I stopped by Gunnar Lundeberg’s office last week after a meeting of the Golden Gate Bridge Coalition’s bargaining team caucus at the Sailors Union of the Pacific International headquarters. Negotiations with the 19 unions who run our bridge district have not gone well since the contract expired on July 31, 2011. Health care cuts are still on the table and the coalition is continuing to fight on behalf of the members who make this system work. Ferry workers, iron workers, machinists, teamsters, bus drivers, engineers, electricians, etc.

Gunnar is president of the Sailors Union of the Pacific and is one if my “bosses,” but he will kick my ass for calling him a boss. He serves on the San Francisco Labor Council Executive Board and is a Vice President of the California Federation of Labor. I don’t get to his office as much as I should. It’s a wonderful art deco tower under the shadows of the Bay Bridge on the east side of the city full, of elegant stone and terrazzo (my union’s work – Brick, Tile, Terrazzo, Marble Local 3).

Gunnar’s office is filled with books and historic pictures of ships and when his assistant let me in he was arguing with some shipping company about a dispatch: “There is nothing in this contract that can deny my member this trip! He wants to work – he goes.” I love to see union reps fighting for their members. He hung up, lit a cigarette and showed me the minutes from a leather bound book of one of his union’s San Francisco meetings from 100 years ago. The Titanic had just sunk and the SUP members were on record as demanding more staffing and lifeboats to prevent the tragedy that their members had suffered and that management had not prepared for.

If we don’t remember our history we will repeat the damage. Downsizing jobs diminishes our communities. Cutting healthcare is a crime. The bottom line when it came to the Titanic was literally the “bottom.” And it took down the Astor’s as well as the sailors.

Thanks, Gunnar, for the reminder.

With the daily actions going on in San Francisco we are feeling that the Movement is coming together more than ever. There seem to be 3 or 4 major planned and strategic actions every week fighting foreclosures, union busting, Occupy defenses, health care attacks, immigrant bashing, contract fights…. The coalition of unions, community groups, and Occupy movements (shout out to my neighborhood OccupyBernal’s groundbreaking actions!) seem to be setting the tone for economic justice in San Francisco.

Although I personally wasn’t involved in the recent 99% Spring Training, I stopped by and was impressed by the talent of the organizers in the room. Thanks to Gordon Mar (Jobs with Justice), Julia Wong (Unite Here Local 2), Ramneek Saini (San Francisco Labor Council), and Sanjay Garla for putting together a great training to keep us smart, diligent, and prepared for all of our actions and fights as we hit the 99% Spring events in San Francisco. Another 30 or 40 organizers and activists could have facilitated this event and the overall talent was amazing.

I implore all of you, as well as the Labor Council, to reach out more – to our unions, community groups, faith groups, and elected officials, who, frankly, could step up a little more…

Welcome to the San Francisco Labor Council’s celebration of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s 25 years of leadership in Congress. This is a very special fundraiser and a reminder of how she was first elected when Ronald Reagan was president and has been in the belly of the beast of national politics since those first days when corporations were given the green light to attack unions and working families who choose to have a voice at work. We are honored that she will grace our banquet and proud of her leadership during these unremitting attacks on the middle class.

2011 has been a watershed year for both good and bad reasons. On the bad side many of our members are still out of work and fighting to keep their lives and families intact. On the good side we are more active than ever.

And a main reason the labor movement is active is because so many of our labor contracts are open and so many of us are active in negotiations. In the public sector 28 of the 31 contracts in the City and County are open. In the private sector (janitors, parking attendants, waste management drivers and building trades unions, to name a few) are also in regressive bargaining. With the concessions asked for by Verizon for the 40,000 CWA and IBEW workers on the east coast, we see a continuing pattern of attacks by corporate America.

But we will continue to fight.

On the good side – the success of Measure C in San Francisco a model for consensus and coalition building to save jobs and protect pensions. In the worst of economic times we thank all of you who helped us defeat the attacks on public workers through Measure D by 70% and secure our victory by 70%. Labor, government, business and community ensured this success.

