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Home , Battle of the Overpass, Charles Coughlin, Ford Hunger March, Graphic Artists Guild, Harry Bennett, Maurice Sugar

WEATHER: Stormy periods Labor’s will give way Voice Labor News to brighter days Published for the World Premiere of the Jazz Opera “Forgotten: The Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant” ahead LABOR IS ON THE MARCH

DETROIT 1937: From Cadillac Square to Hamtramck, from downtown hotels to Ford’s River Rouge plant, work- ers have energized southeastern this year with their demands for justice, job security, and wages they can live on. Throughout the spring, sitdowns and strikes by workers seeking to unionize swept through auto and parts plants, de- partment stores, restaurants, hotels, cigar factories and other workplaces, following the lead of workers in Flint who won their first contract February 11 after a sitdown

strike that began December 30. “The rev- WALTER P. REUTHER LIBRARY, olution is here,” one worried business ex- ecutive declared. The media estimate that 35,000 work- ers have sat down on the job, while 100,000 more have walked picketlines outside. In all, nearly 130 factories, of- fices, and stores have been struck — some for as long as six weeks. Even the media themselves haven’t been spared. Sixty-five printing pressmen sat down at the Detroit News, costing the paper three editions in a successful fight for better working conditions. The News began running a daily box score of “plants Cadillac Square Rally: Some 150,000 workers turned out for this rally to support their striking brothers and sisters on closed by sit-downs or lockouts.” March 23, 1937. Organizing victories abounded. By April, the UAW’s membership was nearly At the Howard Street Mission, a home- tute of Human Relations” at the plant, ex- Methodist Church on Grand Circus Park, a quarter-million, while the Detroit Fed- less shelter downtown, the Rev. Lewis plained his son Curtis. “He thought that and also at the Rouge glass plant, where eration of Labor reported that 16,000 new Bradford, a Methodist minister, broad- with a personal understanding of the fellow workers took up a collection and members and 17 new affiliates had signed cast a radio show, The Forgotten Man’s men, he might be able to set up a spiri- gave Ella $80, almost all of it in coins. up as of June. Hour, on WXYZ every Thursday, inter- tual approach to their problems.” He had “I knew that it was a love offering viewing the homeless and unemployed, been disturbed to see how Ford worker, which some of them could ill afford,” Ella 150,000 JOIN RALLY bringing their stories to the public. once they went through the plant gate, said. Labor’s rising spirit was most evident Bradford had left his job as a full-time had seemed to change personality, be- “The boys at the glass house wanted at a mass rally of 150,000 workers in minister with its guaranteed income be- coming suspicious and hostile. They you to have this,” one worker told her. “I Cadillac Square March 23 supporting the cause, he said, he felt his calling was to worked under constant surveillance by was always a better man after I talked sitdown strikers’ cause. work with poor and working people. He Harry Bennett’s Service Department, to with Brad.” Many at the rally recalled how just five and his wife, Ella, came to Detroit to seek whom any sign of unionism could mean years earlier, thousands had marched in medical aid for his daughter, Little Ella. instant dismissal. a funeral procession nearby for the work- He went to work at the Department of On November 25, Bradford tried to set A NOTE FROM 2004 ers shot and killed at what has become Public Welfare, visiting Hoovervilles and up a meeting between plant officials and More than sixty years after Lewis known as the , when trying to help jobless and homeless work- visiting British social reformer Muriel Bradford’s death, Steve Jones, a jazz mu- peaceful protesters went to Ford’s Rouge ers. His family reported that one day on Lester, but was rebuffed. That night, Ella sician whose grandfather was Ella Brad- plant petitioning for relief and health care his way home from work, he gave away received a threatening phone call at 1:30 ford’s cousin, went looking for the autop- for Depression-hit unemployed. his last dollar, only to come home to find a.m. sy report. Cassandra Lewis in the Wayne “We came for bread,” one Hunger there was no food in the house. Two days later, Bradford was found un- County Medical Examiner’s office, March veteran recalled, in the words of a His radio show was a welcome coun- conscious on the shop floor in a remote searched for two months and found it. funeral sign. “Ford fed us bullets.” terpoint to the radio show of another man part of the Rouge. He never regained con- “Multiple stellar fractures,” the hand- Underscoring the challenges still felt of the cloth, the Rev. Charles Coughlin of sciousness and died three days later at written report said, resulted in a fractured by workers five years later was the sight Royal Oak. Coughlin’s Hour of Power the age of 51. skull. Reading the report, the Deputy of bloodied UAW organizers at the Miller show on WJR, unlike Bradford’s, has tak- His foreman, appearing nervous in a Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Carl J. Road overpass in Dearborn this past May en an angry tone, declaring that “inter- meeting with Ella, told her that her hus- Schmidt, M.D., reported on July 28, 26, when company goons under the di- national financiers,” code words for , band had fallen, adding “everybody’s got- 2001, that the wounds were “consistent rection of Harry Bennett beat up auto are behind the nation’s economic travails. ta die sometime,” she reported. “I had all with multiple blunt trauma to the head, workers seeking to distribute union that I could do to keep from screaming at such as a beating. This death should leaflets. TRAGEDY AT FORD him hysterically, and tell him he was ly- probably be classified as a homicide … In 1936, Bradford went to work at the ing and he knew it.” there is no reason to think this was an ac- SUPPORT KEEPS GROWING Ford River Rouge plant, both to earn Ella could not even get a copy of the cident.” As workers keep organizing, support money for surgery needed by Little Ella, autopsy report, which could have con- Jones composed this jazz opera so that for their efforts has been growing in many and to try to bridge the gap he saw grow- firmed her suspicions of foul play. Lewis Bradford and others who struggled quarters including the religious commu- ing between labor and management. Funeral services were held at the for justice in the 1930s will not be for- nity. “Father wanted to establish an Insti- Howard Street Mission, at Central gotten. PAGE 2 DETROIT LABOR NEWS

✦ LABOR IS ON THE MARCH ✦

Clockwise from top: Women support sit- downers by picketing Chrysler’s Jefferson Ave. plant; 150,000 rally at Cadil- lac Square; Flint sitdown- ers celebrate victory. Bottom: Kelsey- Hayes sitdown- ers keep warm. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF WALTER P. REUTHER LIBRARY, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

Sitdowns close 130 Detroit plants, offices

DETROIT, March 9, 1937 — Sit- sands of strikers, onlookers, and honking down fervor reached a peak in Detroit yes- cars. terday when workers at all nine area Jefferson Avenue looked like a World Chrysler plants barricaded themselves in- Series crowd. side the factories. The UAW moved quickly to seize con- They were part of a wave of sitdowns in trol of the situation. Kroger signs contract the Detroit area that have closed nearly 130 “Flying squadrons” of roving picketers factories, offices and stores anywhere from told bar owners near the factories to stop after ‘strawberry’ strike a few hours to a few weeks. selling liquor. Across the Detroit area an estimated According to UAW officials, most didn’t DETROIT, May 1931 — Krogers “This is a great victory,” said 18-year- 35,000 workers are participating in these put up any argument, but contributed ci- signed a one-year contract with workers at old Jimmy Hoffa, who led the warehouse strikes, and over 100,000 others are march- gars and cigarettes to the strikers. its Green Street warehouse site ending a workers. ing in support lines outside the plants. The leaders of Detroit’s manufacturing tumultuous episode that began when a fore- Conditions at the warehouse have been The takeover at Chrysler began at 1:30 community reacted angrily. man suddenly laid off two men and re- deteriorating rapidly since the start of the p.m. yesterday when a well-planned sit- “If lawless men can seize an office, a placed them with strangers. Hoover depression in 1929. down simultaneously closed Dodge Main, factory, or a home and hold it unmolested Furious, the night crew refused to unload The workers at the Green Street ware- Plymouth Assembly, DeSoto, Dodge Forge, for hours and days, they can seize it and the rest of a load of Florida strawberries. house had to be on the job 12 hours a day Dodge Truck, Amplex Engine, Chrysler hold it for months and years; and revolution Faced with losing half a trainload of but they were only paid for the hours they Jefferson Avenue, Chrysler Kercheval Av- is here,” stated a leading business voice. fruit, Krogers backed down, rehired the two actually worked. enue, and Chrysler Highland Park. The Detroit Board of Commerce plans to men, and began negotiations with the ware- “And at 32 cents an hour, that isn’t About 17,000 UAW supporters, joined wire the governor demanding “a militant housemen’s independent union. much,” said warehouse worker Martin Hag- by hundreds more in nearby Hudson Mo- program” to end the near-revolution. The contract compels Kroger to end all gerty. tors plants barricaded themselves inside “Detroit’s international civic reputation discriminatory hiring policies and to guar- The workers also criticize being paid in the Chrysler plants alone. is at stake,” said a spokesman for the antee a half-day’s pay for each man called scrip. “If you make $15 a week, you get By late afternoon, the streets around Board. to work. about $10 in scrip and $5 in cash,” said these occupied plants were filled with thou- But UAW leaders dispelled the extreme Bobby Holmes, a young friend of Hoffa. characterizations of the busi- Detroit Labor News “You have to spend the scrip in their ness community. stores,” he complained. “We do not want to run the Special Edition for “Forgotten” (March 2004 Premiere) Like the auto firms and other companies plants, but we do demand in this area, Krogers has refused to give its recognition,” stated UAW WRITERS workers any job guarantees. Vice President Ed Hall. Shawn D. Ellis, David Elsila, Mark Gruen- “We are expected to appear at the be- The Chrysler shutdowns berg, Dick Olson and Tom Schram with stories drawn from “Working Detroit” by ginning of each shift, and then the foremen have been the latest in Steve Babson (Wayne State University often give the jobs to their friends and rel- takeovers in this area includ- Press) and the Detroit Labor News atives,” said one young worker. ing four hotels, a dozen in- PHOTOGRAPHS An industry analyst said that though the dustrial laundries, three de- courtesy of the Walter P. Reuther Library “strawberry boys” may have won the bat- partment stores, all city’s ma- at Wayne State University, Anne Drake, tle, Krogers would not accept their defeat jor cigar plants, nine lumber Shawn D. Ellis and Jim West easily. yards, at least three printing DESIGN “They’ll get rid of that guy Hoffa before plants, ten meat-packing Barbara Barefield (Graphic Artists Guild) long,” he said. “He’s a troublemaker — big plants, restaurants, coal time.” yards, bottlers. SPECIAL ‘FORGOTTEN’ EDITION PAGE 3

