, , Illl'mher,lllp would hUllom OUI. Ol1l' laci Till' Intenml Or~ . lr1l1l11 g ' 11.':..1111 l H \ t r l~r. 10 help thlhC chJn~e"l he!! in .,- T It ~ riJI I) h:llldll1l'd .lnLlth.. lt \\;\... "Uf\ I\al unlll Ihe 1 .~lll l l, HltI &lgiJrl \\
<strong>International</strong> Office Gets First-Hand Look O :fit.:e l':' at,the <strong>International</strong> Oft~ce III Washlllgton, D. .. were l ol ~ lowi ng Ihe progre", <strong>of</strong> Local 15 16. Jonesboro, Arkimsas. Bu::tirles::t l anager 31han Edgar. and Intclllational Rcprescntalives Lloyd Lynch and Su:-.ic Barber In thei r n e~o lililions wilh MagncTck/ niverioal Munuracl ul'ing orpor:lI ion in "rknn~u~ . Journ al Department Direct r Mary Anll Van Meter Iravc-lcd 10 Blytheville to interview soml! or the workers. LJ l fCClor Van Meier :",pokc Lo SIMer Sall y Miller who ,aid. "When I fir>! !!law Su,\je Barber at MagncTek. she was peepmg in the window. I asked one orthegirls 'who's that?' he :o.tllid, 'thi.I' "s one <strong>of</strong> Ih o~e union people : wHeT all. we went 10 the meeting. I lbtcllcd [0 Susie Ifllk for 30 minulcs ...! decided I would join the union. I wa.", a mcmbcr:1I one time: when we took the pay-cap CUl, J dropped oul bec.au'\C I could nO longer alTord it:' When Ibked how ~IC pay CUI affccted her family life. S"ler Miller rCplied. "It wa~ dcvaslillmg. vcry dev;:I, lUling. We lost.a home. \Vem very f~r In debl.. .. The first tWO ycar~ weren'lloo bad. but that third year- II was really bad:' She rncmioned thai her hu~band had a hean .mack and \\':l..'i disabled: that Slre~s probably cau-;ed il. !-Ier hu~ band had undergone back .. urgery. and the double hil r hi ~ not being able to work and hcr pay cut W:l5: theln::,t straw. Director Van Meier ... po~e to Si::,u;r Curolyn ArnQld. who.erv~d on tl,e I C' gotiming Commiltce. Sio;ter Amold !ill.id. "HJvlIlg n union is a beautiful thing .. ,. \ t'~ s"d for people: 'who nre not in the union. Being a steward. you've got 10 be strong and able to deal with your foreman. the nonunion itnd union cuworkers:' T the questiun <strong>of</strong> how ,he rared in the pay cut. istcr Arnold rc· Union me mbers (I-ron' row, from left) Pa m 8rown, Choirperson Sond,.o Kin9, Chief Steward Deanne ,McComb a nd Solly Miller. (Back row, from le ft) Nora Corr, Carolyn Arnolel, Lor; Mo ntgomery anel Coral Sims. plied. "When Iloo\.. the pay CUI. il wu:-. like a drag. Everythmg \Vent downhill: bills piled up ... no mon~)' : my crcdil cards were month .. behind .... It wa!ot like a mghtmare," She mentioned (h,1I being onlhe Negotiating Commmee \\Il.'''' a "lcrrible thing. an :1WruJ thing .... I wi~h every mcmocrcould "iit there und ~cc how Ih~ company b:1rgaincd tlguin~t th e people .... 111C), t •• e y()ur pride ""ny. BUI we bargained. we rought for it. and we had people to help u:-., m~ ,",c :Irc On th e righltruck ...:' Si!'oh;1 LOli MVlIl~UIIU'; I Y. ,,110 \\.1... Involved in hundbilling and mller duties. W:1C; intcrviewed next. She rc· marked. " When I tir:.t went to the meeting. I TCillly didn't know whal to C"," peCI. l'\C never beell ~I union member before. After I heard Sll~ic talking. I rf"ll in lnvr with her I ... ie_ npel 'hi' c':ml that night .... and (jnanci~llly . it 'c;gcl ling belter. Three yean. ago. II wa5i. Hlmo"l ruining Ill)' marriage ...." When .. ~ ~eJ whether .. he too,," abu:-.c from ::,ome co-worker'" because <strong>of</strong> her work with the union, Si;;tcr Montgomcry res-ponded. "Well. most <strong>of</strong> Illy friend:;. ~lrC in (he uni n .... Tht room I work in-lJ9 percenl arc union ml;01' bers. I was the lead per::,on when the IU!i.l COIl1ract wa. .... igned. I \Va::, gelling a quaner more an h ur. About two or three ,,'eeks after Ihe contract was ... igncd. they decided lhe) didn't need lCl,d pc{lple anymore. but they wunted me to do the worL \\lIhout gelling thm extra quaner. lllrmk ... to Nall13n and the umon, "",e got dUll paid." The .. lOry wa ... Ihe ... amc- turmotl \ hen their pay wa.s cut. leading to olhcrd eva~ tating evcnL .... Director Van Meter .. pokc to current Chatrpc~on Santll,' KllIg. Chief h::\\,ml DCUl llh:: McComb. Sisle r 'ora Carr-till <strong>of</strong> whom '!poke <strong>of</strong> the terrible conchliom. in the \\orlplact' berore the Uluon con· tract wa!' ratified. In the end, Shter Me olllb expC'C!)scci (he scntlmcn lo, <strong>of</strong> them ull. he !l.~\id. "Nathan. Su,je ant.! 1 loyd gl:lY(' 11
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