[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN HONOR OF ALBIN GRUHN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 21, 2009

  Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, I rise with sadness today to honor Albin 
Gruhn of San Anselmo, California, who passed away March 18 at the age 
of 94. Mr. Gruhn was a respected and beloved labor leader and consumer 
rights activist whose calling was the welfare of the working people of 
California. His 36 years as president of the California Labor 
Federation and his role as a founder of the Association of California 
Consumers were at the heart of a remarkable career.
  Mr. Gruhn was born in Eureka, California, in 1915. At the age of 19 
he began working for the Hammond Lumber Co., where he joined the 
Sawmill and Loggers Federal Union. Shortly after, a strike resulted in 
the deaths of three union picketers and deeply affected him, resulting 
in a lifelong commitment to the labor movement.
  Mr. Gruhn was also blacklisted as a result of his participation in 
the strike but soon found employment in construction, joining the 
Laborers Local, where his membership continued for over 60 years. At 
the age of 22, he became secretary of the Central Labor Council of 
Humboldt and Del Norte Counties and led that council for over 20 years.
  In 1940, Mr. Gruhn was first elected to what is now the California 
Labor Federation as district vice president and became its president in 
1960. He led with skill, enthusiasm, and passion until his retirement 
in 1996. He helped build the organization into a strong and effective 
advocacy group for the rights of workers, inspiring several generations 
of political and labor leaders along the way.
  During the 1960s, Mr. Gruhn was also a founder of the Association of 
California Consumers, California's first consumer group, and later 
became a founding officer and then president emeritus of the Consumer 
Federation of California. He also devoted some of his considerable 
energies to the California Apprenticeship Council and the California 
Constitution Revision Commission, and various other state commissions. 
These were appointments over the decades by five California governors 
and covered a variety of issues from fair housing to air pollution. One 
of the commissions dealt with children and youth, reflecting his deep 
involvement in the annual scholarship program established by the 
California Labor Federation.
  Mr. Gruhn was always politically active as a means of supporting the 
causes he believed in. From campaigning for Franklin Roosevelt at the 
age of 17 to serving as an Adlai Stevenson delegate in 1956, he stayed 
engaged in the process. In 1944, he founded the Northern California AFL 
Political League.
  Mr. Gruhn was married to the former Dorothy Coon for over 37 years. 
Dorothy predeceased him in 2005, and the couple is survived by a large 
family of eight children, 14 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, Albin Gruhn was proud to fight for working people, and 
all those with whom he came in contact--from family and friends to 
political leaders and co-workers--drew inspiration from his commitment. 
It is fitting in honoring him today to remember the remarks he always 
used to conclude his labor speeches: ``In unity there is strength. 
United we stand, divided we fall. An injury to one is an injury to 
all.''

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