 |
|
Judy Atkins and Bob
Rudek (center), the co-conveners of the convention’s Policy Action Committee, ask the
manager of the convenience store in the William Penn Hotel to remove Nabisco products. The
UE delegation received a favorable hearing from the manager and her supervisor, who
promised to propose a removal of Nabisco products to the firm. |
|
Disgusted by the destruction of family-supporting jobs
by corporate greed, delegates enthusiastically adopted the host city’s call to
boycott Nabisco products.
RJR Nabisco will close its profitable plant in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty
neighborhood later this year, eliminating 350 union jobs. The cookie and cracker makers
are members of the Bakery Workers’ and Operating Engineers’ unions.
Judy Atkins, District Two and Bob Rudek, District 11, co-conveners of the
convention’s Policy Action Committee, led a delegation which asked the hotel’s
convenience store to remove RJR Nabisco products.
Delegates took up the "Boycott Nabisco" chant at a living wage rally, which
heard remarks by 30-year Nabisco worker and union steward Willa Walker. Walker said
her union had entered into a partnership which saved the company close to a million
dollars in less than a year. But, she said, Nabisco reneged on its commitment to job
security.
Later in the rally, the spontaneous chant of "Boycott Nabisco" raised by
delegates brought a visibly moved Willa Walker back to the podium to express her thanks.
Genl. Pres. John Hovis told delegates of the Pittsburgh community’s outrage
at the impending plant closure and reported that he had pledged the National union’s
support for the boycott.