Union leaders severely beaten FAMILY OF THE BRADFORD PHOTO COURTESY at overpass near Rouge plant

DEARBORN, May 26, 1937 — Top leaders of the fledgling auto workers union were severely beaten today at the overpass near the Ford Rouge plant in Dearborn, Mich. One UAW organizer — J.J. Kennedy — was taken to a local hospital where he is fighting for his life, and the back of Richard Merriweather was broken. Vision of Labor Peace UAW leaders and Dick Frankensteen had been standing in the WALTER P. REUTHER LIBRARY, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY Costs Pastor’s Life middle of the bridge, casually chatting and [Reprinted from Detroit newspaper, posing for photographers, when a group of Dec. 2, 1937] 35 Ford Service Department men came charging up and began to pummel the men. A vision of harmonious relations between His face and suit bloodied, UAW leader labor and capital, of improved understand- Walter Reuther said he had been picked ing among men, led to the death of the Rev. “about eight different times” and thrown on Lewis A. Bradford, it was revealed today. his back on the concrete. In pursuit of his vision the Rev. Mr. The servicemen kicked Reuther in the Bradford got a job as a laborer in the Ford face, head, and other parts of his body be- factory to study the minds of working men, fore throwing him down the stairs. to seek understanding of their problems The Ford Service Department men and aims. It was while at work he fell, frac- pulled the suit jacket of Dick Frankensteen turing his skull. over his head before punching and kicking Services will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m. the UAW vice president. at the Central M.E. Church, with which he Harry Bennett, leader of the Ford Ser- was affiliated. vice Department, denied that his men had “Father wanted to establish an Institute played any role in the attack. “When we of Human Relations,” explained Curtis But several photographers from caught arrived at Baker Bradford, a son. “He went to officials the scene as it unfolded, and a major na- Gate 4, we of the Ford Company. They suggested he tional news magazine pledged to run the could see should work in the plant to get the view- story with photos. Brothers WALTER P. REUTHER LIBRARY, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY point of the men. “If Time publishes those pictures, we’ll Reuther and “He thought that with a personal under- withdraw all further advertising from that Frankensteen standing of the men, he might be able to set magazine,” said a Ford spokesman. being severe- up a spiritual approach to their problems As the beating began, UAW supporters ly beaten,” so he took a job at the plant and worked rushed to the support of the four men. said Cather- there 18 months.” ine “Bebe” Besides his plans for human relations, Gelles,” head Mr. Bradford was seeking support for a Thank you of Local 174’s crippled children’s home to be established Women’s at Mt. Clemens and for a new Howard Street for premiering Auxiliary. Mission. When she Mr. Bradford was 51. He lived at 115 ‘FORGOTTEN’ ran to pull the West Davison Avenue. He had been in the Ford Service ministry 25 years after graduating from in Detroit Department Cornell College and attendance at Drew men off one UAW man, “the three turned gate would not deter the union organizing Theological Seminary. Beside his son he on me, knocking me to the ground and kick- campaign. leaves his wife, Mrs. Ella Bradford, three The Canada-Radtkes ing me in the stomach, and then pushing “The whole world can plainly see what daughters, Dorothy, Helen, and Ella; two me to the streetcar.” is going on in the Ford operations,” added brothers, Ralph B. and Haven; and a sister, Reuther said that the brutality at the Frankensteen. Mrs. Helen B. Paulsen.

In memory of GREETINGS FROM ROBERTO ESPARZA SR. Teamsters Local 337 & Central States Joint Board RICHARD DEERING SR. UNITE! IMA Local 82 Members and Staff Utility Workers Union of America Local 124/129 AFL-CIO

Bryan Savoca, Regional Director Sandra Esparza Deering Lisha Sly, Business Manager Local 129 National Field Organizer Sergio Monterrubio, National Representative www: uwua.org 1-888-THEUWUA PAGE 4 DETROIT LABOR NEWS

✦ LABOR IS ON THE MARCH ✦ WAYNE STATE Thousands protest police at UNIVERSITY Republic Steel plant in Monroe COLLEGE OF URBAN, LABOR AND METROPOLITAN AFFAIRS PHOTOS COURTESY OF WALTERPHOTOS COURTESY P. REUTHER LIBRARY, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY Labor Studies Center Providing Classes, Seminars, Consulting and Research for a stronger labor movement

The Labor School starts September 28 Orientation held on Saturday, September 25

Call us about class schedules or arrangements for educational programs to be held at your local. May 1937

Three days after 400 “special” police (313) 577-2191 used tear gas and violence to break up pick- et lines outside Republic Steel’s Newton Wayne State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Steel Plant (above), thousands of union sup- porters marched in protest in Monroe, Mich. “We march in solidarity with the steel- workers,” said UAW Local 212 President Emil Mazey, a local firebrand. Our congratulations to all who have dedicated their Local union officials protested the use of tear gas and other munitions by the “spe- talent and lives in bringing to the stage cial” police who had been hired by the city the story of Lewis Bradford and armed by the company. “The Wayne County Gun Commission Welcome to the Detroit premiere of has prohibited employer purchases for use commission said in a statement released in labor disputes,” said one labor official. yesterday. But this paper has learned that this past The strife at the downriver plant has Forgotten: June the company’s chief of plant police, come on the heels of a nationwide strike of arranged to have the mayor of River Rouge 75,000 steelworkers against the “Little The Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant buy the munitions and secretly transfer Steel” companies — Republic, Bethlehem them to the company. and Inland — that refused to follow U.S. “We intend to bring charges against Steel’s lead in recognizing the Steel Work- Stanley Ferguson for unlawful possession of ers Organizing Committee. tear gas,” said the head of the gun com- Nationwide 18 people have been killed mission. including ten killed in Chicago without “We are also looking into ties between warning during a peaceful Memorial Day Ferguson and local criminal elements,” the assembly.

Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO Congratulations Greetings from JULIE BARTON to the President Donald W. Boggs Organizer Executive Vice-President David Hecker ‘FORGOTTEN’ Secretary-Treasurer Saundra Williams cast and crew International Union of Dan, Karen & Claire McCarthy Operating Engineers …and the nearly 200,000 affiliated members in Steve Babson Local 547 A, B, C, E, G, & H – Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties Nancy Brigham AFL-CIO Dave & Katie Elsila Keep Lewis Bradford’s memory alive by volunteering Kari Elsila & Michael Buescher 24270 W. Seven Mile on a picket line once a month in support of a group of workers Maple Glory Elsila Buescher Detroit MI 48219 who struggle for social and economic justice. (313) 532-2022 It’s a small price to pay in the struggle by others. Jamie Elsila Mikael Elsila & Dina Pinsky SPECIAL ‘FORGOTTEN’ EDITION PAGE 5

Labor Briefs Excerpted from the Detroit Labor News 1937 Census Shows 122 Thousand Jobless Here The final figures in the census of unem- ployed conducted in Detroit by the Post Of- fice shows that there are 122,000 workers here without employment. Big Business appears to be attempting to provoke another depression by sabotag- ing the entire program of President Roose- velt. Brewery Drivers Sign Up Two More Distributors Here

WALTER P. REUTHER LIBRARY, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY The Brewery Drivers’ Union, Local 28, continued its organization drive this week when it signed agreements with the Old Style Vienna distributors and the Goodwill Beer Distributors, Detroit, agents for out of town brews. Protest Ford Guards’ Attack on UAW Organizers A mass meeting to protest the attack by Ford Company guards upon leaders and members of the United Automobile Work- ers union who attempted to distribute leaflets at the Ford Rouge plant on Wednes- day will be held Tuesday evening, June 1, Ford Hunger Marchers faced bullets and tear gas as they approached the Rouge plant with a petition March 7, 1932. at the State Fair Coliseum. The meeting is sponsored jointly by the Civil Rights Con- ference and the International Union, UAW. 60,000 march to mourn four slain NLRB Holds Beard Hearing Hearings on the charges that the Beard Printing Co., Detroit, rotary printing con- during Ford Hunger March cern, discriminated against two Union members of the Printing Pressmen’s union, March 1932 The Hunger March, led by Detroit’s Un- guns and pulled the triggers. I would guess were held this week by the National Labor employed Councils, had marched to Ford that hundreds of shots were fired into the Relations Board. Over 60,000 Detroiters marched down with petitions demanding jobs, medical re- mob,” he said. Hatchetmen of Ford’s Woodward Avenue to Grand Circus Park to lief and emergency aid for the unemployed. The Detroit Federation of Labor, while protest the deaths of four men killed by ’s statements that “the aver- disassociating itself from the Hunger Assault UAW Workers Eighteen members of the United Auto- police and guards five days ago during the age man won’t really work unless he is Marchers’ Communist leaders, condemned mobile Workers of America, engaged in the Hunger March near the Ford Dearborn caught and cannot get out of it,” had infu- the fatal violence of Dearborn and compa- house to house distribution of the United plant. riated the unemployed workers, many of ny police in strong terms. Automobile Worker, were driven out of The marchers paraded under a permit them former employees of Ford. In a sign of shifting community atti- Inkster at 2 p.m. Thursday by a force of ap- granted by Detroit Mayor to After firemen prepared to douse the tudes, the Detroit Times, owned by the proximately 40 servicemen of the Ford Mo- protest not only the deaths of Joe York — Hunger Marchers with water, police used Hearst family, also has condemned the tor Co., Zygmund Dobrzynski, Detroit Ford district organizer of the Young Communist tear gas to try to break up the crowd, and deaths. organizational director, charge. Six men League, Coleman Leny, Joe DeBlasio and the marchers responded with rocks and “The opposition offered by Dearborn po- were surrounded by a group of 40 men who Joe Bissell but the injuries suffered by pieces of tear gas from a nearby dump. lice evidently changed an orderly demon- had suddenly appeared in cars. The new- nearly 60 unarmed demonstrators includ- Then “all hell broke loose,” according stration into a riot, with death and blood- comers wore the badges of Ford servicemen ing Curtis Williams, who is fighting for his to Ray Pillsbury, a local photographer. shed, its toll,” said the Times. and a number carried rubber hose and pieces of pipe. life. “Policemen and guards leveled their It’s Jitters Time at Hudson’s There isn’t any strike at the huge de- We Salute the Ford Hunger Marchers partment store of the J.L. Hudson Co. here, and there won’t be, if the management of SPLINTERS the store has anything to say about it. And And All Those Who Fought for Justice what they have to say about it is the plac- So That We Might Have a Better Life Today. ing of Detroit Police at each door and a HURT group of six to a dozen strong-arm men in- side each entrance waiting … waiting for a Unite to whistle to blow or someone to yell “strike.” IN OTHER HEADLINES … New members are named to Labor Day defeat Committee … Minimum Pay Rate Estab- lished for Dossin’s Workers; Agreement Bush Cuts Hours One-Third … Firemen Ask ‘Yes’ Vote on Pension Amendment Apriil 5 UAW REGION 1A … Film Handlers Sign 3 Closed Shop Con- Dick and Deb Olson James V. Settles, Director tracts. . .Polish News Tries To Drive Down ! Pay Scale of Unions … Drivers Demand Closed Shop in Laundries Here. PAGE 6 DETROIT LABOR NEWS

Congratulations to all on the Detroit Premiere of Forgotten: Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant from Labor’s International Hall of Fame Established in 1973

LABOR’S INTERNATIONAL HALL OF FAME CHAIRMAN RICHARD CORDTZ AND GEORGE MEANY CENTER – THE NATIONAL LABOR COLLEGE CHAIRMAN JOHN J. SWEENEY

EXTEND AN INVITATION TO ATTEND AN APRIL 30, 2004 INDUCTION CEREMONY

UFCW LOCAL 876 MADISON HEIGHTS, MICHIGAN

2004 INDUCTEES Olga Marie Madar, UAW William W. Winpisinger, IAMAW United Farm Workers of America Five Martyred Organizers

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO PURCHASE TICKETS, CONTACT THE METROPOLITAN DETROIT AFL-CIO AT (313) 961-0800

Don’t Mourn … To: DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA (DSA) 180 Varick Street, 12th Floor Organize! NY 10014 If you believe in working to create a better world, ___ Yes! I want to ___ join or ___renew my membership in DSA then Detroit DSA is your kind of organization. and receive a subscription to Democratic Left magazine. DETROIT DSA My annual dues are enclosed: ___$50 (sustainer) ___$40 (regular) ___$20 (low income/student) • Led the successful anti-sweatshop campaign at Wayne State University. ___ Please send me more information about DSA and democratic • Led or participated in five successful living-wage . campaigns. • Helped plan the Immigrant Worker Freedom Rides Name______• Helped elect several progressive candidates to the No. & Street______State House and Senate City______State______ZIP______Detroit Democratic Socialists of America has a vi- sion of a better future and a program of action to Phone______E-mail______bring it about! Join us as we work to create a just society for all. Union/School/Organization______Use this coupon to join or renew your membership to- day. All memberships include a subscription to Visit Our Web Site at: www.dsausa.org Democratic Left magazine. SPECIAL ‘FORGOTTEN’ EDITION PAGE 7

