By LeShaun Arrington, NJEA Communications Consultant
A cold, rainy day could not dampen the spirits of dozens of members from various professional and trade unions throughout the state as they came together on October 1 in a celebration of solidarity. Hosted by the Hillsborough Education Association (HEA) President Henry Goodhue, the Friends of Labor BBQ sought to acknowledge all the work and contributions of labor organizations, especially throughout the COVID pandemic.
“Union members and the work that we do are the backbone of our society, yet very seldom do we celebrate our accomplishments,” said Goodhue. “On this day, a blend of union members joined together for a delicious meal, to swap stories about their advocacy work, and vowed to collaborate with, and support each other.
It was a genuine family barbeque with “all the fixings”, all freshly grilled in the park and catered by beloved local eatery, Grub Hut. Like all family barbeques, old friends and new talked about families and work as children played with each other. As the day went on, the bond among these union brothers and sisters grew stronger.
The idea for this gathering began when Didier Jimenez, a Hillsborough resident and member of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) approached Goodhue after a Hillsborough Board of Education Meeting. Jimenez, a vocal supporter of HEA members during monthly board of education meetings, suggested that their respective unions find a way to meet and support each other. This grew into a discussion on how to expand union connections and the Friends of Labor was born.
In addition to the UFCW and HEA, representatives Our Revolution, other NJEA locals from throughout the state, as well as NJEA leadership were in attendance. NJEA President Sean Spiller and NJEA Vice President Steve Beatty both addressed the crowd, lauding public school employees’ efforts over the last couple of years.
“New Jersey has always been a leader in education because of the hard work of our educators and their ability to go with the flow, especially during the pandemic,” Spiller said. “I am proud to be the president of the organization that advocates for our profession.”
Pro-union, pro-public education legislators also joined the celebration. Assemblywoman Sadaf Jaffer and Assemblyman Roy Freiman (LD16) shared their collective appreciation for what they dubbed unions’ “authentic advocacy” because they are challenging others for a better way of life for everyone.
U.S. Representative Tom Malinowski, a staunch supporter of public education and the rights of public educators, took a break from his campaign to join the crowd and speak about our role in our nation’s history. With his outstanding voting record of support for unions, as well as their members and their families, Malinowski vowed to continue to fight for workers’ right if re-elected to Congress.
After the speeches, while the music, singing and laughter floated in the background, Goodhue smiled as he reflected on the day.
“This is a movement not a moment,” Goodhue said. “We will continue forward building bridges between new labor organizations like Amazon and Starbucks and reaffirming our commitment to others like the Teamsters, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), UFCW and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Associations (PBA) who stood with us and supported this event. Hopefully, we can move forward with supporting them in their future fight, so they can support us in ours. As our brothers and sisters in the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) say, ‘Together we fight, together we win!’”
