[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 47 (Thursday, April 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E588-E589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         TRIBUTE TO U.P. LABOR HALL OF FAME CHIESTER F. SWANSON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 13, 2000

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute to the late Chester F. 
Swanson, one of that great breed of dedicated, lifelong union activists 
who help ensure a good quality of life for the working men and women of 
northern Michigan. I offer these remarks on the occasion of Chester's 
election to the Michigan's Upper Peninsula Labor Hall of Fame.
  At age 15 in 1921, Chester began working for a famed gunmaker in my 
district, Marble Arms Corp. in Escanaba, Mich. He retired from the 
corporation after 50 years of service, but he returned many times after 
this retirement to help with the set-up of machines used to make gun 
sights.
  In 1945 a charter was issued by the United Auto Workers for Local 126 
at Marble Arms. Proud that the union had come to his shop, Chester made 
the drive across northern Michigan and took the ferry across the 
Straits of Mackinac to pick up the charter. He never stopped being a 
union advocate from that moment on, serving as the local's financial 
secretary and union steward.
  Although Chester died almost 30 years ago, Mr. Speaker, one can still 
hear many wonderful stories that paint a picture of a man who took joy 
in each day, who made great friendships, who was respected by his co-
workers, even the younger workers who remember him so fondly.
  Gary Quick, UAW International Representative for Region 1-D, recalls 
that when Chester traveled, he called his mother each day, and when he 
completed the call he would return to his group and announce, ``All is 
fine with Mum!''
  Gary also recalls one icy winter night--a black, black night with the 
temperatures about 30 below zero--when the union leadership, including 
Chester, found itself traveling home from a meeting about 60 miles 
away. A side trip was required to take one of the members home in the 
small community of Rock, a trip on back roads with snowbanks higher 
than the automobile. Chester wondered aloud if the gang would survive 
the trip, should they run into trouble. For years afterward, Gary says, 
Chester would be sure to say, ``We made it that cold night to drop off 
Red in Rock, so I guess we will make it wherever . . .''
  Friends recall that Chester, even at the age of 90 years young, would 
eat his three good meals every day, would be ready to stay out with the 
younger fellows until late at night and would be ready to go again in 
the morning.
  They recall that Chester never forgot his camera for important 
events, recording friends and sharing the prints, and maintaining a 
photo record of area youth participating in local sports.
  Most of all, Mr. Speaker, friends remember Chester as a union man, 
who cared about his fellow workers, his community, and who cared about 
the job he performed with pride for more than half a century.

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