John L. Lewis. UMW President for 40 years. We need him now.

[gardenista]

John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was a organized labor leader who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960. He was the driving force behind the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which established the United Steel Workers of America and helped organize millions of other industrial workers in the 1930s. After resigning as head of the CIO in 1941, he took the Mine Workers out of the CIO in 1942, then back into the American Federation of Labor in 1944.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Lewis

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[SheilaT]

1. He was a giant.

Contrast him with Land Kirkland, who was head of the AFL-CIO during the air traffic controller's strike in 1981, who did not stand up to Reagan's decision to fire the controllers. In addition, the head of ALPA (the airline pilot's union) and the mechanics' unions told their workforce to cross the controllers' picket lines. Unions are sadly weak, and I'd say at least 80% of people do not have any clue why we need strong unions.

[gardenista]

2. I dearly hope that this is a wake-up call.

There is a very moving Lewis quote which I can't find right now, in which he calls out a Senator, basically saying that if his proposed safety legislation is not approved, the blood of the dead miners will be on the hands of Congress.

As it is today.