Elizabeth in Grand Rapids on the Picket Lines with the UAW

On Tuesday morning, while in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Elizabeth took time out of her busy schedule to show solidarity with American workers in two separate visits before heading out of town to the United Steel Workers' "Women of Steel" conference in Toronto (another example of solidarity). I was there with her for most of the morning, so let me tell you what happened.

The evening before, I had the honor of being on the Host Committee for a reception of supporters and donors in support of Elizabeth and the campaign (more on the reception in a later post). I had the opportunity to talk with Elizabeth at that event and with the chief of Midwest fundraiser -- Justin -- for the campaign during the day on Monday (he was working at my house). On Monday morning when I first talked with the Justin I suggested that while in town Elizabeth ought to stop by a picket-line to march with the brave members of the United Auto Workers. OK, it wasn't just my idea, the campaign back in North Carolina was also making some plans, but they were busy making plans for John to march in with workers at a GM plant in Buffalo (which I don't think ever happened because of the tentative settlement reached a few hours before John's picket scheduled). A national campaign can work slow and is far away, however I had UAW contacts, a knowledge of Grand Rapids, and I was about to have Elizabeth's ear, so I was determined to do everything I could to make this happen.

So, after the reception speeches were over and while she was signing copies of Saving Graces for supporters, I sat down next to Elizabeth on a oversized chair (more on the rest of this conversation later) and asked her if she would do two things before she left Grand Rapids at 11:00 am the next day.

First, I asked her to visit one of the UAW pickets. She knew that NC HQ was working on this and was real excited about a possible opportunity, so she put her advance team in motion to get it done. Second, I encouraged her to make a brief stop at the Spirit of Solidarity sculpture -- a new labor monument in downtown Grand Rapids dedicated to the workers who stroke the furniture factories back in 1911. The monument, just three blocks away from her downtown hotel, is on the banks of the Grand River on the grounds of the Ford Presidential Museum. I told her that the monument was the pride-and-joy of the local labor community and that they would be thrilled to have her make a brief tour. Elizabeth mentioned that she had to actually write her speech at for the USW women, but that she would keep working that night so she would have time in the morning (where do these people find the energy?). However, when I went to bed that night, everything still seemed up in the air.

Early the next morning I got word that Elizabeth would definitely be visiting the labor monument. So, I called up the Communications Workers of America Local 4034 since I knew some of the people over there and knew that their President Jay Egan was the President of the Labor Heritage Society of West Michigan, the group that created the Spirit of Solidarity monument that was just unveiled five months ago after a decade of hard work. I left plenty of messages asking folks at the local to meet me and Elizabeth down there at 9:30 am. Even then, I still wasn't sure that it wouldn't just be me, Elizabeth, her driver, and staff there. Fortunately, my voicemail was discovered and on the way downtown I got a call that folks from the local would be there to greet Elizabeth and give her a brief tour.

I got down to the monument just a few minutes before Elizabeth arrived. I showed her the "Grand Rapids for John Edwards" brick the local Edwards for President grassroots organization (West Michigan OneCorps) has purchased to demonstrate our support for this incredible monument and to make our donation to its continuing fundraising effort. I think Elizabeth was impressed with our outreach to the local labor movement, she patted me on the back and gave me a huge smile. The folks from the union local were taking pictures of us, but I didn't want this to be about me and Elizabeth, I wanted it to be about them and Elizabeth. The local unions, especially the CWA, and the Labor Heritage Society had worked hard to make the dream of a monument a reality and they deserved the limelight. So, I stepped back and encouraged Kim Egan, the Executive Vice President of CWA Local 4034, to get in some photographs with Elizabeth. Shelly and I took some photographs and this one of Kim and Elizabeth in front of the monument with the Grand Rapids skyline in the background made it into The Grand Rapids Press (after some encouragement).



After the pictures, Kim and I told Elizabeth about the history of the 1911 furniture strike and the symbolism of the sculptures. We also gave her a copy of the program from the unveiling of the monument in April and a copy of Jeffrey Kleiman's Strike! How the Furniture Workers Strike of 1911 Changed Grand Rapids. Elizabeth was very impressed with the monument, especially it's placement in such a prominent place downtown and on the garden-like grounds of the Ford Museum.

