[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 97 (Monday, July 12, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     A TRIBUTE TO MS. SHIRLEY WARE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 12, 1999

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Shirley Ware, a 
longtime resident of East Oakland, CA whose strong voice for labor will 
be remembered by the many people whose lives she so positively 
affected.
  Ms. Ware was one of the first African-American women elected to lead 
a major union. She served as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Oakland-
based Health Care Workers Union/SEIU Local 250 for more than ten years, 
managing the multimillion dollar budget of the second largest health 
care union in the United States. As Secretary/Treasurer, Shirley Ware 
and the ``New Leadership Team'' brought Local 250 from the brink of 
financial disaster into an era of economic stability. During her 
leadership tenure, Local 250's membership grew from 21,000 to 46,000 
members. Ms. Ware left SEIU stronger, bigger, and better.
  Ms. Ware was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on August 24, 1941 to Mary 
Jane Jones and the late Robert Wilson. When she was a child, her family 
moved to Oakland, where she attended Fremont High School; Ms. Ware 
later attended Chabot Community College, where she earned her 
certification as a licensed nurse.
  Shirley Ware entered the labor movement as an organizer in 1963, when 
her co-workers in an East Bay nursing home complained to her about 
working conditions. Her natural instincts as an activist said, 
``organize.'' Her co-workers gathered around her. Confident and strong, 
Mrs. Ware knew what to do. They would organize, and, together, they 
did. Without knowing it at the time, Ms. Ware had begun a 30-year 
career in organizing, a calling to which she would dedicate the rest of 
her life.
  Shirley Ware was a unique and a special role model for young people, 
African-Americans, women, union activists, and for all of us. In the 
years following her initiation into union work, she became an LVN. 
Then, as one of the fist two women hired by Local 250 as a field 
representative, she worked diligently to present the workers' point of 
view on a full-time basis. For the next two decades, health care 
workers would see Shirley as a tenacious, hardworking fighter, and a 
critical voice for patients' and workers' rights. Her opponents saw her 
as a dynamic and powerful adversary.
  Ms. Ware was a member SEIU's Public Sector Board and, in 1998, was 
appointed as a trustee to the pension trust of the Service Employee 
International Union. Ms. Ware also was a delegate to the Alameda 
Central Labor Council for 31 years, was elected to the executive board 
in 1989, and was named ``Unionist of the Year'' in 1991. Since 1989, 
Ms. Ware was a delegate to the California State Democratic Central 
Committee and served as a delegate to the 1992 and 1996 Democratic 
National Conventions. In addition, Ms. Ware was a member of the Alameda 
County Human Relations Commission from 1970 to 1997, and served as the 
Commission's chair from 1992-1994. She was the Oakland Mayor's 
appointee to the Private Industry Council.
  ``Shirley dedicated her life to the cause of helping workers,'' said 
Sal Rosselli, president of Local 250. Throughout her career, even 
during the last year of her life, Ware expressed deep concern for the 
members of Local 250 as well as for other health care workers. Even 
after she learned last year that she had cancer, Shirley Ware remained 
fully engaged in the struggles and challenges of the Union.
  Ms. Shirley Ware, lifelong organizer and advocate for working people, 
passed away on April 23, 1999. Ware is survived by her mother, Mary J. 
Henson and her stepfather, Melton Henson of Calaveras County, CA; two 
daughters, Mary Marlene Williams and Jannis Tolvert Gideon; two sons, 
George Marvin Willoughby, Jr. and Jaddias O'Neil Franklin; one son-in-
law, Andrew Williams; one daughter-in-law, Luctricia Franklin; 12 
grandchildren: Dwayne Lawson, George M. Willoughby III, Dana 
Willoughby, Donald and Demerits Franklin III, Wakter A. Vachemin, V, 
and Marchael Gidion; one great-grandson, Solomon Tolvert; one 
stepbrother, Melton Ray Henson, Jr. and his wife, Shelia; one 
stepsister, Melinda Faye Henson; and other relatives and friends.




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