The death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy marks the passing of a strong ally of working Americans and a great friend of the members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Kennedy, who died August 25th of brain cancer, stood shoulder to shoulder with workers throughout a 47-year Senate career. During his historic tenure, he helped pass important legislation that became part of America’s social fabric.
“This is a sad day for America, a sad day for working people, and a sad day for the Brotherhood. We have lost a true champion,” said UBC General President Douglas J. McCarron. “Ted Kennedy fought tenaciously for what is right, but with a grace and civility that is too rare in Washington.”
Kennedy, who was 77, served as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, a post from which he vigilantly protected workers’ rights, particularly the wage protections of the Davis-Bacon Act.
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters proved critical in assisting Kennedy in one of the few political challenges of his career. In his 1994 re-election bid, he faced Republican businessman Mitt Romney, and polls as late as September showed the race could go either way.
Kennedy rallied in the final weeks of the campaign, and he credited the Brotherhood for his charge. At every campaign event, he was met with sign-carrying UBC members supporting him, and the senator returned the favor by personally greeting each of the carpenters who were there for him.
A highlight of the campaign took place when Kennedy debated Romney at Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall. Hundreds of carpenters, fired up by a stirring pro-labor speech Kennedy had just delivered at a Brotherhood union hall, converged on Faneuil Hall to cheer Kennedy on.
“Suddenly, the echoes of marching feet rattled the Greek granite pillars of the 168-year-old [Quincy Market],” the Boston Globe wrote at the time. “The Carpenters Union had arrived, 500 strong, shouting, ‘Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy.’”
The senator later credited that energy with inspiring him in the debate, which most observers said he won handily.
“The Carpenters Union had a special affection for Sen. Kennedy, one which grew out of his dedication to ‘bread and butter’ issues that impacted the daily lives of blue-collar workers,” said Mark Erlich, current executive secretary-treasurer of the New England Regional Council, which includes Massachusetts.
In the end, Kennedy withstood the national Republican landslide of 1994 and was re-elected, 58 percent to 41 percent.
Kennedy thanked the hundreds of UBC volunteers, and, over the years, frequently expressed gratitude for their efforts.
“Their hard work kept me in the Senate to continue my work,” he told Brotherhood members at the UBC’s 1995 general convention.
That work included some of the most important pro-worker legislative achievements in American history, including:
- Increasing the federal minimum wage.
- Increasing funding for national job-training programs.
- Providing tax credits or grants to businesses that offer child-care services.
- Encouraging employers to offer flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies.
- Supporting the right of workers to strike without fear of being permanently replaced.
“He was in the forefront on issues such as health and safety, minimum wage, workers’ rights, civil rights, and health care,” General President McCarron said. “There isn’t anything that has happened with regard to worker protection and worker rights that he didn’t have his fingerprints on.
“He was always willing, in order to get legislation passed, to take that step back and let somebody else take credit for the bill. He did that very effectively.”