![]() Other events will focus on Hill's contributions to the labor movement. Sugarhouse Park will be the site of the main event planned for next year's marking of the 1915 execution, a concert scheduled to feature folk singer Pete Seeger. ![]() #Notelife pro invalid password trial#Hill's trial in Salt Lake City and his execution by firing squad on the grounds of the old Utah State Prison, now Sugarhouse Park, attracted worldwide attention from supporters of the labor movement. 1, 1990, 75 years after he was executed for the murder of a storekeeper and a teenage boy during a robbery attempt. Seeger concert in '90 to note life, death of activist Joe HillĪ commemoration of the life and death of union martyr Joe Hill is planned for Sept. Of Utah workers, less than 5 percent are minorities, compared to 17 percent nationally. Sources: The Utah Job Service's Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Utah State AFL-CIO. They have a very good training program," Parrish said. "The unions do contribute to training, particularly in the skilled area. There's a real need in the job market for skilled jobs. ![]() "We have a highly literate, well-educated work force, but they're not necessarily skilled or trained. In addition to improving pay and working conditions, Stan Parrish, director of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development, said he believes unions will play an important role in attracting new business to the state. This is the vehicle in which we can make those changes for the good of everybody," Mayne said. We need to learn to deal with new technology. "This is probably the most exciting time for the new labor movement. Utah unions also are seeking fair wage legislation and better laws to protect employees in the workplace from new hazards such as radiation and eyestrain from video-display terminals. It's just the right thing to do," Mayne said. "Does anyone in the labor unions make minimum wage? Hell no. It also represents a number of law enforcement employees scattered throughout the state.Īlthough organized labor's first responsibility is to its members, Mayne said organized labor is leading the fight to increase Utah's minimum wage from $2.50 to the federal level of $3.35. The local represents most of Salt Lake City's general service employees, including typists, garbage collectors and airport workers. The membership of AFSCME Local 1004 has increased from 300 to 1,300 in past 18 months, and Ottley says he expects that number to double within the next year. "I get 10 to 15 calls a week from people asking what do I have to do to start a union," he said. #Notelife pro invalid password professional#Some 65,000 Utahns, ranging from professional athletes to steelworkers, are union members. In fact, Mayne says he's noticed a resurgence of interest in Utah's unions. Recently, the national economy has improved, and Mayne said he believes organized labor will recapture some of the ground it lost during the Reagan administration. Like the rest of the working world, organized labor has taken its lumps in the last decade. They did what it took to get the plant back going." Geneva Steel is a perfect example, he said."It was decidedly put on their (steelworkers') backs. ![]() It was difficult for union leaders to give back the wages and benefits they had fought so hard to obtain, but the survival of some businesses hinged on their willingness to make concessions, Mayne said. We had (wage and benefit) give-backs, wage freezes and cost sharing." "A lot of people sort of bit the bullet during this period of time. "We saw the best and the worst in labor-management relationships," said Ed Mayne, president of the Utah State AFL-CIO. ![]() Organized labor had a strong presence until the last decade when technology, foreign competition and a strained economy zapped their strength. For the workers, the sacrifices paid off in the form of fair wages, benefits and safe working conditions. With time, organized labor's bloody beginnings fostered the development of many of the federal labor laws in existence today. I'm kind of a gutsy guy, but I don't know if I have the guts it took in those days," Ottley, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1004, said in a recent interview. "Labor Day to me means how far we've come. The radical Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies, considered Hill a martyr for the labor movement. The bodies of some activists were nailed to train cars and put on public display.And he thinks about Joe Hill, a union agitator executed in 1915 in Sugarhouse Park for the slaying of a storekeeper. Some of the pioneers of the labor movement were killed organizing unions. On Labor Day, Gordon Ottley pauses to think about the union activists who came before him. ![]()
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