[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1196-E1197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO WAYNE P. ROY FOR HIS SERVICE TO LABOR

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 9, 1999

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, June 4, men and women of a 
variety of union trades gathered in Marquette, Michigan to honor Wayne 
P. Roy, who retired from federal employment in 1998. Mr. Roy had served 
11 years as the Apprenticeship and Training Representative, Bureau of 
Apprenticeship and Training, U.S. Department of Labor. His service area 
included the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which makes up a large 
portion of my congressional district, and northern Wisconsin.
  Prior to that, Wayne Roy worked for the Michigan State AFL-CIO's 
Labor Employment and Development Program as the Upper Peninsula 
coordinator for several years.
  Those are the dry facts of Wayne Roy's employment, Mr. Speaker. They 
only hint at a lifetime of commitment to issues that affect the 
hardworking people of northern Michigan.
  In fact, this dedication to union issues was a family tradition that 
began before his birth. Wayne's father George was a miner in the Upper 
Peninsula and an officer in his local union. Wayne's mother Delima was 
a member of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union and the 
Steelworkers Women's Auxiliary. It was only natural, therefore, that as 
a child Wayne would learn the importance of unions at his parents' side 
as he joined them at labor rallies and on picket lines.
  After graduating from Gwinn High School, Wayne served a 4-year stint 
in the Navy until 1958, and then began a series of jobs that would give 
him membership in several unions. Through one job in Milwaukee, he 
joined the Chemical Workers, and then through a second he joined 
Teamsters Local 344, serving as part-time shop steward and committee 
member.
  Returning to the Upper Peninsula, Wayne took a job with a mining 
company and became a member of Steelworkers Local 4950. In 1968 he 
joined Sheet Metal Workers Local 94, serving as the union's president 
for 9 years.
  Wayne Roy's commitment to the labor movement led him to take 
positions with a variety of area civic and political groups, where he 
could broaden his effort on behalf of working men and women and find 
new ways to serve his community.

[[Page E1197]]

  Such service included the board chairmanship of the United Way of 
Marquette County and the Marquette County Economic Development 
Corporation, presidency of the Marquette County Labor Council, and 
memberships on such panels as the Central Upper Peninsula Private 
Industry Council, the American Red Cross, the Forsyth Township Zoning 
Board, and the Marquette Prison Inmate Apprenticeship Committee.
  It's clear, Mr. Speaker, that even as Wayne Roy and his wife Hazel 
raised seven children, he was demonstrating his belief that our best 
community leaders are actually public servants, who seek out every 
opportunity to improve the quality of life of their neighborhood, their 
place of employment, their city or township, even their region.
  I ask you, Mr. Speaker, and I ask my House colleagues to join me in 
saluting this dedicated fighter for better lives for ordinary working 
people.
  As one of Wayne Roy's colleagues said recently, he ``proudly bears a 
union label on his soul.''

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