THE MICHIGAN LABOR HISTORY SOCIETY in cooperation with MATRIX THEATRE CO. Presents A Jazz Opera FORGOTTEN The Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant FRIDAY, MARCH 5 • SATURDAY, MARCH 6 • SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2004 A benefit for the Michigan Labor History Society Composer ...... Steve Jones You are invited Director...... Elise Bryant Health Alliance Plan Music Director...... Bill Meyer invites you to attend an Opening-Night Afterglow CAST immediately following (in order of appearance) Friday’s performance in the 4 Nurse Attendant...... Russanne Bucci th floor art galleries in this building. Ella Bradford ...... Stephanie Pascaris* Following the Sunday performance, the Little Ella...... Katie Nelson ACLU of Michigan is hosting a light Henry Ford ...... Mark Moultrup supper and reception in the Lewis Bradford...... Jason Landis Madame Cadillac Building on the Marygrove Campus. Tickets are $20. Foreman ...... Mike Carluccio Allen Johnson ...... Mitch McMurren Joe Cantor ...... Jim Salerno Rosie Johnson ...... Lynn Marie Smith PRODUCTION STAFF Frank Jackson ...... Sam Kirkland Steve Jones ...... Writer/Composer Father Coughlin...... Davis Gloff Elise Bryant...... Director Harry Bennett...... Henry Nelson Bill Meyer...... Music Director Anne Drake...... Assistant Director Clara Ford...... D. Yarrow Halstead Dave Elsila ...... Executive Producer Hospital Attendant ...... Denise Dotson Shaun Nethercott ...... Managing Producer Alisa Lomax...... Production Manager WORKERS CHORUS Elaine (Hendriks) Smith*...... Production Stage Manager Melvin Beasley, Russanne Bucci, Mike Leslie Love ...... Marygrove Theatre Carluccio, Denise Dotson, Sandra Esparza Manager Deering, Kae Halonen, Stephen Jones, Sam Sister Brenda Moon ...... House Manager Kirkland, Jason Landis, Malinda Lewis, Corretha Montague ...... Ass’t. House John “Bruce” Liles, Clara Leavell, Susan Manager Newell, Stephanie Pascaris,* Gordon Pat- Scarlett Jade ...... Costume Designer ton, Jim Salerno, Lisha M. Sly, DaJuanny Judi Jewel...... Hair/Makeup Taylor, Maurice “Skip” Turner Ron Burns ...... Set/Lighting Designer Lateefah B-Dixon...... Properties Master Dancers: Melanie Bruss, Jenny Phan Victor Hood...... Sound Manager Hour of Power Quartet: *Designated Actor and Production Stage Man- Mike Carluccio, D. Yarrow Halstead, ager appear through the courtesy of Actors Eq- Stephen Jones, Mike Carluccio. uity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the . Forgotten Man’s Hour Quartet: Jason Landis, Mitch McMurren, Stephanie Pas- caris,* Lynn Marie Smith. MUSICIANS Ford Hunger March: John “Bruce” Liles Ralphe Armstrong...... Bass as Joe York; Kae Halonen as Joe York’s Bill Meyer ...... Keyboards, Director mother; Stephen Jones as Joe DiBlasio; Su- Jeff Trudell ...... Drums san Newell as Joe DiBlasio’s wife; DaJuan- ny Taylor as Curtis Williams; Sam Kirkland Members, Detroit Federation of Musicians, as Curtis Williams’ father; Gordon Patton Local 5, AFM, AFL-CIO as Coleman Leny; and Jim Salerno as Joe Additional music by Bussell.

The Michigan Labor Actors Equity Association • International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees History Society Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local 5 • Theatrical Wardrobe Union • Painters thanks the following unions for their Solidarity and We will be with you in your struggles now and in the future their support of ‘Forgotten’ To win justice for your members in the performing arts and other industries. PAGE 8 DETROIT LABOR NEWS

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS ELLA BRADFORD ...... wife of Lewis Bradford ALLEN JOHNSON ...... radio announcer at WXYZ who is also an unemployed worker, later a co-worker of Bradford’s at Ford; husband of Rosie HENRY FORD ...... industrialist; husband of Clara Ford LEWIS BRADFORD...... former minister; becomes an organizer at the River Rouge plant; husband of Ella ROSIE JOHNSON ...... unemployed woman, becomes a ; wife of Allen Johnson FATHER CHARLES COUGHLIN...the “radio priest” who used his broadcasts and pub- lications to further anti-Semitism and in the1930s HARRY BENNETT ...... Ford’s “enforcer” CLARA FORD ...... wife of Henry Ford

ACT 1: Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan: 1930s Overture Keep the Wheels Rolling On...... Allen Johnson with Henry Ford and the entire cast You’re Gone Again/How Can I Explain...... Ella and Lewis Bradford We Can Start Again...... Lewis Bradford The Forgotten Man’s Hour ...... Allen and Rosie Johnson, Ella and Lewis Bradford, Joe Cantor, Frank Jackson The Hour of Power/Cleanse Ourselves ...... Father Coughlin and the Hour of Power Choir/Lewis Bradford and the Troupe I Invented Auto-Love...... Henry Ford The Ford Hunger March...... Rosie Johnson and the Workers Chorus You’ll Be Like My Son...... Henry Ford and Harry Bennett Notes on the characters I Got a Job/I Know the Fear...... Lewis Bradford and Harry Bennett portrayed in ‘Forgotten When You Organize ...... Lewis Bradford and the Troupe Composer Steve Jones combines historical scholarship with artistic creativi- Bradford You Are Dreamin’...... Allen Johnson ty to portray Lewis and Ella Bradford, Henry and Clara Ford, Harry Bennett, and It’s About Time ...... Lewis Bradford with Ella Bradford and Rosie Johnson Charles Coughlin in “Forgotten.” Lewis Bradford, a Methodist minister, worked with the poor and homeless A New Beauty ...... Lewis Bradford in Detroit at the Howard Street Mission where he hosted a radio show until he Sit Down (by Maurice Sugar)...... Rosie Johnson and the Workers Chorus died of injuries suffered at the Ford River Rouge plant in November, 1937. Ella Bradford, his wife, kept a diary in which she recounted her suspicions I’m Here for You...... Lewis and Ella Bradford that Lewis had met with foul play. Radio, Guns and Money...... Father Coughlin, Harry Bennett, Henry Ford Harry Bennett, an ex-boxer, was Henry Ford’s right-hand man, heading the notorious Service Dept., which maintained a network of spies throughout the Ford INTERMISSION plant. Ford asked Bennett to be his “eyes and ears” and his work included keep- ACT 2: ing Ford workers out of the union, which he described as “irresponsible” and Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan, May-December, 1937 “un-American.” Charles Coughlin, the Royal Oak radio priest, quoted from Nazi propagan- Shake Hands with the Devil ...... Clara Ford da in his “Hour of Power” broadcasts and introduced a series of articles on the Cleanse Ourselves (reprise) ...... Father Coughlin and the Hour of Power notorious anti-Semitic forgery, Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In 1937, he tried Radio Choir/Lewis Bradford and the Troupe to form an anti-union “workers council” at the Rouge in which Jews would not be welcome. A Bennett spy, Ralph Rimar, testified, “It was an open secret among all We Speak Louder than Machines ...... Rosie Johnson and the Workers Chorus of us that the company was collaborating with Fr. Coughlin in the era of his best The Stakes Are High ...... Henry Ford, Harry Bennett, and Father Coughlin violent, anti-democratic oratory.” Unlike Coughlin, many other Catholic leaders ...... Allen Johnson and the Troupe and trade-unionists, like , of the Catholic Worker movement, and the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists brought pro-union and humanistic mes- I Got a Bad, Bad Feeling ...... Ella Bradford sages to Catholic workers. Coughlin was eventually taken off the air. Let’s Take a Walk...... Harry Bennett Henry Ford, the auto pioneer, was a complex character who fought union- I Cannot Be Silent...... Lewis Bradford ization yet, when workers voted in the UAW in 1941, signed the best auto con- tract up to that time. He published anti-Semitic material in his Dearborn In- Bradford I Have Got a Job for You...... Foreman dependent and received an award from the Nazi government that included a We Will All Forget...... Hospital attendant, Ella Bradford, Harry Bennett swastika medal. Although he I’m Here For You (reprise)...... Ella Bradford had a puritanical reputation, biographers report that he We Remember You...... Rosie and Allen Johnson, Workers Chorus, Ella Bradford would view pornographic movies with Bennett and had EPILOGUE affairs with servant girls. After receiving more threats, the widow and her children left Detroit, never to return. Clara Ford had a tense re- Sixty-five years later, there are grandchildren and great-grandchildren and others who know lationship with Henry at times, Lewis’s story and keep it alive. Lewis Bradford is not forgotten. and disliked Bennett whom In 1941, after years of struggle, the was on the verge of winning she felt was influencing her a contract at the . Henry Ford declared he would shut down all the husband in unsavory ways. She plants worldwide before he would sign with the union. Clara Ford threatened to divorce threatened to divorce Henry in Henry if he didn’t come to an agreement with the union, and the next day he signed the 1941. most far-reaching contract ever in the auto industry. Today, UAW Local 600 at the Rouge plant is a strong, militant local with a fighting tradition. UNIVERSITY STATE WAYNE REUTHER LIBRARY, P. WALTER SPECIAL ‘FORGOTTEN’ EDITION PAGE 9

Lewis and Ella Bradford,

and the Ford River

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E H T F O Y S E T R U O C S O OT PH WALTER P. REUTHER LIBRARY, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY WALTER P. REUTHER LIBRARY, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

