Pittsburgh, PA (Aug. 21) – Statement by Leo W. Gerard, President, United Steelworkers (USW), on passing of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones.
“Cleveland Steelworkers and USW members across the nation are saddened by the loss of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. No one could stir a crowd quite like Stefanie. Her life force was so strong that she could project it into a weary crowd and get them all on their feet yelling for more.
She roused our 4,000 local union leaders at the USW Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas earlier this month with her fierce support of America’s union workers by quoting a passage from her favorite poem, ‘Let the union spirit take hold of this land. Let the union’s power fill every woman and man.’
Urging unprecedented activism in the upcoming November elections, she told us, ‘There are those who believe God’s going take care of everything. Well, that’s not faith. That’s superstition.’ Tubbs Jones, who supported Senator Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, urged everyone to unify behind the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Congresswoman Tubbs Jones was proud of her life of ‘firsts,’ including being the first African American woman serving on one of the most powerful committees in the House of Representatives, the Ways & Means Committee. But she was equally proud of her achievements as a judge on the Common Pleas bench in the State of Ohio and as a Municipal Court Judge in the City of Cleveland.
Her legacy of leadership will stay with us. There was no greater friend of the Steelworkers than Congresswoman Tubbs Jones and she will be missed, not only by our members, but by working men and women nationwide. The USW extends our condolences and prayers to her family during this most difficult time."
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