Clinton greeted with applause,
'Welcome, