Posted on: Monday, November 22, 2004
Retired workers give thanks to labor's legacy
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
William Lyman said that when he started driving buses in 1947, the pay was so low he could hardly survive.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser "We went on strikes, so many strikes to get what we want," said Lyman, a Honolulu resident. "The union did a lot, we got a lot for the young guys now. It (the union) helps all the poorer people, and the union did really great."
Lyman's sentiments were shared by many of the 1,400 retired employees of Local 996 and the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 5 who gathered at the Sheraton Waikiki yesterday for the annual Unity House Thanksgiving dinner. The free feast, sponsored every year by Unity House, a nonprofit, umbrella labor organization, served up salad, turkey, gravy, stuffing and other Thanksgiving fare to union retirees and their families.
"If it wasn't for them (union retirees) we all wouldn't be here" said Tony Rutledge, the head of Unity House. "Their experiences and sacrifices of the past have really made a mark."
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Esposo's group was followed by several speakers, including city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, all of whom kept their remarks brief, as the crowd of retirees ate and carried on, paying little attention to the podium.
Many of the older generation of retirees at yesterday's event championed labor unions as protectors of Hawai'i's poor, and recalled how the evolution of the local labor movement elevated the financial prospects of an entire social class.
Harry Miura, a 74-year-old retiree of Local 996 who now lives in Salt Lake, said he believes that unions protect poor people.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Yoshio Takaushi, an 84-year-old retired Foremost employee from Hawai'i Kai, said Local 996 helped him during his professional life and even more so since he retired.
"I've been retired for 22 years and I've had a pension for 22 years," Takaushi said.
"They (labor unions) are very important," he added.
Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Lyman, 78, who joined the Teamsters Local 996 that year, credits his labor union for improving his working conditions and the overall quality of his life.
Randy Harakal, executive director of Unity House, was among the speakers yesterday at the group's annual Thanksgiving dinner.
In addition to the food, those attending yesterday's event were treated to several sets of live entertainment, many performed by retirees. The crowd favorite was Gus Esposo, who donned a white satin body suit, open at the chest, and line-danced with six elderly women dressed in white and linked together by a silver garland.
Many of the 1,400 or so retirees who attended yesterday's Unity House event spoke of organized labor as championing the rights of the poor. Many credit their financial stability to unions.
"When I started, I was working (for Meadow Gold delivering ice cream) for 50 cents an hour. You can't work for 50 cents an hour," he said, laughing. "I joined the union, I get $1.75 an hour. If it wasn't for the union, I wouldn't own a house."
Tony Rutledge, the head of Unity House, a nonprofit umbrella labor organization, joined approximately 1,400 retirees yesterday for an annual Thanksgiving feast at the Sheraton Waikiki ballroom.
