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“TRIBUTE TO WAYNE P. ROY FOR HIS SERVICE TO LABOR” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1196-E1197 on June 9, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO WAYNE P. ROY FOR HIS SERVICE TO LABOR
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HON. BART STUPAK
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 9, 1999
Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, June 4, men and women of a variety of union trades gathered in Marquette, Michigan to honor Wayne P. Roy, who retired from federal employment in 1998. Mr. Roy had served 11 years as the Apprenticeship and Training Representative, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, U.S. Department of Labor. His service area included the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which makes up a large portion of my congressional district, and northern Wisconsin.
Prior to that, Wayne Roy worked for the Michigan State AFL-CIO's Labor Employment and Development Program as the Upper Peninsula coordinator for several years.
Those are the dry facts of Wayne Roy's employment, Mr. Speaker. They only hint at a lifetime of commitment to issues that affect the hardworking people of northern Michigan.
In fact, this dedication to union issues was a family tradition that began before his birth. Wayne's father George was a miner in the Upper Peninsula and an officer in his local union. Wayne's mother Delima was a member of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union and the Steelworkers Women's Auxiliary. It was only natural, therefore, that as a child Wayne would learn the importance of unions at his parents' side as he joined them at labor rallies and on picket lines.
After graduating from Gwinn High School, Wayne served a 4-year stint in the Navy until 1958, and then began a series of jobs that would give him membership in several unions. Through one job in Milwaukee, he joined the Chemical Workers, and then through a second he joined Teamsters Local 344, serving as part-time shop steward and committee member.
Returning to the Upper Peninsula, Wayne took a job with a mining company and became a member of Steelworkers Local 4950. In 1968 he joined Sheet Metal Workers Local 94, serving as the union's president for 9 years.
Wayne Roy's commitment to the labor movement led him to take positions with a variety of area civic and political groups, where he could broaden his effort on behalf of working men and women and find new ways to serve his community.
Such service included the board chairmanship of the United Way of Marquette County and the Marquette County Economic Development Corporation, presidency of the Marquette County Labor Council, and memberships on such panels as the Central Upper Peninsula Private Industry Council, the American Red Cross, the Forsyth Township Zoning Board, and the Marquette Prison Inmate Apprenticeship Committee.
It's clear, Mr. Speaker, that even as Wayne Roy and his wife Hazel raised seven children, he was demonstrating his belief that our best community leaders are actually public servants, who seek out every opportunity to improve the quality of life of their neighborhood, their place of employment, their city or township, even their region.
I ask you, Mr. Speaker, and I ask my House colleagues to join me in saluting this dedicated fighter for better lives for ordinary working people.
As one of Wayne Roy's colleagues said recently, he ``proudly bears a union label on his soul.''
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