[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 139 (Wednesday, October 7, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           A TRIBUTE TO THE SHEET METAL WORKERS, LOCAL NO. 20

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                          HON. PETER VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 7, 1998

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct honor to congratulate 
some of the most dedicated and skilled workers in Northwest Indiana. On 
September 18, 1998, in a salute to their workers' durability and 
longevity, the Sheet Metal Workers, Local #20, of Gary, Indiana, 
honored their members of fifty years, forty years, and twenty-five 
years continued service. These individuals, in addition to the other 
Local #20 members who have served Northwest Indiana so diligently for 
such a long time, are a testament to the proto-typical American worker: 
loyal, dedicated, and hard-working.
  The men and women of Local #20 are a fine representation of America's 
union men and women; I am proud to represent such dedicated men and 
women in Congress. The Sheet Metal Workers Constitution states, ``. . . 
to establish and maintain desirable working conditions and thus provide 
for themselves and their families that measure of comfort, happiness, 
and security to which every citizen is entitled in return for his 
labor, from a deep sense of pride in our trade, to give a fair day's 
work for a fair day's pay.'' For fifty years, the following individuals 
have followed this creed: John Bitner, Alan Bradford, Henry Eckstein, 
Clem Gora, Arthur Kekeis, Raymond Klodzen, Ton Mason, Andrew Mushinsky, 
John Piecuch, Joseph Pollock, Allen Tucker, and John Wesbecher. In 
1958, Eugene Bitner, Harold Couma, John Downing, Harry Hamilton, 
Franklin Klee, Ralph Lasky, and Frank Macewicz, Arthur Panek, Willie 
Peters, Levi Richmond, Thomas Schaeffer, George Sweat, and Jack Teitge 
began their own forty years of service to Northwest Indiana and 
membership in the Sheet Metal Workers trade union. In addition to the 
great service and dedication displayed by the fifty and forty-year 
continued service members, the members with twenty-five years of 
continued service were honored. They are Robert Allen, Howard Alward, 
Keith Benson, Joseph Bloomfield, Robert Bonner, David Condon, Henry 
Cook, Benjamin Dear, Randall Hamilton, Terrence Henney, Arthur Herr, 
Donald Hill, David Hoffman, Kevin Hoffman, Clifford Hynd, David 
Jorgenson, John Klein, James Knapik, Carlton Kobe, Jerry Krachinski, 
Thomas Labney, Gerald Levendouski, Raymond Levendouski, Dan Londacre, 
John McShane, David Masterson, Gus Martakis, Richard Mendez, Earl 
Miller, Marty Mushinsky, Floyd Nelson, John Oros, Joseph Poropat, Rocky 
Richardson, Joseph Ring, Steven Sasko, William Schaeffer, Michael 
Shammert, Louis Schest, Jacob Sherwood, Eugene Skalba, Charles Spicker, 
Robert Swisher, Michael Switt, Larry Tayler, Walter Thomas, Charles 
Thompson, Robert Vaughn, Frank Vidimos, Wayne Werdin, Roger Wright, and 
Paul Zander.
  As Orville Dewey said, ``Labor is man's greatest function. He is 
nothing, he can do nothing, he can achieve nothing, he can fulfill 
nothing, without working.'' The men of Local #20, in addition to all of 
the local unions in Northwest Indiana, form the backbone of our economy 
and community. Without their blood, sweat, and tears, Indiana's First 
Congressional District would not be a place of which to be proud, it 
would not be the place I love, nor would it be my home.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my distinguished colleagues join me 
in congratulating these dedicated, upstanding members of Local #20, in 
addition to all the hard-working union men and women of America. Their 
hard labor and dauntless courage are the achievement and fulfillment of 
the American dream.




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