[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 21, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM MORROW ON HIS INDUCTION TO THE UPPER PENINSULA LABOR 
                              HALL OF FAME

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 21, 1999

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, since 1993 eleven outstanding labor leaders, 
individuals who have contributed to organizing, workplace fairness, 
worker dignity, and the advancement of the labor movement in northern 
Michigan, have been honored with induction into the Upper Peninsula 
Labor Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is housed in the Superior Dome on 
the campus of Northern Michigan University in Marquette.
  I have the honor once again this year to participate in this 
important and inspiring induction ceremony, which pays tribute to the 
dedicated efforts of the late William Morrow of Escanaba on behalf of 
the labor movement.
  Mr. Morrow is being recognized for his efforts in organizing the 
construction laborers in the Upper Peninsula and his assistance in 
obtaining a charter for Laborer's International Union of North America, 
Local 1329, based in Iron Mountain, Mich.
  William Morrow's parents died when he was young, and he began working 
at age 16 as an operator of heavy equipment on dredges. He joined a 
union, because he believed a working person could receive a fare wage 
and decent working conditions with a union contract.
  Mr. Speaker, William Morrow believed unions helped both the ordinary 
working person and the employer, and he believed in the basic 
principle, ``an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.''
  He was a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers, 
Local 324, and business representative from 1951-1968. He served as 
vice president for Local 324 from 1964-1968, and he achieved lifetime 
membership in Local 324 in December 1977. William Morrow's widow, 
Gertrude, still lives in Escanaba.
  We can praise the everyday efforts of the hard-working men and women 
of Michigan, Mr. Speaker, but there are monuments to the quality of 
their work that make our mere words seem insufficient to the task. One 
such monument is the great Mackinac Bridge, which connects Upper and 
Lower Michigan across the deep and dangerous Straits of Mackinac.
  Mr. Morrow worked on the bridge, part of the dredging operation 
necessary for construction of the two great towers of the suspension 
bridge. He was one of the more than 11,000 workers--3,500 on the site 
and 7,500 in shops and quarries off the site--required to construct 
this engineering marvel and testament to the courage and dedication of 
working America.
  I look forward each year to the opportunity to gather with friends 
and associates in northern Michigan to praise these men and women, 
people like William Morrow, who have dedicated themselves to doing 
great work as an ordinary, everyday task. I ask my colleagues in the 
House to join me in praising these remarkable efforts.

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