[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16063]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 HONORING REMARKABLE AND COMMENDABLE COMMUNITY ACTIVIST ROBERTO MENDEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 15, 2004

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Roberto 
Mendez, a longtime resident of South San Francisco, which is in my 
congressional district, for being honored with the 25th annual COPE 
Unity Award by the San Mateo County Central Labor Council. The COPE 
award is presented annually by the Labor Council's Committee on 
Political Education (COPE) to honor an individual for his or her 
outstanding service.
  A native of Guatemala City, Guatemala, Roberto moved to the United 
States in 1968, after graduating from military school. From the moment 
of his arrival to America, Roberto exhibited a dedicated work ethic as 
he spent his days learning English while working in a New Jersey 
textile factory at night. After working long hours with no benefits, no 
overtime pay and minimal safety protection, Roberto eventually left the 
textile industry to work in the restaurant business where he worked his 
way up from busboy to assistant manager.
  Looking for more challenging work, Roberto joined United Air Lines in 
1984 working in the flight kitchen, where he was responsible for the 
upkeep and stocking of the plane's kitchen. He joined the Machinists 
Local 1781 and immediately became an active member. Within ten years, 
Roberto was elected Shop Steward. His rise at United was as equally 
meteoric as it was within the union, and Roberto quickly advanced from 
working in the flight kitchen to performing critical maintenance and 
mechanical work. Additionally, Roberto was recently selected to be the 
West Coast Employee Assistance Program Coordinator, where he is 
responsible for assisting the more than 3,500 United Airlines local 
employees deal with a wide variety of problems including substance 
abuse treatment, stress, harassment, and other personnel matters.
  Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, in the wake of the tragic events of 
September 11, 2001, countless Bay Area workers were displaced from 
their jobs. Roberto's enthusiasm and devotion to his union colleagues 
lead him to be an instrumental component in the efforts to assist the 
airline, hospitality, construction and other workers whose jobs were 
lost in the post 9-11 economic downturn. He coordinated with the San 
Mateo County PennisulaWorks program to make available re-employment and 
retraining services.
  Roberto Mendez's compassion for his fellow workers led him to 
organize monthly food distribution and coordinate re-employment and re-
training services for displaced workers and their families. Serving 
over 350,000 pounds of food to hundreds of families, these monthly 
distributions continue to serve over 175 families per month. In 
addition, Roberto assisted in more than 80 Rapid Response sessions, 
which informed displaced workers about services and resources available 
to assist them during those difficult times.
  Mr. Speaker, along with his wife Maria, and their two children, 
Roberto's family has made its mark in South San Francisco and the Bay 
Area with their strong will and dedicated sense of justice. I urge all 
of my colleagues to please join me in recognizing an extraordinarily 
devoted community activist on his 20 years of outstanding service and 
his recognition by the San Mateo Central Labor Committee with the 25th 
Annual COPE Unity Award.

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