Thursday Aug. 23, 2007
Rhode Island Labor History Society to honor 4
01:00 AM EDT on Monday, August 20, 2007
PROVIDENCE — Four Rhode Islanders who distinguished themselves in the state’s labor movement in the areas of law, politics, social activism and education will be honored by the Rhode Island Labor History Society at its 20th-annual banquet Thursday in the Roger Williams Park Casino.
Those being honored are:
•Former state Rep. George S. Lima, a two-term Democrat from East Providence who was also the New England regional director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
In World War II, he was one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of black fighter and bomber pilots in the history of the Army Air Forces, whose performance helped to dispel doubts about the ability of black airmen to fly military planes. Lima was also a consultant and conciliator for various union locals and served as an urban coordinator for the Office of Economic Opportunity and VISTA in New York.
•Patrick Brady, of Pawtucket, a journeyman electrician with Local 99 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Brady, who has a master’s degree in labor and industrial relations from the University of Rhode Island, taught at the William M. Davies Jr. Vocational School — now the William M. Davies Jr. Career and Technical High School — where he was a leader of the teachers union, a local of the National Education Association. He went on to become director of training for the IBEW before going back to working as an electrician.
•The Rev. Duane Clinker, a United Methodist minister who is the pastor of the Open Table of Christ Church in Warwick and Providence. Before entering the ministry, Mr. Clinker was an organizer the steamfitters union at the former Builders Iron Foundry, in West Warwick, and later became the statewide director of the Rhode Island Committee for Occupational Safety and Heath. Leaving factory work, he began organizing churches around issues of social justice as the coordinator for the Rhode Island Organizing Project.
•Marti Rosenberg has been a lobbyist for various progressive causes highlighting the plight of the poor in Rhode Island as the director for Ocean State Action. Today the Cranston resident is the development director for US Action.
Scott Molloy, a professor of labor relations at the University of Rhode Island and the Labor History Society’s founder, said the organization has honored nearly 100 individuals who have contributed greatly to the labor movement in Rhode Island.
Tickets to Thursday’s event, which begins with a cash bar at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30, can be obtained by calling Molloy at (401) 782-3614. Tickets are $25.
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