Union members’ children teach valuable lessons in their essays & prose

One of the best ways to learn about the value of union membership is by listening to the children of union members. Once again in this year's writing contest, the results of which will be published in next week's Hotel Voice, a number of children of our members submitted essays explaining why they found their parents' union membership to be so valuable. It is inspiring reading for all union members, and we feel privileged to once again be able to turn over this space to such bright young students. As we have said before, we think it is some of the most gratifying reading many of us will ever find in Hotel Voice.

It is often said that one of the best ways to appreciate the value of union membership is by working in a non-union job. Cara Flinter, whose father, Michael, works in the Park Lane Hotel, understands this. She explained that both her parents know the value of unions because they have also worked non-union jobs.Cara's father has worked at the Park Lane for 36 years, and he has served as a delegate for the last 30 of those years. Her mother is a member of CSEA Local 830, where she is a vice president of her unit.

"Local 6 has always treated my family well," Cara wrote. "The Union helped my father get his job back twice, after being fired for no reason. Also, the Union has provided my father with medical benefits for the entire family and job security, too, which has allowed us to live in our own home. "Because my parents are both so involved with their unions, I know how much union membership can mean," Cara wrote. "The Union helps so many people with their work related problems. The Union is a dependable source of help."

Mehrun Uddin, daughter of Mohammed Uddin, an employee of the Westin Hotel, gave multiple reasons why she appreciated her father's union membership, adding to what she told us last year. The first example involved her mother's illness. "The sight of my mother being lifted down our stairs and into an ambulance was unbearable," she wrote. "When we arrived at the hospital a nurse asked if we had health coverage. In this time of horror it was a great comfort to know that my family had health coverage. That same night I saw a man asked the same question. However, he did not have health coverage. I felt his pain from the combination of being worried for his wife and not having any health coverage. These two worries were written all over his face and at that moment I was truly grateful for my father's union."

In another example cited by Mehrun Uddin, she wrote, "Local 6 provides its members with top doctors and top care." She has an uncle who is also a hotel worker and she praised the Union's health plan for referring her uncle to specialists. In this case her uncle and aunt were hoping to have a child but had been unsuccessful in this effort for many years.

Mehrun reported that the specialists that her aunt and uncle were referred to were successful in helping her aunt get pregnant. "My whole family was filled with joy," Mehrun wrote. "Everyone in my family shed tears of joy that would not have occurred if not for Local 6. My hope is that the Union knows all the good it does for its members and their families."

Tony Hung, whose father works in the New York Palace, described the contrasts in employment for his father between a union job and a non-union job. In fact, Tony's father was fired from a non-union job for asking for a day off when Tony was born. He added that when his father became a member of Local 6 it was the realization of his "American Dream." Tony saluted democracy for fostering labor unions and credited labor unions with fostering democracy and keeping democracies strong.

Anyone who looks at our Union's strong effort in the political arena the last two years can see that Tony was right! One of the most interesting essays about the value of Union membership was written by Lucina Tam, both of whose parents are Hotel Trades Council members. Lucina wrote about her family's annual spring cleaning day, when her mom was considering discarding Lucina's eight-year-old Barbie doll. Lucina explained why the Barbie doll meant so much to her, and in doing so explained the value of her parents' Union membership. Lucina explained that 9/11 caused her mother to lose her job at the Millennium Hilton, which was closed by the attack.

"The Union called for a meeting with the workers who had lost their jobs and they gave my mother and the others much assistance. The Union offered help to those in need, provided support for 10 months, help with searching for a new job and supplies for each family." And, yes, the Barbie doll was one of the supplies provided by the Union. It came in one of the "care" packages the Union distributed to displaced workers after 9/11, according to Lucina. And now the doll is a reminder to Lucina of all the Union did to help her family at such a difficult time eight years ago.

"The doll symbolized hope, life and a new beginning," Lucina wrote. And that, she explained, was why she told her mother she'd like to keep it instead of throwing it away.

Thank you, Cara, Mehrun, Tony, Lucina and all the other students for generously sharing with us their appreciation of their parents' union membership. Their essays make all of us feel good about being members of this Union.