Still, I knew I had promised her that the tour "would just take 10 minutes" and I knew she was probably itching to get down to the picketlines. So, it was time for a goodbye hug. I'm not all that good at goodbyes and didn't want to say something she's heard a million times before or something that just struck the wrong cord, so I whispered in her ear:

"Somewhere, I know Wade is very proud of what you and John are doing."

She hugged me a bit tighter, then released and gave me a big smile. I hope it meant something to her. As we quickly walked back to the car Elizabeth told me that Wade had been working on a research paper on the history of unions in America the day he died. I had heard that before, I must have read it in Saving Graces in Chapter 6 on Wade's death and the aftermath, but I can't find it after a quick glance at the book.

This family has been through such triumph and such suffering. I know it sounds trite, but they really can "feel our pain" and I think it's important that we have folks in the White House who know about our regular lives through first hand experience.

She hopped into the car (a UAW-made Buick sedan) and armed with the quickest route to the GM plant, they drove off. We waved and yelled "goodbye" and "thanks." I stuck around for a few minutes to chat with the union local leaders, then jumped in my car since I had to be back on campus to give an exam (how I wish I could've gone to the picket, it would have been my second with an Edwards in just two months).

From here, most of my information comes from press reports and from a conversation I had with Martha, a great West Michigan OneCorps volunteer who drove Elizabeth on both days:

Five minutes later, Elizabeth Edwards was at the GM Metal Fabricating plant (I think they stamp hoods) to show her support for the striking union members. She literally jumped out of the car to shake hands and thank the strikers for their bravery in working to make American a better place. At first the workers couldn't even believe their eyes -- "Is that ... wait ... it's Elizabeth Edwards!" Martha tells me that Elizabeth seemed to have been turbo-charged by the strikers and she made sure that she went up to each group, even running across four lanes of busy traffic to get to a group picketing at parking lot and loading area (the Teamsters had pledged not to cross UAW picketlines!).

As she was talking with the strikers, in came running to TV crews (WoodTV and Channel 3) who had just been on the scene getting footage and interviewing UAW members. They realized that breaking news was happening and ran full speed down a sidewalk to reach Elizabeth and get in interview.

Here is the WoodTV News Channel 8 video report , part which is now up on YouTube (thanks to NCDemAmy, though she seems to mistakenly believe that Elizabeth was in the state of Wyoming rather than the City of Wyoming which is part of greater Grand Rapids, Michigan).




Elizabeth's brief statement to the media:

"The labor motto is, 'injury to one of us is injury to all of us.' When people have to come to the streets in order to provide for job security, to make sure that when they retire they'll have the health benefits they deserve, that's an injury to all of us. And all of us ought to be indicating our support."

Dee Morrison's report for WoodTV's website:

Morrison asked Elizabeth about the concern that unions might be hindering Michigan's efforts to bring more companies to the state, Edwards said:

"Companies must provide decent jobs and reliable benefits no matter where the
business is located. Americans, she said, must demand American workers be
treated fairly."

Elizabeth then went into the UAW union hall where she was greeted by UAW Local 730 President Barbara Henderson and upwards to a hundred union workers who were preparing for the days pickets. The Grand Rapids Press reports that Henderson said Elizabeth "shook everybody's hand that was in there and told everybody to hang in there and wished everybody the best." In general, Henderson said the workers were excited to get the support and that "Edwards left a good impression on those gathered at the hall."

John himself passed on news of the picket to the Change to Win federation's Conference in Chicago according to Jonathan Tasini. Heck, the visit even got a mention in the national media.

And that was it. She then took off for the airport and Toronto. Come back soon Elizabeth!
It was a wonderful opportunity for Elizabeth. I can't believe that she has the energy to do so much. And it's nice to know that she's doing it for us. I found her to be a completely authentic, down-to-earth person, willing to listen and dialogue even with everyone that she met. I came away from my encounter with Elizabeth even more fired up to make her First Lady and John President of the United States of America.

I hope that if you support Elizabeth's visit to Michigan and her trips to the monument and the picketlines that you'll donate to our "Elizabeth Edwards in Grand Rapids" fundraising page. Frankly, we were a little shy of our goal and I feel comfortable that given that she didn't just fly in for a fundraiser and flew out, but went to four different events: a visit to Gilda's House for families dealing with cancer, the reception, the monument, and the picketlines asking y'all to chip in what you can to show her you're happy she came to West Michigan.

Here's a video the campaign released this morning:



Thanks, and now I'll get to work on my report from the reception on Monday evening.