[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 10383-10384]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 MARGARETA CRAMPTON: A FRIEND, ALLY AND SUPPORTER DEDICATED TO WORKING 
                             MEN AND WOMEN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 12, 2002

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, today, on behalf of working men and women in 
the State of Maryland and throughout the entire country, I want to 
thank a stalwart trade unionist who has dedicated her life to improving 
the lives of others.
  But before I recount the many accomplishments and long service of 
Margareta A. Crampton, the director of the Committee on Political 
Education (COPE) for the Maryland State and District of Columbia AFL-
CIO for more than 20 years, I want to add a personal note.
  Margareta is far more than a political ally. She is a trusted friend 
and staunch supporter who has been by my side since I first decided to 
run for Congress in 1981. In fact, when my predecessor in Congress, the 
late Gladys Noon Spellman, suffered a heart attack that left her unable 
to complete her term, Margareta was one of the first people to come to 
my law office to encourage me to run in a special election to fill that 
seat.
  I can only hope that I've served my constituents in the Fifth 
Congressional District as well as Margareta has tended to the needs of 
working men and women in Maryland and the American labor movement over 
the last 40 years.
  Margareta began her union career in 1960 with the Bakery, 
Confectionary and Tobacco International Union, serving as chief steward 
and shop representative. Recall that what today is rightly natural and 
commonplace--women working in positions in virtually every sector of 
our economy--was not the norm 40 years ago. Women faced many barriers 
in the workplace. Discrimination was often open and too often 
tolerated.
  But Margareta, and the women of her generation, through force of 
character and the will to succeed, overcame the many hurdles placed in 
their paths. They proved that women could perform any job well. And 
it's because of their hard work that women in the labor movement, as 
well as other types of employment, have made such tremendous strides in 
our society--and continue the fight for the equality, justice and 
fairness that they deserve.
  After 19 years at the Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco Workers 
International Union, Margareta moved in 1979 to the Graphic Arts 
International Union, serving as the financial recording secretary and 
membership reviewer.
  During the 1960s and 1970s, she was an active member of the Office of 
Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), Local 2, and became 
the first woman to be elected First Vice-President of her local in 
1974.
  She served as chair or co-chair of numerous committees in her local, 
including the educational committee, the COPE committee, and the 
organizing committee. She also served as the chair of the Young Trade 
Unionists No. 2 from 1969 to 1984, and as the recording secretary of 
the Young Trade Unionists No. I from 1970 to 1973.
  In 1980, Margareta was appointed as the Director of COPE for the 
Maryland State and District of Columbia AFL-CIO, and earned a well-
deserved reputation through the years as a determined advocate for all 
workers and a gritty political organizer.
  She has worked on numerous political campaigns at the local, state 
and national levels, and it's more than fair to say that her 
unrelenting work across the state on behalf of working families built 
enduring relationships between the labor community and elected 
officials at all levels of government.
  Margareta's boundless energy helped her balance her dedication to 
improving the lives of working men and women, with her love and 
devotion to her children, Brenda and Philip, and her grandchildren.
  And as she enjoys semi-retirement, she should do so with the 
knowledge that her efforts over the last 40 years have changed and 
improved people's lives, and that her labor continues the activism, 
stretching all the way back to notables as Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner 
Truth and Mary Harris ``Mother'' Jones--who understood that labor 
fairness was rooted in morality and inspired by the American quest for 
equality, justice and fairness.
  As Mother Jones said many years ago: ``The cause of the worker 
continues onward. . . . The future is in labor's strong, rough hands.''
  That future, today, is much brighter for working men and women, in 
large part due to the hard work of trade unionists like Margareta 
Crampton. To her, we owe a deep gratitude and offer our thanks and deep 
appreciation.

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