Speech at Secretary’s 2004 Awards Ceremony - Philadelphia

I have the pleasure of once again addressing the 91st Annual Secretary’s Awards Ceremony. I look forward to it and am honored that I am asked. We come to this place and time every year to honor those among us who have achieved or exceeded in the production of a worthwhile project that deserves recognition. And all of the honorees deserve it.

But I come to speak about those of us who are not receiving an award this year but deserve recognition just as well. Those of us who are what I like to call Everyday Heroes. Some of us do extraordinary things, like Sgt Brian Murphy, Shop Steward at the MSHA Pittsburgh Health Technology Center who just returned from serving a year in Iraq. My Everyday Hero!

Henry Welcome, the Baltimore OFCCP office shop steward who collects money, clothing, toiletries and anything else that is useful and helps to support two orphanages, three hospitals, one nursing home and the 24,000 Children of the Street in his native land of Honduras and in his spare time acts as an interpreter for Hispanic Immigrants in his neighborhood. My Everyday Hero!

We will be conducting a clothing drive for Henry’s kids in the Philadelphia area and we hope that you all will be as generous with this as you have in the past for other worthwhile charities.

And of course our beloved union sister Dahlia Tyson, who just lost her long and valiant fight against cancer. Dahlia, who for years provided care inspiration to others by how well she lived her life and taught us all on how to have dignity and purpose at the end. Dahlia, who even in her final days still found time to provide comfort and cheer to those who were having their own struggle with cancer, My Everyday Hero!

We will be raising money to send to Cancer Research in her name and anyone wishing to contribute can send the check or cash to Local 644 Charities and mark it for the Dahlia Tyson Fund.

And there are others, lots of others, all of you and the rest of the 1800 DOL employees in the Philadelphia region. . You, who make the Department of Labor work, who in some capacity or other aid in the completion of the mission of promoting the welfare of the American Worker. You, who by doing your job as efficiently and effectively made it possible for today’s honorees have that little extra that secured their Award.

It never ceases to amaze me how well we do our jobs, despite the changes in administrations and policy, despite the slings and arrows of those who don’t like big government. And they, the anti-government people, have been in every Administration since President Carter. I admire President Carter as a great American and Ex-President, but he ran on changing government, as have all the administrations including the present one. This has been the mantra of the past 14 congresses since and the myriad of Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries we have had to endure. They all had the plan, the policy and the vision. But the mission has never changed and we stayed the course and did our jobs effectively, but not quietly. I say not quietly because Local 644 and the NCFLL have always been there to be your voice to set the record straight.

All of these people run on about making government smaller, but because of outsourcing the number of people being paid by the federal government has grown. It is estimated that there is anywhere from 13 to 17 million people doing government work and being paid with government money of that number, only 2 million of them are us. The rest are contractors, and we can not estimate the correct number because Congress won’t pass the The Reporting, Accounting and Cost Act or TRAC. When outsourcing competition is handled fairly, government workers, the real government workers win the competition 89% of the time. So I am always amazed how well you do your jobs, work in your communities and help your fellow man. You, who helped Local 644 Charities raise and distribute over $30,000 to needy folks and worthwhile causes. Who, gave generously to the Children’s with Aids project for years, providing over 600 Easter Baskets each. My Everyday Heroes!

You work hard for your government and your country and neither this administration nor this Congress should eliminate the fairness and respect you deserve for a job well done. The proper culmination of this event should be that each of you contacts your Congressional representative and telling him or her that fact!

I take great pride in telling everyone that I am a federal worker, I work for the U.S. Department of Labor and we do a great job! Look around you and see the great people you get to work with everyday. You! You are my Everyday Heroes!

Thank you!