THANKS FROM THE COMPOSER Thanks to the following unions and in- “Friends of Forgotten” Committee: Thanks to the actors, musicians, and the unsung helpers behind the scenes who helped make this show happen. It has been a pleasure to be a part of this stitutions without whose solidarity and Co-chairs: Lisa Canada and Skip Turner; show. support this Detroit production of Julie Barton, Nancy Brigham, Shawn Ellis, Forgotten would not have been possi- Dave Elsila, Katie Elsila, Laura Johnstone, In addition to folks putting on the show tonight, a number of people helped in the research and development of Forgotten. First, I’d like to thank the grand- ble: Dan McCarthy, Sister Brenda Moon, Roger Kerson, Ann Kerwin, Mike Kerwin, Dick children of Ella and Lewis, including Ella-Kari Loftfield, Kate Bates, Lewis Brad- Actors Equity Association, AFL-CIO Olson, Oscar Paskal, Dolores Paskal, Dia ford, Walter Bradford, Lewis Conn, Lore Loftfield DeBower and Michael Kelsay, Benson Ford Research Center Pearce, Bill Wylie-Kellerman, Jeanie and Lewis and Ella’s son-in-law, Bob Loftfield. Detroit Area Library Network Wylie-Kellerman. Thanks also to other family, including Coleman Baker, Alan Fritts, Dorothy Detroit Department of Cultural Affairs and Jones, Jinny Jones, Lucy Jones, Peter Jones, Phil Jones, Beth Mast, Don Messer- the Michigan Council for the Arts and smith, Sherry Messersmith, Ollie Moles, Pat Moles, and Holly Syrrakos. Others Cultural Affairs And to the many individuals who pro- who helped include Alberta Asmer, Melanie Bazil, Elise Bryant, Mary Culver, Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local 5, vided valuable help and advice: Ron Mary Daniels, Dave Elsila, Katie Elsila, George Fulginiti-Shakar, Joe Glazer, Mil- AFM, AFL-CIO Alpern, John Neville Andrews, Steve Bab- lie Glazer, Willard Hunter, Cassandra Lee, Charlie Micallef, Kathy Micallef, Pat Health Alliance Plan son, Gregg Bloomfield, Don Boggs, Jo Moles, Shaun Nethercott, Wes Nethercott, Victor Reuther, Carl Schmidt, Sue International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Braughton, Duryea Callaway, Pablo Davis, Schurman, Frank Sladen, Mike Smith, Bill Wylie-Kellerman, Jeanie Wylie- Employees, AFL-CIO James Hart, Bev Llombart (Theatrical Kellerman. Also thanks to my wife Donna Messersmith Jones and our children International Union, UAW Wardrobe Union), Leslie Love, Andree Nay- Greg and Melanie. lor, Mary Ellen Riordan, Chris Ritter, Gor- Several books helped shape the story including Matrix Theatre Company don Stump (Detroit Federation of Musi- Babson and others; Walter Reuther Working Detroit Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO cians), Peggy Thorpe, Janet Trevathan, John by Upton Sinclair, by Nelson Lichtenstein, by Steve Michigan Labor History Society The Ford Hunger March The Flivver King Wendling and Warren Wilson (IATSE). American Odyssey by Maurice Sugar, Plowshares Theatre Company Videos: Bob Ingalls, Rick Sherman, Larry th Sward, , by Robert Conot, The Brothers Reuther The Legend of Henry Ford St. John’s Lutheran School, Fraser Matthews (WPON), Shawn D. Ellis. Building the Union at Ford by Victor Reuther, by Kei- Theatrical Wardrobe Union Radio Priest: Father Charlesby Coughlin, Phillip Bonosky, the Father of BrotherHate Radio Bill McKie : UAW Local 600 The CIO by Robert Zieger, ald Warren, and Ford: The Men and the Machine UAW Region 1A DEVELOPMENT OF ‘FORGOTTEN’ by Robert Lacey. , by Don- UAW-Ford National Programs Center The following institutions and unions pro- vided generous help in the early develop- Steve Jones ment and production of Forgotten and its Special thanks to these individuals who preview performances at the George Meany gave of their time and resources for Center in Silver Spring, Md., in May, 2003: the Detroit production of Forgotten: SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS gram, School of Labor and Industrial Rela- Yip Harburg Foundation tions, Michigan State University; and “Our Alberta Asmar, who patiently filled count- Puffin Foundation Co-sponsors: George Meany Center-Na- Daily Work/Our Daily Lives” at MSU. less ticket orders until we were sold out! Maryland State Arts Council tional Labor College; Labor Heritage Foun- George Meany Center for Labor Studies — dation; Wayne State University Labor Stud- Rehearsal support: Special thanks to Barbara Barefield, for graphic design the National Labor College ies Program; Insti- Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Detroit services including the design of this pro- Service Employees International Union, tute of Labor and Industrial Relations La- for generously providing the space for For- gram. AFL-CIO bor Studies Center; Labor Education Pro- gotten rehearsals for four weeks. Holly Syrrakos, for designing the poster. Communications Workers of America PAGE 10 DETROIT LABOR NEWS • MARCH 2004 WHO’S WHO IN ‘FORGOTTEN’

