[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 138 (Wednesday, October 13, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           LABOR CELEBRATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 13, 1999

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of 
my colleagues a very special celebration taking place in my district 
this week. The Greater Wilkes-Barre Central Labor Council will gather 
to recognize the contributions of organized labor over the last 
century. I am pleased and proud to have been asked to participate.
  A number of my good friends at the Labor Council will preside at this 
event: President Sam Bianco, Vice-President Joseph Capece, Secretary 
Lois Hartel, Treasurer Joseph Gorham and Trustees Ed Harry, Ed Hahn, Ed 
Walsh, David Williams, and Jerry Kishbaugh. The banquet will feature a 
comprehensive slide show that depicts the struggles of labor over the 
last century, highlighting such victories as anti-child labor laws, 
free public education, voting rights, equal pay for equal work, Social 
Security, job-safety, workers compensation, civil rights, the eight-
hour work day, the minimum wage, and other triumphs. The program will 
also highlight the historic contributions of the Greater Wilkes-Barre 
Central Labor Council, which received the 1998 National AFL-CIO Model 
Cities in Community Services Award.
  The Greater Wilkes-Barre Central Labor Council was founded in 
September 1894 by a group of six men: John J. Casey and Daniel Shovlin 
of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union, Pat O'Neill and John Gibbon of 
the Stone Cutters Union, Amos Ayers of the Carpenters Union, and David 
Brovea of the Painters Union. In the beginning, fear of being 
blacklisted and jailed forced the Council members to hold secret, 
hidden meetings. The first such meeting was held in an old stone yard 
until rain forced the gathering to move under a bridge. There, in the 
rain-soaked autumn air, the Labor Council was founded.
  John J. Casey went on to head what was then called the Central Labor 
Union, or CLU and the Building Trades Council. By 1902, 118 local 
unions were affiliated with the CLU. In 1903, United Mine Workers 
President John Mitchell told the American Federation of Labor 
convention in Boston that Wilkes-Barre was the ``best organized city in 
the United States.'' Within the next few years, it was common to see as 
many as 300 members at the bi-monthly meetings.
  The father of Labor Council was John J. Casey, who sought to unite 
all the trade unions in the event of a major problem with local 
contractors. Casey, a central figure in the history of the local labor 
movement, came from an inspiring background. Born in a company-owned 
mining shack in the anthracite region, Casey lost his father in a 
mining accident at age eight. With no compensation laws in place at 
that time, Casey was forced to leave school and become a breaker boy, 
working ten-hour days for pennies. It was here that the seed of labor 
activism was born in John J. Casey
  John J. Casey realized legislation was needed to obtain equal labor 
rights and social justice for working men and women. He successfully 
ran for State Representative and, later, for the United States 
Congress. When he won his congressional seat in 1912, John J. Casey 
became the first labor leader ever elected to that body. During his 
tenure, he was instrumental in the passage of laws prohibiting child 
labor and supporting vocational education in public schools.
  Mr. Speaker, I am extremely proud of the labor unions in Northeastern 
Pennsylvania. The unions not only brought fair labor practices to the 
area, they saved lives, protected our children, and are responsible for 
much of the wonderful quality of life we enjoy here. I join with this 
hardworking group of dedicated individuals in paying tribute to their 
origins, their heroes, and the rank-and-file laborers whose rights they 
so fiercely protect every day. I applaud the Greater Wilkes-Barre 
Central Labor Council for bringing the proud history of local labor 
unions to the attention of the Luzerne County community and send my 
sincere best wishes for continued success.

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