Statement in Honor of
Ed Gorham, President
Maine AFL-CIO and
Recipient of 2008 John Marvin Memorial Award

May 16, 2008
Maine Council of Senior Citizens
John Marvin Memorial Award Dinner

Joe wanted to let you know that he wanted to be here but is celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary in Burlington, VT where Dyan and he celebrated their honeymoon in 1988.

I asked Joe to help me with these remarks honoring Eddie because while I have tremendous respect and admiration for Eddie, I've known him for only a short period of time. So here are our thoughts in honor of Eddie.

We are very thankful to Eddie because without his vision, support, and leadership, Consumers for Affordable Health Care would be a much different organization today. Three organizations came together in May 1988 to help Joe organize a Steering Committee called Consumers for Affordable Health Care --- the Maine AFL-CIO, the Maine Association of Interdependent

Neighborhoods, and the Maine People's Alliance. Eddie was the mover and shaker within the Maine AFL-CIO to bring CAHC and many other organizations needed guidance and support from our brothers and sisters in the labor movement.

Now, some of you in this room will remember Eddie's arrival at the Maine AFL-CIO in the 1970s with a ponytail and dungarees after two-years with the Peace Corps in India. Some of you may even remember what happened to Eddie's ponytail. Only Eddie can tell us where it went.

In 1977, Eddie was elected the Secretary/Treasurer of the Maine AFL-CIO. Using his position as Secretary/Treasurer, he brought a broader vision of the labor movement to the Maine AFL-CIO - a vision of which we all are the beneficiaries. Time and time again, Eddie brought to his Executive Committee and to the State Conventions our issues. Issues that often did not directly affect members of the Maine AFL-CIO. But Eddie's vision has always been an inclusive vision - a vision that embodies the phrase "a rising tide lifts all boats." Think about it. Why would unionized workers in a poultry processing plant, a shoe factory, a textile mill or a paper mill be interested in the minimum wage? Obviously, their wages were higher. Why would a unionized worker in a post office, school or state office be concerned about someone who had no health insurance? Obviously, they have health insurance. Why would a unionized worker whose terms and conditions of employment are negotiated and set in contract be concerned about "pay equity" or "equal rights" or "civil rights?"

In each and every one of these examples, raising the minimum wage, providing affordable health care to all, ensuring pay equity for women, ensuring equal rights to gays and lesbians, and ensuring civil rights for minorities, Eddie Gorham was the mover and shaker who brought these - and so many other issues - to the Executive Committee and to State Conventions of the Maine AFL-CIO. Because of Eddie's leadership, all of us in this room have benefited.

The other thing you should know about Eddie is that he is a tremendous historian. If you have spent time with Eddie or get a chance to read his column on the Maine AFL-CIO's website (at www.maineaflcio.org) you will quickly come to appreciate the values and principles that guide him. His values and principles leap off the page; they are deeply rooted in the blood, sweat, tears, joy and laughter of his predecessors - not only in Maine but around the world.
You cannot attend a meeting in which Eddie is a participant without hearing him make reference to a story that directly and precisely relates to the matter at hand. Just the other day, in a meeting regarding the "Corporate Veto" that would repeal the taxes adopted in the recently passed law that protects and maintains health care for tens of thousands of children, families and small businesses, Eddie reminded us all that the same opponents of our health care law - the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Anheuser Busch, Coca Cola, the Maine Beverage Association and the Maine Restaurant Association - were some of the very opponents of Maine's "Bottle Bill." That historic reference brought to mind to everyone in the room how we should strategically approach and talk about the latest threats to our health posed by the Maine State Chamber and these same companies and organizations.

Joe refers to Eddie as the walking, living, breathing, advocating, fighting version of "Labor's Untold Story." For those of you who have never read it - you should. It was published by the United Electrical Workers Union and tells the real story about the struggles and triumphs of our brothers and sisters in the labor movement as told by the workers themselves. To us at Consumers for Affordable Health Care, Eddie is "Labor's Untold Story," he is our "Joe Hill."

It is with the highest appreciation, honor and respect that we on behalf of the Maine Council of Senior Citizens extend to you, Eddie Gorham, President of the Maine AFL-CIO, the 2008 John Marvin Memorial Award.

We ask that some day you write your story so that generations of young men and women in the future will know and understand how important a strong labor movement is and has been to all of us.

Thank you.

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