There is a stereotype in this country that union organizers
are thugs whose hairy knuckles would drag on the ground if
not for the ill-fitting, out-of-fashion jackets holding
their arms in. Those of us who have actually met these
folks have found that the stereotype is, of course, false.
So, to help put a human face on the passionate, intelligent
people that put in long hours for a cause they believe in,
the eight ball invites you to...
Meet the Goon-- Bridget Gilhool
Bridget Gilhool has nurtured several Borders campaigns-
- the favorable Bryn Mawr election, the Dec.'96 loss at the
Harrisburg warehouse, plus ongoing efforts at Philadelphia,
Lancaster, and again the warehouse. Her local, UFCW 1776,
covers most of eastern Pennsylvania and has been especially
successful securing lucrative contracts at Acme, Superfresh,
and other grocery stores.
Gilhool was born & raised in Philadelphia and attended
the Univ. of Wisconsin, majoring in History & Political
Science. After taking a class entitled The Economics of
Black America at Wisconsin, Bridget decided that the labor
movement was for her and she's been "badgering" employers
ever since.
While studying for her Master's Degree in Labor &
Industrial Relations, she met Local 1776 President Wendell
Young and Recording Secretary Peter Huegel during a class at
Rutgers on employment law. The three were the only "labor
people" in the class. Before her employment at Local 1776,
she worked in D.C. for the National Archives and as a
research assistant for a small low-income housing law firm.
She's also done corporate campaign research for the United
Mine Workers and the Oil, Chemical, & Atomic workers. And
she's organized Texas state employees for the Communication
Workers of America in Austin, Dallas, and (get this!)
Lubbock.
Gilhool's done a month of Eurrailing, spent a semester
in Dublin, and observed the Mexican presidential election
for Solidarity Summer, a NAFTA-watchdog event.
Her first organizing effort for Local 1776 was at an
Encore Bookstore with 12 employees. The vote was 3 yes & 5
no, but we have reason to suspect that 3 employees were led
to believe that they would each get the same assistant
manager position after the election.
She's also leafletted supermarkets about the California
strawberry workers campaign (check out the United Farm
Worker's colorful web site) and was involved in the
successful effort to stop the privatization of
Pennsylvania's state liquor stores. She & other unionists
were able to convince our legislators that converting
thousands of middle class jobs into Borders-style transient
employment was a bad idea.
Like every union organizer we've met, Bridget has no
spare time for hobbies or a social life, but instead spends
long hours doing what she loves (and coincidentally what her
BIG LABOR BOSS asks her to do). She's a tireless pursuer of
union authorization cards and relentless about going over
that damned employee list to make sure we've talked to
everyone. For these reasons, she is our thuggish, cigar-
chomping union Goon of the Month.
(JW)
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