Studs Terkel, Danny Glover Honored for Supporting Workers’ Rights

by James Parks, Apr 7, 2006

The workers’ advocacy group American Rights at Work honored some of the nation’s leading voices for workers’ rights April 6 at its Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award Celebration in Washington, D.C.

Author Studs Terkel, 93, received the American Rights at Work lifetime achievement award. Renowned for his compilations of oral interviews with famous and mostly not-so-famous Americans, Terkel has talked with thousands of people about their experiences on the job, serving their country in World War II, their perceptions of race and most recently, the challenges of growing old and facing death. One of his most famous books is Working, in which more than 100 Americans share their hopes, dreams and daily struggles on the job.

After accepting the award, Terkel said:

What brings workers together can be a belief, a hope of improving the climate and community at work—the spaces where so many of us spend so much of our lives. Respect on the job and a voice at the workplace shouldn’t be something Americans have to work overtime to achieve.

Actor Danny Glover also was honored for his indefatigable work on behalf of workers and the poor. Glover, who just completed a national bus tour to help organize hotel workers, says he considers his work a personal honor:

Working people support all of us. From the baggage handlers at the airports to the ticket sellers at the theaters, everyone deserves dignity on the job. Communities all across the country are attempting to realize that dream through organizing. I am honored to support them in their struggle.

Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards made a rousing call for all Americans to get behind the drive to protect workers’ rights, calling poverty “the moral issue of our time and the best path out of poverty is a union card.”

It is immoral for the Bush administration to give tax cuts to the wealthiest in our country while cutting money for nutrition for school children. It’s immoral and we ought to be screaming and shouting about it.

American Rights at Work, which educates the American public about the struggles to win workplace democracy for workers, also honored two corporations and a musician activist for their roles in supporting workers’ rights:

• Cingular Wireless, which agreed to remain neutral in employees’ efforts to form a union. As a result, a year after its merger with AT&T, some 17,000 former AT&T employees have joined the Communications Workers of America.
• Musician Tom Morello, outspoken founder of the groups, Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. He also is co-founder of Axis of Justice, which brings together musicians and activists to take on corporate bad actors.
• Walden Asset Management, which for 20 years, has used its investment clout to support workers and their benefit funds through shareholder resolutions and proxy voting guidelines. 

“It’s encouraging to see the breadth of support for workers’ rights from activists, elected leaders, workers and more and more of their employers,” says David Bonior, American Rights at Work chairman. “When companies like Cingular and Walden take the high road on workers’ rights, we all benefit.”

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