My father retired as International Vice President of the OPCMIA, the Operative Plasters & Cement Masons International Association. In his position, which was second to the President, it was mandatory that he move to Washington D.C. My father did not want this for his children. Personally, I think I would have loved it, but he felt that a quiet suburban city in Northern California was the place to raise his children and not a huge city as D.C. My father was in the Union for over 60 years by the time he passed away in April of 2000. How I miss my pops so very much.
Where do I begin...? My father was born to Terrance and Willa Beam. My grandad was also a Union Labor Leader of the Cement Masons (the two Unions hadn't merged during his time) According to my father, my grandad was a great pioneer in the Labor Union movement. If you think about it, the early 1900's was truly a pioneering time for Unions. Many laborers were working very long hours, often under harsh conditions, and for low wages. Labor Unions began to form, and oftentimes faced great opposition and violence, but with fierce persistence, they carried on and gained momentum and popularity.
I, unfortunately, do not remember everything that my father told me about my fabulous grandad, save for that he worked very hard for the rights of laborers and in Kansas and Oklahoma, I am sure this was no easy feat. Labor Unions began to gain respect and popularity and in 1935, the National Labor Relations Act was passed here in the United States. I do remember my father telling me that my beloved grandad was instrumental in ensuring Labor Laws were passed. A heritage to be greatly proud of.
My father, obviously followed the footsteps of his father. He began what is called, "working at the tools," when he was sixteen years of age. Working at the tools simply means you do your work with the tools of the job. He worked until the Korean War began. He enlisted in the Navy. He was stationed in Oakland, California, where he met my lovely mother at the USO.
My father returned from Korea and went back to "working at the tools." I admired this very much about my father, he rose early, came home, ahh, perhaps just about dinner time, and he always had that look of a hard working man. It wasn't many years before he began working for "headquarters," the International Association of the Plasters & Cement Masons.
Life changed at this point, now my father was in a business suit, travelling, and helping Union offices across the country and Canada get on their feet. I remember him participating in much picketing and he even received death threats. There was even an attempt upon his life, of which, thankfully, he survived.
I remember men coming to our door when they were out of work, mainly due to strikes and my dad would always ensure they had money in their pockets in which to put food upon their families table. We COULD NEVER CROSS A PICKET LINE. This was a huge taboo of our family, no matter what Union was picketing, we were never to cross due to honor and respect for the workers who were fighting for their rights.
We also could not eat many grapes growing up, for this was the great movement of Cesar Chavez. If there were ever grapes on the table...oooffff, dad would be furious. Mom learned very quickly that as long as there was the "Grape Boycott," grapes were not allowed on our table. I grew up with such great understanding of the needs and rights of all workers and especially of those who were working under the most dire of conditions. Cesar Chavez was a household name for us. What a great name to have engraved upon your heart!
"The consumer boycott is the only open door in the dark corridor of nothingness down which farm workers have had to walk for many years. It is a gate of hope through which they expect to find the sunlight of a better life for themselves and their families." (Cesar Chavez)
My father taught me so much and beginning at such a very young age that all people deserve to be treated equally and fairly. That they deserved, no matter what type of work, to be paid a decent wage and to have benefits. He taught me that a person's labor did not define their identity or their place in society. He taught me that a person's labor was a gift and a gift to be honored.
My father also taught me, due to his was experience in Korea, peace. He witnessed and experienced so many horrors. Seeing and knowing of his many friends who died. My father did not like war at all and he was always teaching me about waging peace rather than war. His influence has made me the fierce warrior that I am today in my fight against war...all of these senseless and unnecessary wars. I am incredibly grateful to my father for this and I am so proud that I can speak how I feel very strongly about my aborrance for war and my love for peace.
I honor my father Robert Terrance Beam for all that he taught me, for all that he did in the name of the working person. I find it inspiring that so many workers and Unions are coming together once again.
A great Labor Law Attorney, of whom I worked for at one time, once told me, "when your father retires, Unions will not be the same. This is how much impact my father had. Sadly, Mr. Van Bourg, was correct, for Union Busting became quite popular during the Regan Era.
I am happy to see Unions uniting once again...KEEP UP THE SOLIDARITY OF BROTHERHOOD & SISTERHOOD ALWAYS!!!
I love and miss you my wonderful father!
I have attached two links for further learning if you are interested.
I thank you once again for allowing me to share my words and my stories for they mean so much to me.
Viva en paz...Maria
Maria Juarez Beam
"It is one of the characteristics of a free and democratic nation
that it have free and independent labor unions."
Franklin Deleno Roosevelt
"History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them." Martin Luther King Jr.
"Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts." Molly Ivans
Quotes courtesy of http://www.nalc3825.com/Quotes.htm
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