A Summer for the Ages
SEATTLE
There are rotten apples in the state of Washington — some of them at the Washington Fruit Company. Last summer Louise Parry made it her business to expose them.
A member of the Retired Public Employees of Washington/AFSCME Chapter 10, Parry coordinated the AFL-CIO’s Senior Summer program in Seattle.
Through Senior Summer, more than 250 retirees volunteered for four to six weeks in six sites across the country. These experienced activists teamed up with college-age volunteers participating in the AFL-CIO’s second Union Summer program. Young and old participated in organizing drives and other union activities.
In Mattawa, Wash., Parry and her husband Will joined almost 1,500 people marching five miles in triple-digit temperatures to support apple workers in their struggle for better working conditions.
"It was incredible," she says. "It was like the old Cesar Chavez marches — a marvelous day with a rally that lasted all day after the march."
The retirees also worked together in an area-wide petition drive. Whole families lined up to sign the petitions protesting the low wages and dangerous conditions apple workers face.
A member of Local 371 (DC 37) back home in New York City, Mamie Jackson particularly appreciated the time spent sharing information with the young people involved in Union Summer.
"When we talked to the Union Summer interns, we got an understanding of what they wanted and cared about. We were able to share ideas and experiences," Jackson says.
"I felt I was getting through to the young people when we met in small groups," says Betty Ann Schelter, president of Chapter 10’s King County affiliate. Schelter told the Union Summer interns about how her husband was blacklisted in Florida during an organizing drive. They moved to Seattle because it was the only place he could get work.
"We’re supposed to be able to teach the young," says Parry, "but we learned an awful lot. They are much more aggressive than we were at their age in standing up for their rights and other people’s rights. In terms of changing things, they believe that it can be done and it’s something you should expect."
