sake. Much of who I am came from that history, for which I am ever grateful. People who think unions are free-loaders, advantage-takers, and irresponsible need to...
by Bonnie Balok | Sep 4, 2014 | stories
My grandmother was a special survivor through out her life. Her life began in 1899 in the Buffalo, NY area. Her mother became very ill and had to put my grandmother and her sister in an orphan’s home. Eventually, the two girls were adopted together by a family who owned a farm in Odessa, NY. The farm life probably set the pace for my grandmother’s work ethic, but so did the economic times. My grandmother was married in 1918, gave birth to her only child, my father, and shortly thereafter was a single parent. The survival story continues with my grandmother moving back to the farm in Odessa for several years and then relocating to Elmira, NY to find work in the retail industry to support herself and my father. Over the years, my grandmother worked from 8 am to 9 pm many days, walking to work and back again wearing shoes that were lined with cardboard to cover up the holes in her shoes. No matter what the weather, my grandmother walked to and from work, Monday through Saturday. Many dinners shared by my grandmother and my father consisted of one potato, bread and vegetable, with that one potato being given to my father. Times were tough, but my grandmother was a special survivor and eventually my father met my mother, they were married, I was born and my grandmother lived with us for the rest of her life. She continued to work in retail, she walked back and forth from work each day and almost everyday I would watch for her to come home and run to...
by Ellen Wakefield | Sep 4, 2014 | stories
My grandparents from both sides of my family were hard working. One side was farmers that work from sunrise to sundown and sometimes past. They had crops to protect so at times that meant staying up all night to protect the crops and be ready to start their day all over again at Sunrise. Luckily there were three sons on my dad’s side of the family that helped with the watching of the crops at night. My dad had to quit school at an early age never to receive a high school education. He became a self-taught land grader as well as farmer. He was in demand for the land grading work from the other farmers. I went to work in the fields at the age 12 and that taught me very early about hard work, something that I applied throughout my working career. It led me to a good union job which I will always be very grateful. My other grandparents were hard working as well. That grandfather was a carpenter that worked many long hours with very little pay, but he had a family of 9 children to support. He never turned a job down if there was any way that he could get the job done. My grandmother worked at the hospital many hours to become an LVN in order to help support the family. My mother had to leave school in the 9th grade and self-taught herself the balance of her education. If she had had the opportunities that are available today there is no telling where her education would have led her. She was...
by George Simmons | Sep 4, 2014 | stories
I am retired and a grandparent now. I worked under a CWA contract for 37 years and proud of it. My story is about my father and unions. My dad was a truck driver in a non union company. The time came when the drivers at this company decided to organize and join the Teamsters. They were harassed by the company and even threatened with job loss. Even so, the union was voted in. Being a kid of about 10 or 11 years old, I asked my dad, “Why all the effort to get into a union?” I will never forget his response, “Son, every year at Christmas, the company gave us a ham or turkey. Now, with union wages, I can buy my own ham or...
