Political acknowledgements were delivered by Toledo City
Council members Tyrone Riley, Matt Cherry, Yvonne Harper,
Cecelia Adams, Nick Komives and Larry Sykes; City of Toledo
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz; Ohio House of Representatives
Minority Leader Emilia Sykes; Ohio House of Representatives
Minority Whip Paula Hicks-Hudson; Ohio Senator Teresa Fedor,
and United States House of Representatives Congresswoman
Marcy Kaptur.
“Laborers always support good pay and fair advancements.
Many of the early laborers had to face struggles and
sacrifice. That’s why unions were needed back than and still
today,” explained Cherry, president of Toledo City Council.
The celebration included remarks from LIUNA vice president
and Ohio Laborers’ District council officer Ralph Cole;
remarks from LIUNA vice president and regional manager
Robert Richardson Sr; remarks from MLK Kitchen for the Poor
Executive Director Harvey Savage; a poem delivered by
Daviana Estis entitled Hard Work; remarks from retired
Assistant Business Manager Anthony Coleman and recognitions
by current Local 500 Business Manager David Fleetwood.
“It is a great day to be a laborer in Toledo, we represent
the best working people,” shared Ralph Cole.
Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) was
organized in 1903, and International Hod Carriers’ and
Building Laborers’ Union which began today’s Laborers’
International Union of North America Local 500 was chartered
on October 20, 1919 to represent laborers who were in demand
to build roads, bridges and other infrastructures in Toledo
and northwest Ohio.
“I was raised right, I was raised to give back. When I first
came to Local 500, I was at my lowest. I didn’t have two
nickels to rub together. Someone told me about Local 500. I
showed that I was serious about the work,” said David
Fleetwood of the call he received to join the Local. |