And I must give an extra shout out to investment businessman and civic philanthropist, Warren Hellman, who anchored the business community’s commitment to San Francisco city services by devoting an extraordinary amount of time to work with us. He understood that City unions and workers are smart enough and willing to acknowledge the economic downturn and contribute to the financial recovery of this great City. We are saddened by his passing.

And to those of us who have been part of the OCCUPY movement:  we are invigorated by new partners who share our disgust with corporate greed. The foreclosures, the billions of dollars not invested in jobs, the Republican’s refusal to stimulate the economy, the continuing war budgets…. We will continue to be on the streets to fight for economic justice.

The one issue that will occupy the labor movement in November will be the crass attack to silence our political voices with the Corporate Deception initiative that right wing businesses are putting on the ballot in California. This initiative will make Proposition 226 (in 1998) and Proposition 75 (in 2005) look like window dressing. This Corporate Deception, if passed, will stop us as union members from participating in political affairs. Even if we sign up for COPE we will be forbidden from participating in electoral politics. And it’s not just public workers (firefighters, nurses, teachers, etc.), it will also stop janitors, building trades workers, gardeners, hotel cleaners, and grocery workers – ALL of us – from participating in elections. This must – and will – be defeated.

As you know, the United State Supreme Court (sic), has declared that multi-trillion dollar corporations have the same rights as individuals. And that means that the bosses can outspend us by 100 to 1 instead of the ubiquitous 11 to 1. The Corporate Deception initiative must be defeated so we can even have half a chance at funding our voice at work in political affairs.

New revenue from those who have benefited from this economic downturn is also important. As the ink dries on this booklet there is a compromise being worked out to tax the millionaires through a consensus between those unions who have worked with the Governor Brown and those who pushed the tax initiative on the 1%, led by the California Federation of Teachers. I urge all of us to work to get the consensus measure on the ballot in order to fund public education and other safety net services. NO MORE CUTS!

As always I want to acknowledge the Labor Council staff and the work they do:

Emily Nelson, my Assistant and Communications Coordinator, has almost single-handedly arranged for this dinner to happen. She has also reconfigured our Web and Facebook pages.  Check them out. Thank you for your assistance and hard work.

Our political director, Amber Baur, is on maternity leave with her new son, Arlo Jude. W are looking forward to her return in a few weeks to anchor our political campaigns.  We miss you, Amber.

Hang Le To, our Finance Manager, has continued to diligently manage and oversee not only our budget and payroll, but our campaign finances and community service funds as well. She updates any changes in IRS and campaign finance laws, which we abide by assiduously. As we move into more campaigns and political fights her professionalism is a resource we value every day.

Ramneek Saini, our Community Services Liaison, is now in her second year on our team and as a committed organizer, we are delighted at her dedication to our programs.

I want to thank all of you: union leaders, Executive Committee, staff, delegates, community partners and public officials for being a part of our team. I am proud to work for all of you as we continue to build capacity and programs to ensure workers the standard of living we deserve.

I attended the California Democratic Party Convention in San Diego a few days ago as a delegate from San Francisco and as a member of the executive board as elected Chair of the Party’s Labor Caucus. Congresswoman Jackie Speier continued the tradition of Tom Lantos by appointing me as one of her representatives to the Party.

Our Labor Caucus was packed with over 600 delegates from around the state. California Assembly Speaker John Perez from Los Angeles, also an officer of the caucus and from the ranks of labor (UFCW), gave a great power analysis of what we need to do protect our safety net in this ongoing economic downturn. John Perez is a fighter and didn’t run for office to deal with simple issues. We are proud of him as our leader in the labor movement, the Democratic Party and in the Assembly. He will fight for revenue from the 1% to fund education and for safety net programs for the elderly and poor.

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi made time to speak to two of the many Demo caucuses, meeting with our labor friends and the Women’s Caucus chaired by my friend and her daughter, Christine Pelosi. Leader Pelosi has shown tremendous growth of leadership in her 25 years of serving San Francisco and the nation for women’s and workers’ rights.

Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski gave a thorough analysis of the “Corporate Deception” ballot measure on the ballot this November that is designed to disenfranchise workers in California. While corporations are now treated as individuals and allowed to spend shareholders money however they want – they still get to fund as much as they want on candidates and ballot measures that try to silence workers.

But we will win!

I’m proud that San Francisco-based leaders Attorney General Kamala Harris and Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom gave two of the best “calls to action” of the convention by our constitutional officers. Please see Kamala’s “Too Big to Fail” speech about Wall Street banks that got stimulated instead of homeowners and workers.

Senator John Burton, Chair of the California Democratic Party, a great union advocate in his 100 years of service, made a great choice in inviting Senator Al Franken from progressive Minnesota to give the key note speech at our Saturday night dinner program. Please watch his speech laying out the idiots, corporate stooges, and destroyers of living wages. His line about how the Republicans can “root against success and prosperity” cannot be made any more simply. Great summary to what we must contend with in our 2012 campaign.

There was also much talk about the competing revenue measures in Sacramento for the November ballot. We heard from the California Federation of Teachers on the “Millionaires Tax” and from SEIU on the agreement they reached with the Governor.

Some of the friends from San Francisco we networked with included Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Hene Kelly, Conny Ford, Senator Leland Yee, Jane Morrison, Leah Pimintal, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and Mark Leach from the IBEW.

Most of the delegates left San Diego fired up to hit the streets for the 2012 campaign.

After nearly a year of legal wrangling, research, political organizing, and consensus building at City Hall the San Francisco Labor Council helped pass a landmark piece of legislation to stop unscrupulous contractors from exploiting workers when they garnish City contracts. Led by Robert Morales of the Teamsters District Council 7, which represents truck drivers and haulers; Olga Miranda and Asha Safai of SEIU’s Local 87 Janitors; Mark Gleason of IBT 665, which represents parking attendants; and with the support of F.X. Crowley of the Stagehands Local 16 and Ramon Hernandez of Laborers Local 261, the Labor Council saw a landmark Prevailing Wage Ordinance pass the Board of Supervisors 10-1 and signed by Mayor Ed Lee.

Many thanks to Supervisor Scott Wiener, who authored the legislation and helped us negotiate all the legal, political and community issues to achieve these worker protections. Extra kudos to Gillian Gillett, Supervisor Wiener’s legislative aid, for her diligent work helping us craft the language of this historic agreement.

The Building Trades unions, of course, through Davis-Bacon and state standards, set the path to fair wages in the public sector. Now we have other protections in San Francisco for other workers.

The Labor Council team was treated to a visit in the office by Amber Baur, our Political Director, who is on maternity leave. Amber brought the newest part of our family to the office last week. Arlo Jude Baur is the coolest kid I’ve seen in, well… maybe ever. Amber ,we miss you but enjoy all your time off with Roem and Arlo. There will be plenty of work which will need your talents and expertise to fight for workers’ rights in 2012 when you get back.

Last Friday night at about 10:00 pm I began receiving phone calls with alarming messages that there was about to be a strike on the San Francisco waterfront. I finally realized that workers had walked off an Italian cruise ship at Pier 35. I put on a warm coat and drove to the Embarcadero to see what was going on.

News cameras were interviewing a large group of men and women in red jackets and black bow ties who were on the Embarcadero outside the pier. I found out that they had left the cruiseliner after the dinner shift because they were getting paid wages less than what they had signed up for. Their compensation was being calculated in dollars instead of euros. A substantial difference. They felt that the company was ignoring them at port after port and finally took action in what they had heard was a “union town.”

With the diligence and help of Robert Irminger from the Inland Boatman’s Union (ILWU) and Alan Benjamin, a member of the San Francisco Labor Council’s Executive Board, we helped create enough of a buzz that we secured a meeting with the Costa Deliziosa’s Captain, Francisco Serra. I asked the workers to pick 3 or 4 representatives and Robert and I were escorted through the long corridors of the massive ship and up several flights of elevators to the Captain’s quarters. I later realized that the Costa Deliziosa is the sister ship to the notorious Concordia that recently ran aground off the coast of Italy.