Steve Jones (com- women providing support and renewal for Comcast Cable as a reader for the L’anse Michigan State Fair. A war veteran, he has poser) lives in Mary- self and others. She also performs with the Creuse School District.. performed vintage and original songs at land, where he is a group Sacred Song, and drums with the events sponsored by the UAW, Daimler- jazz musician and Flowering Tree Lodge. She has appeared in Stephanie Pas- Chrysler and Delta Dental and helped raise teacher, and can often Worker’s Lives/Workers Stories and the caris* (Ella Brad- $40,000 for the World War II memorial be found sharing mu- Common Ground Theatre Ensemble. A ford) returned home fund. His premiere album, Teach Me sic at union events massage therapist, she is a former member to Michigan after Tonight, was recorded with the Eddie De- with his brother Peter of IWW Local 610, UAW Local 735, and touring the East Coast Santis Orchestra. and others. He is a AFSCME. with an improv come- member of the American Federation of Mu- dy troupe. She has Denise Dotson sicians Local 161-710. His grandfather was Jason Landis (Lewis worked for Mosaic (hospital attendant Ella Bradford’s first cousin. Bradford) has per- Youth Theatre of De- Johnnie Mae and formed on stage in De- troit and Boarshead Theatre in Lansing. workers chorus/Clo Elise Bryant (direc- troit and Chicago, Recent roles include Lizzy Sweeny in Teal) is an actress, tor) was raised in De- most recently as Dr. Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Merilee in jazz singer, and artist. troit, the daughter of Henry Jekyll and Mr. An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein, She has appeared in Albert Bryant, a Edward Hyde with the and Carley in The Most Massive Woman local productions of member of UAW Lo- Birmingham Village Wins. She is a member of Actors Equity As- The Wiz, Tam- cal 600 who worked Players’ production of sociation. bourines to Glory, God’s Trombones, for more than 30 Jekyll and Hyde. He played Mike in Saint, A House Divided, and Perilous years at the Rouge Working, Marty in The House of Yes, and Lynn Marie Smith Times. She has sung at Eva’s Place, the plant. For almost 20 Stine in City of Angels at Columbia Col- (Rosie Johnson) is a Summit, the Money Tree, the St. Regis Ho- years, she worked in labor theater in De- lege. He thanks his family for their support. singer-songwriter tel, and other venues. She owns Praise Av- troit and Ann Arbor and has written many whose debut album enue Detroit, a shop featuring handpainted plays including Workin’ for a Livin’. Cur- Mitchell Q. Mc- with Infinity record- inspirational arts and crafts. rently she teaches at the George Meany Murren (Allen John- ing artist Natures Di- Center for Labor Studies-National Labor son), a graduate of vine reached number Sandra Esparza College in Silver Spring, Maryland, which Michigan State Uni- five on the Billboard Deering (workers provided her with the opportunity to return versity in theater/so- charts. A labor ac- chorus, Geraldine) is to Detroit for six weeks to direct this pro- cial science, is re- tivist, she has performed at Greenfield Vil- the daughter of immi- duction of Forgotten. turning to acting after lage, Detroit’s Laborfest, the dedication of grant parents from a long hiatus. Recent the Labor Legacy Landmark in Detroit, and Mexico. Her father Bill Meyer (music productions include on numerous picketlines and at rallies. She was a member of the director) composes Side Show with the Birmingham Village is an organizer with the Hotel Employees Teamsters. A union and arranges for TV Players and a movie debut in the soon to be and Restaurant Employees Local 24. organizer and activist and radio, and has released independent film drama An Apol- for the past 16 years, she is a skilled trades been keyboardist for ogy to the Dead. When not acting, he Melvin Beasley journeywoman pipefitter service worker several Broadway works for Total Health Care Inc. (workers chorus) is a with CMS Energy, and a part-time national shows including native Detroiter who organizer for the Utility Workers Union of Guys and Dolls, Mark Moultrup has been performing America, a union that she also serves as Wizard of Oz, (Henry Ford) has on stage for nearly ten steward, trustee, and alternate delegate. Mama Mia, and The Rockettes. He is been a working pi- years. His theatrical She received the Bread and Roses Award music director for Motown’s Martha Reeves anist, vocalist, com- credits include The from the University of Michigan summer and the Latin group La Inspiracion, and poser, and arranger Crucible, Twelve school for women workers. tours with Marcus Belgrave’s Tribute to for more than 25 Angry Men, To Kill Louis Armstrong. His social activism is re- years. He has re- a Mockingbird, and La Cage Aux Folles. Kae Halonen (work- flected in his productions of the Detroit leased three CDs, and He is currently shooting a pilot for a TV ers chorus/Christina Tribute to Paul Robeson and Barbara Dane has performed with show and also is attending the Detroit Arsenau) grew up in a Returns. He belongs to Detroit Federation artists of many genres, including jazz, Mo- Repertory Theatre actors’ workshop. Finnish-American of Musicians, Local 5. town and pop. He is a member of Detroit working-class family Federation of Musicians, Local 5. Russanne Bucci that emphasized the Davis Gloff (Fr. (workers chorus/ importance of Coughlin) has been a Henry Nelson (Har- Mary Corio Bucci) singing, theater, and performer, announc- ry Bennett) per- worked with Common social consciousness. er, lecturer, teacher, formed in the Detroit Ground Theatre En- A singer, violinist, and mandolin player, pianist, clinician, Actors Guild produc- semble of Ann Arbor she frequently joins husband Sam Stark composer, and com- tion of Tony ‘n’ before going to singing a variety of people’s music in vari- mentator on music for Tina’s Wedding and Philadelphia, where ous settings. She has worked with educa- over 35 years. A was an understudy in she worked as a pub- tion programs for industrial workers for graduate of Wayne the Meadowbrook lic radio producer and trainer in diversity more than 15 years. State University, he has sung and acted in Theater production of and intercultural communication. She now opera, oratorio, concert, and recitals Little Shop of Horrors. He is a singer works as a teacher in a performing arts high Stephen Jones throughout the U.S. and has performed with with the Imperial Rhythm Section and has school and values being part of a produc- (workers chorus) is a the Michigan Opera Theatre, Detroit Sym- been in numerous productions of The Play- tion that shares such powerful history as poet and songwriter phony Orchestra, and other orchestras. He ers theater group in Detroit. Forgotten. Most of her family members who teaches English is a member of the Piccolo Opera Co. and have been union members and her brother and journalism at De- currently is weekday morning announcer Katie Nelson (Little is a UAW representative in Local 1281. troit’s Chadsey High on ClassicalMusicAmerica.com. Ella) is, at the tender School. He has per- age of 7, already a Michael Carluccio formed at Detroit’s D. Yarrow Halstead veteran of the stage. (foreman, workers Laborfest and the (Clara Ford; Hour of She has appeared in chorus) is a vocalist Concert of Colors as well as various Detroit- Power quartet/Eliza- the Detroit produc- who has opened for Al area coffee houses, and has appeared most beth Hanglin; work- tion of Tony ‘n’ Martino, Bobby Vin- recently in a Southfield production of The ers chorus/Freddie Tina’s Wedding and ton, and The Gay- Fantasticks. A CD of his labor songs, One Mertz) sings with the in productions with lords and has per- More Day, was issued in 2000 as a MA Song Circle, an the Turning Pointe Dance Co. in St. Clair formed at the Fisher fundraiser for the Detroit Council of News- informal gathering of Shores. She has recently been seen on and Fox theaters in Detroit as well as the paper Unions. He is a member of Detroit SPECIAL ‘FORGOTTEN’ EDITION PAGE 11

Federation of Teachers Local 231 and a for- One Voice choir as well as in the Zion church’s Watch Night Kwanzaa production. Maurice “Skip” mer member of Newspaper Guild Local 22 Chapel Church of God in Christ choir and He is second vice-president, district com- Turner (workers in Detroit. praise team. mitteeperson, and civil rights chair of UAW chorus) has per- Local 3000 at Auto Alliance in Flat Rock. formed in several the- Samuel Kirkland III John “Bruce” Liles atrical productions (Frank Jackson, work- (workers chorus, Ed Jim Salerno (Joe including When You ers chorus) is a mem- Sweeney) has per- Cantor/workers cho- Strike Flint, ber of UAW Local 653 formed his one-man rus) has worked with Workin’ for a in Pontiac, and has show on the life of Teddy Harris Jr., Don Livin’, and The worked in the UAW Woody Guthrie at Mayberry, Marcus Grievance Trilogy, and has written and National Organizing many venues includ- Belgrave, James directed several plays including The Ter- and Public Relations ing union halls, the Carter, Kenny Cox, rible Three, Last Day in a Non-Union and Publications Detroit Historical and other well-known Shop, Overtime in a Time of Layoffs, Dept. He has written extensively for union Museum, Greenfield Village, and else- musicians, and has and his latest work, Just Between You and publications including Solidarity and three where. He writes children’s songs for chil- hosted jam sessions at Baker’s Keyboard Me. He has been road manager for the Spy- local-union papers, which he has edited. He dren and “smarmy political pop” for the Lounge and Bert’s Market Place, two of De- der Turner show and was a producer with recently graduated cum laude from the Na- rest of us. He is a member of Detroit Fed- troit’s leading jazz clubs. He is a retired his brothers on the 2000 production of the tional Labor College of the George Meany eration of Teachers Local 231. skilled trades worker and UAW member. hit CD, “Spyder Turner.” He is coordinator Center for Labor Studies and is coordinator of Black Men in Unions, the Michigan Sum- and developer of the Black Men In Unions Susan Newell (work- Lisha M. Sly (work- mer School for Women Workers, the Win- Academy. He sings with the Northwest Uni- ers chorus) is a native ers chorus) is a native ter Leadership Institute, and the Unity tarian Universalist Church choir. of Indiana who has Detroiter whose vocal Conference at the University of Michigan. made Detroit her talents can be heard Clara Leavell (work- home for the past 30 in the chorus spon- Melanie Bruss (dancer) graduated from ers chorus) has been years. Since 1979, sored by UNITE!, the Wayne State University’s dance department an active member of she has lent her voice Union of Needle- in 2001, and performed with the WSU Service Employees in support of labor trades, Industrial and Dance Company from 1998-2001. She has International Union and other progressive Textile Employees. appeared at Detroit’s Music Hall, Bonstelle Local 79 for 23 years. causes, first in Station, a Detroit- She has been a business manager of UNITE Theatre, Community Arts Theatre, and in She directs Local 79’s based folk group, and more recently in One Local 129 since 1999 and serves on the ex- On Stage! performances for Detroit Public One Voice choir, and by One, which performed an eclectic mix ecutive board of the AFL- Schools children. Since graduation,she has is also a union stew- of folk, blues, reggae, and pop. CIO. She co-founded Detroit’s “Ring in the danced with Motor City Salseros and other ard. A member of Third New Hope Baptist New Year with a Bell, not a Bang!” cam- groups. She performed with the Ridgedale Church, she also teaches music. Gordon Patton paign. Player production of Taming of the Shrew. (workers chorus/ Malinda Lewis Ulysses) is a member DaJuanny Taylor is Jenny Phan (dancer) has been dancing for (workers chorus/ of the Black Men in a musician, producer, five years. She studied swing, salsa, ball- Dora) has performed Unions Players and and vocalist special- room, and ballet and currently trains with in community theatre has appeared in the izing in hip hop and a coach in international Latin dance. She productions of Queen stage production of contemporary gospel has performed with dance teams Revolv, Esther and Wizard Stress in the Work- music. His acting Motor City Salsero, and others, and at the of Oz. A full-time place and Last Day credits include MPV Bacardi Salsa Congress in Detroit and nurse, she is a mem- in a Non Union Shop. He sings in the bass starring Wood Harris, Chicago, and has competed in several ball- ber and union steward section of the Paul Robeson Chorale at Fel- Envy starring Lisa room dance competitions nationally. with Service Employees International lowship Chapel, and he performed as John Raye and Ray J., Satan We Declare War, Union Local 79 and sings with Local 79’s Newton singing Amazing Grace at the and Colored Peoples Time. *Courtesy of Actors Equity Assocation (Note: Some workers chorus members have adopted names in honor of mentors and relatives.) THE PRODUCTION TEAM Anne Drake (assistant director) has Shaun Nethercott (managing producer) Century Theater), Trinity Irish Dancers munity. performed with Workers Lives/Workers is founder and executive director of Ma- (nationwide), and other productions. She Stories and was in the cast of Workin’ trix Theatre Co., an award-winning the- has production stage-managed concerts Ron Burns (set/lighting designer) works for a Livin,’ written and directed by atre company. Matrix creates original for LL Cool 3, Fishbone, Lou Rawls, regularly with Plowshares Theatre, the Elise Bryant. She wrote song parodies for works through a collaborative process Nancy Wilson, Jean Luc-Ponty, and oth- Jewish Ensemble Theatre, and Ballet In- the UAW organizing drive at Hudson’s, with underserved populations such as the ers. She is a member of Actors Equity As- ternational of Indianapolis. He has de- the UAW Caterpillar strike, and the De- homeless and Spanish-speaking adults sociation and the UAW staff association signed over 200 productions in more than troit Newspapers strike. She is retired as and children. She has served on commu- union at Wayne State University. 30 years of working in this field, and was an electrician from Ford Motor Co., nity boards, and worked in environmen- the lighting designer for the premiere where she was a member of UAW Local tal and peace and justice campaigns. “Sister” Brenda R. Moon (house production of Dance Like No One’s 898 and editor of the Local’s publication, manager) is a percussionist with Ubaka Watching at the Jewish Ensemble The- Raw Facts. Alisa Lomax (production manager) has Hill and Drum Song Orchestra, and is atre and for Boy Gets Girl, currently on worked extensively as a production man- president of “Power Surge Posse.” She is the boards. David Elsila (executive producer) is a ager or coordinator on film and video proj- former assistant director in the AFL-CIO co-coordinator of the Michigan Labor ects for over ten years. This is her first Education Dept. in Washington, D.C., Scarlett Jade (costume designer) has Legacy Project, which built the Labor time working the position for a stage show, and now works as a national field repre- been a costume designer since 1984 and Landmark on the Detroit riverfront. In and she’s enjoying it! She is also working sentative for the AFL-CIO. A former staff has worked on over 30 plays and 20 fea- 1997, he helped organize Detroit’s first with Matrix Theatre and the Fisher Play- member at the George Meany Center for ture films. Her most recent film work was Laborfest, which has become an annual ers on their show, Better Days. Labor Studies in Silver Spring, Mary- with Jeff Daniels’ Escanaba in da Moon- event. He worked in labor journalism as land, she “traded places” with Elise light and Supersucker. She is a member editor of the Michigan Teacher, the Elaine (Hendriks) Smith* (production Bryant, who moved to that position from of the Theatrical Wardrobe Union. American Teacher, and UAW’s Soli- stage manager) fell in love with the the- Detroit. She is a member of UAW Local darity magazine, and now teaches part- ater working on plays at Fraser (MI) High 22 and TNG/CWA Local 35. Lateefah B-Dixon (costumer) is a 30- time at Wayne State University’s labor School. Her stage management credits year veteran of performing arts. She start- school. He is a member of UAW Local include Phantom Menace to Society Corretha Montague (assistant house ed off as an actress and moved into mod- 1981 and former member of Newspaper (The Second City, Detroit), Annie Get manager) is a union activist who retired el and designing work where she finds Guild Local 22. Your Gun (Minnesota Festival Theatre), as a UAW member after 30 years, and the transformation of actor or actress into Comedy Works with The Guild (The who remains active in labor and the com- character is exhilarating. PAGE 12 DETROIT LABOR NEWS We thank the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources for its generous support Keeping Faith with the Past Means Building a Better Future

