While a smoky haze from faraway Canadian forest fires filtered across the Great Lakes the first full week of June, that did not stop Port Maritime Councils in Chicago and Cleveland from hosting their annual golf outings.
Nearly 200 union members and friends gathered at Harborside International Golf Center in Chicago on June 6 to honor four people at the luncheon immediately after the golf.
Gary Perinar, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, received the PMC’s Labor Leader of the Year Award. Brother Perinar leads more than 52,000 Carpenters across Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and eastern Iowa. The third generation Carpenter is a 43-year member of Local 174.
Presented with the Able Helmsman of the Year Award was Don Villar, Secretary-Treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor. Born in the Philippines, Brother Villar’s parents were union members. The CWA-NABET Local 41 president has worked nearly 25 years as a WLS television broadcast journalist.
The Port Council issued two Friends of Labor Awards. One went to Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza. Now in her third term as the state’s chief fiscal and accountability officer, Sister Mendoza is the first Hispanic independently elected to Illinois statewide office. She proudly told the audience she has fought and will continue to fight to make sure contracts for construction and other work will have project labor agreements.
Retired State Representative Al Riley accepted the other Friend of Labor Award. An urban planner and statistician, Brother Riley grew up in a Labor home. He spoke about meeting in his youth the late Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters President A. Philip Randolph and the late UAW President Walter Reuther. He served in the Illinois legislature for 12 years.
Finally, Chicago and Western Lakes Port Council President Bob Howard surprised retired MTD Executive Secretary-Treasurer Daniel Duncan with a Lifetime Achievement Award “in recognition of your outstanding service to the Maritime Trades Department and a lifetime of loyalty and dedication to the Labor Movement.”
Two days later, the Cleveland Port Maritime Council held a brief meeting prior to hitting the links. Forty unionists and friends took part in the breakfast meeting where the PMC unanimously came out against Issue 1 on the Buckeye State’s August 8 ballot. PMC President John Baker explained that the measure would change the Ohio Constitution, requiring a vote of 60 percent to approve an amendment rather than the current 50 percent plus one, which has stood for more than 100 years.
The PMC then hosted a chicken and ribs dinner at the conclusion of the golf outing.