The workers on this ship worked under a contract with the International Transport Federation (ITF) workers and the Italian Trade Unions so the Captain, Irminger and I initiated many international calls, woke up a lot of people in Europe, and eventually the Captain agreed that the compensation would be adjusted. He admitted that it was “a mistake.” During these conversations, negotiations, and calls between Italy, Seattle and San Francisco a settlement agreement was drawn up that locked up not only a wage agreement, but guaranteed that the workers who walked off the job and stood up for their rights would not be disciplined during their tenure with the company. The Captain and I were “deputized” to sign the agreement at approximately 2:00 AM Saturday morning.

I asked Captain Serra to invite the workers back onto the ship and he ordered his crew to prepare a dinner for the strikers who would have to be up by 6:00 AM to serve breakfast for the passengers.

The Costa Deliziosa’s security staff led Irminger, the worker representatives and I down to a dining room where the strikers were waiting. I read the agreement which included the security language protecting those who stood up for their rights and thanked the workers for their courage and diligence.  The room went crazy with clapping and shouting. We ended with the “unity clap.”

Workers in a foreign port and a foreign land who felt disrespected had stood up for their rights. It wasn’t easy, but when workers have a union they have a voice at work. This was not a mutiny. This was a piece of our labor movement.

The majority of us in this room have been on a picket line with Walter Johnson. That was the first time I met him. Bricklayers and Tilelayers Local 3 had a picket up on the Port almost 20 years ago and though Local 3 was not part of the Labor Council—yet, only the building trades were informed of our action—Walter was walking down the Embarcadero, saw the picket signs, heard the commotion, came over, walked the line with us and asked me how he could help turn around this non-union contractor working on a city building. That was quintessential Walter Johnson. It also meant that his lunch at Red’s Java house would be delayed by 30 minutes.

Walter Johnson was the most honest, compassionate, and generous leader the American labor movement has ever seen. He was there for all workers and all unions. And that is why so many of you are here — peers, family and friends — to celebrate his life and honor his passing.

We also know that Walter Johnson could never say “no.” As Art Pulaski, our statewide labor leader noted in the Chronicle’s article about Walter earlier this week, he could also drive all of us crazy because his generosity would include all the homeless people who would come to the office to be taken to lunch or coffee. But let’s not get started on coffee…..

Walter served the labor movement for over 50 years starting with his time as an activist in his union when he was a salesman at Sears-Roebuck and a member of the United Food and Commercial workers. He eventually became the senior officer of UFCW Local 1100 and represented the members for many years. Even in retirement Walter still came to the Labor Council offices and I was treated to so many of his UFCW stories about fighting for the rights of his members through grievances or, more importantly, just the powerful strength of Walter’s convictions.

Some of the most historic retail worker strikes in San Francisco history were won under his leadership. In honor of his UFCW service President Ron Lind and the members of UFCW Local 5 awarded Walter a lifetime membership earlier this year.

Walter, as we all know, served for 19 years as the Secretary-Treasurer of the San Francisco Labor Council as my predecessor and the majority of you here today know him from those years. His legacy goes back to his pushing the envelope on allowing the Council to oppose the war in Vietnam. He supported labor unions who wanted to expand our organizing by partnering with European and other international unions, and he was one of the first Labor Council leaders in America to support full participation for LGBT rights and leadership in our movement. This is what San Francisco and labor are about.

I know Walter is a little irritated with us right now because he didn’t get to take us to lunch one more time and complain that we never picked up the tab before ordering his favorite “oni” dinner: “Minestrone, Canneloni (just one…) and Spumoni.”

We are incredibly happy that Walter and his family experienced the first World Series championship of his beloved Giants – Damn! He loved the Giants. Right, Emily, Lawrence?  I think we should all pray that the 49ers win tomorrow to commemorate this great man.

Walter, on behalf of your friends, colleagues, workers, and family — We miss you!

But we know you are organizing in a better place.