Watch for the Eighth Annual LABORFEST Coming this September www.LaborfestDetroit.org

The past won’t be ‘Forgotten’ while we fight for the future

Communications Workers of America District 4 Jeff Rechenback Vice President SPECIAL ‘FORGOTTEN’ EDITION PAGE 13

✦ NEWS FOR 2004 ✦ Waterford Schools workers fight for first contract

By Tom Schram lated Personnel (MFT&SRP), said that Special to the Labor News progress has not been slowed by his union’s willingness to come to the table. There is a learning process going on in “I realize that first contracts take more

the Waterford School District these days time than subsequent contracts, but this OF SHAWN©2004 PHOTOS D. COURTESY ELLIS and it’s not only happening in the class- has taken inordinately long,” he said. “We room. Members of the Waterford Federation have always wanted to bargain more fre- of Support Personnel are learning how dif- quently than they have, not only to get ficult it can be to get a first contract. things done, but to build momentum.” More than 500 support personnel voted Hecker said the union has filed an Un- to unionize in April 2002 and bargaining be- fair Labor Practice complaint because the gan that fall. While many issues have been district has not turned over financial infor- resolved, the big ones, like wages and health mation as it is legally obligated to do. And care, have proven to be a stumbling block. he said that the district is stonewalling on Bargaining committee member Colleen major issues. Wolf said the issue of state financial assis- tance to the district has impeded progress. ‘No, no, no’ That issue was recently resolved, but things “Their position at the bargaining table Health Care Now: Supporters rally be- have not sped up. is very often ‘no, no, no,’ ” Hecker said. hind Waterford Schools workers, who “A mediator has been brought in; that’s “They still are not willing to provide peo- are seeking a first contract. At a recent helped some,” she said. “But we had a ses- ple with the kind of wages they deserve. school board meeting, Trustee John sion last week that started at 7 a.m. and They really have almost nothing on the Himmelspach and Chairman Brian lasted until 7 p.m. and nothing was accom- table on wages. And they’re not even will- Whiston beat a hasty retreat into execu- plished.” ing to consider health care for anyone but tive session after Whiston lashed out at Waterford School District Superinten- the few who are already getting it.” the union. dent Thomas Tattan said that bargaining a MFT&SRP staff representative Liz first contract always takes time. Duhn said the union was reaching out to the “It’s a slow process in identifying all the community. gain “right now,” Whiston and the Water- new members,” he said. “We’re taking into “We attend all the school district meet- ford School Board however shut down the consideration a whole series of positions in ings,” she said. “Several members of the la- meeting and went into the private session. the district that had never been covered by bor community have come to speak. Mem- After the abrupt ending, Whiston apol- a union before.” bers sit there and hold signs that say ‘Con- ing, and then coming out with his own five- ogized to one supporter who asked why she Tattan said that health insurance was a tract Now.’ We’re very respectful. We’ve minute outlash at union officials, school wasn’t allowed to speak, quickly finished potential stumbling block because costs had a number of tentative agreements but board chairman Brian Whiston abruptly signing some paperwork and then made a have risen dramatically and the district has we’re down to substantive issues now and ended the public portion of the meeting by hasty exit to an area behind closed doors. limited funds. we’re getting nowhere.” going into “executive session.” Angry union bargainers noted after the “We have to deal with the fact that we’re Whiston made the move during a Feb. meeting that the next bargaining session is looking at cuts from the state,” he said. Board meetings heating up 26 meeting as he was about to be chal- slated for early March. “But we’re on the right track. Our side After refusing to answer questions of lenged by MFT&SRP bargaining represen- Stay tuned. wants a contract.” several union supporters and support staff tative Liz Duhn on bargaining issues he David Hecker, president of the Michi- employees during an audience comment brought forward in his statement. Freelance writer Tom Schram is co-chair gan Federation of Teachers and School Re- section at a Waterford school board meet- During the public outburst, Whiston of the National Writers Union of Southeast stated the Waterford bargainers had offered Michigan. Metro Detroit Labor News Man- health care to staff working at least 25 hours aging Editor Shawn Ellis contributed to this per week and saying he was willing to bar- report.

“If you need a designer who can make your message fly off the STAY printed page and into the hearts INFORMED and minds of readers, Stories on pages 13 and 15 are from recent issues of the Barbara Barefield Metro Detroit Labor News, is your person.” JIM WEST/JIMWESTPHOTO.COM successor publication to the Dave Elsila, retired editor, UAW Solidarity magazine Detroit Labor News. “Barefield has been designing our newslet- You can keep up with what’s ters, brochures and publications since 1999. The quality of her work has always happening in labor been excellent, professional and highly by subscribing for just creative.” $15 a year from Julie Hurwitz, Executive Director, NLG/Maurice and Jane Sugar Law Center METRO DETROIT Strikers Picket American Axle for Economic & LABOR NEWS UAW members struck American Axle in Detroit and other cities after con- 313-891-2514 600 W. Lafayette, Suite 200 tract talks broke off. The workers sought to protect job security and health Barbara Barefield, Barefield DesignWorks Detroit, MI 48226 care for retired workers, among other issues. The strike ended February Union member (Graphic Artists Guild) phone 313-961-0800. 27 with a tentative agreement that awaits ratification votes by members. Design & preparation of all printed work PAGE 14 DETROIT LABOR NEWS

Thank you, MICHIGAN LABOR We Salute Our HISTORY SOCIETY! Labor Force

“I see … an America where Officers, Members & Retirees the workers are really free; UAW Local 898 and through their great 8975 Textile Road, Ypsilanti, MI unions … the dignity and security of the working UAW LOCAL 898 EXECUTIVE BOARD man and woman are guaranteed by their own Ralph Mayer Abe Herevia President Guide strength and fortified by Ralph Puckett Trustees the safeguards of the law.” Vice President Anne Drake, Chair — FDR Carolyn Clay Gary Prater

Saundra Parsons INTERNATIONAL UNION OF Recording Secretary OPERATING ENGINEERS Rick Roe Joel Goddard LOCAL 547 – A, B, C, E, G, H – AFL-CIO Financial Secretary-Treasurer Plant Chair

PHILIP SCHLOOP Dan Heath Chester Wojie Business Manager & International Trustee Sergeant-At-Arms Retired Workers Chapter

Lewis Bradford’s name is permanently engraved at DSI Advocates for People with Disabilities The Michigan Labor

Legacy Landmark. OF SHAWN©2004 PHOTO D. COURTESY ELLIS Shouldn’t yours be, too? DSI has helped thousands of people obtain Social Security Disability Benefits You can still have your name or the name of a family member, mentor, or union pioneer, permanently placed on the Wall of Honor at the Michigan Labor Legacy Landmark in • Professional representation with a personal touch downtown Detroit. All it costs is a $100 donation. Funds will be used to provide ed- • More than 20 years of experience ucational material at the site for teachers, • 97% success rate students, and other visitors. • No award, no fee Help keep the spirit of labor alive with your tax-deductible contribution today. Please fill out and mail this coupon now.

To: Michigan Labor Legacy Project c/o Walter P.Reuther Library To refer someone for a free consultation, 5401 Cass, Detroit MI 48202 call toll-free: Enclosed is my check for ____.Please place the following individual or fam- 866-711-7732 ily name on the Wall of Honor at the Michigan Labor Legacy Landmark (lim- it 24 character and spaces,please;only one individual name or family name or visit: per line). www.disabilityawards.com Name for wall______My name______No. & Street ______DSI is a Division of SSDC • 36500 High Pointe City______State______ZIP______Blvd. Suite 350 • Novi, MI 48375 SPECIAL ‘FORGOTTEN’ EDITION PAGE 15 Borders workers ✦ NEWS FOR 2004 ✦ ratify landmark deal By a majority vote the weekend of Jan. 9, workers at the original Borders Book Store in Ann Arbor, Mich., ratified a first- time contract with the company. An agreement came Dec. 31 between Borders and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 876, which represented the 45-50 workers, organizer Tom Rekuc told the radio program “Working Detroit 1460” and the Metro Detroit Labor News. The two-year deal let workers return to their jobs Jan. 2, and ended a boycott of

©2004 PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAWN©2004 PHOTO D. COURTESY ELLIS Borders that mobilized union, community, political and student support in the univer- sity town. Rekuc called it “a victory for the workers as well as the union,” telling Working De- troit that “Borders was embarrassed by pick- eters in front of the store during (holiday) shopping season” and resumed talks in late December “with a more positive attitude.” Key issues were wages, health care and employment security, and the workers won on all three counts, he said. Details were In the spirit of Lewis Bradford: Detroit's United Way Labor Liaison and former UAW Local 22 President Ed not disclosed, pending the members’ vote. Ptasznik (right) helps assemble 16,000 information kits that are being distributed to jobless workers in the metro area. While social service agencies are stepping up efforts to help the unemployed, Congress has refused Worker writers will to extend unemployment benefits to the long-term jobless. gather in Taylor Organizers are soliciting participants for Over 8 million out of work, the seventh annual Worker Writer Festival to be held May 1, 2004, at UAW Region 1A Hall in Taylor. but Congress won’t extend benefits The theme for this year’s festival is “Hand Made: Honoring the Legacy of the By Mark Gruenberg 54,000 disappeared from employment rolls. Gold. “Jobs have fallen by 726,000 since the American Worker.” Worker writers are in- Press Associates Inc. And 23.5 percent of jobless workers ‘end’ of the last recession in November 2001, vited to submit poems, short stories, songs, have been unemployed for more than 26 and 2.35 million since its beginning in essays or other creative writings dealing The nation’s unemployment rate ended weeks, meaning their benefits have run March 2001,” Gold said in mid-December. with the theme of workers shaping Ameri- 2003 at a December figure of 5.7 percent, out. Those people are left without any in- “It’s perfectly understandable why an ca with their hands. with 8.398 million people out of work, the come because the GOP-run Congress re- administration that has been under the gun “Worker writers are people who work Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported. fused to extend federal jobless benefits, for weakness of the labor market would regular jobs and write for the love of it, to The figures continued the high-unem- which ended Dec. 31. want to switch to a more-favorable meas- tell others of what really goes on in the ployment trend seen since the U.S. Some 40.4 percent of all jobless workers urement,” she added. workplace, to express their vision of a bet- Supreme Court seated GOP nominee have been out for at least four months, BLS In December, factories marked their ter world and to inspire others to join the George W. Bush in the Oval Office. As of data showed, compared to 37.9 percent of 42nd straight month of losses. With sea- movement and help make this dream come December, the number of additional jobless 4-month jobless workers last December. sonal adjustments, they shed 26,000 jobs. true,” said Sam Stark, a local labor activist during his reign totals 2.442 million. That’s not the whole story. BLS said 9.6 Without them, real losses were who coordinates the festival. The number of unemployed in January percent — one of every 11 — workers are 43,000. Without seasonal adjustments, fac- Stark said that organizers are trying to 2001 — the last data gathered under Pres- jobless, discouraged or forced to toil invol- tories lost 523,000 jobs in the last 12 expand the festival to all unionists in the ident Clinton — was 5.956 million and the untarily part-time when they really want months. Losses were small but spread over metropolitan area. adjusted jobless rate that month was 4 per- full-time work. all types of factories. “The Detroit Worker Writer Festival is cent. The Bush administration argues that the In 2000, the last year of the Clinton ad- important because it is one of the few places The reason for the drop in the number of recession is over, but the Economic Policy ministration, factories employed an aver- where rank-and-file workers from many dif- unemployed was a huge one-month Institute questions that. Bush is using data age of 17.263 million people, BLS data ferent unions can come together, meet each decline in total numbers of people in the from a less-comprehensive survey — not show. The factory decline had already start- other, learn from each other and form a uni- work force. BLS said 309,000 people left the the one that BLS uses for its jobless num- ed then, and that figure fell to 16.441 mil- fied movement,” he said. labor force in December. Of those, 255,000 bers — to tout employment gains. lion in 2001, 15.034 million in Dec. 2002 For more information, call Stark at (313) disappeared from the jobless rolls and That’s not right, says EPI economist Elise and 14.521 million last month. 926-5291 or e-mail: [email protected].

The Membership and Officers of UAW Local 653 Wish the cast and crew of ‘Forgotten’ a production filled with the same pride and determination that inspired the workers at the Ford Rouge plant when they were struggling to organize the UAW in the 1930s. SOLIDARITY – YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER! P.S. Good Luck to UAW 653 member and Forgotten cast member Sam Kirkland

Charlie Tiedeman, President Marie McDonald, Recording Secretary Retiree Chapter: Bonnie Melton, Chairperson Kit Walk, Vice President Jo Halabicky, Guide Shop Committee Chairmen: Curt Bailey, 2nd Vice President Earnest McCray, Sergeant-at-Arms Dave Moore, Gary Lee Parker, Nick Karras, Ivan K. Arnold, Financial Secretary Trustees: Carolyn Winton, Jerry Coe, Jerome Chaumley Mike Tierman, Ken Johnson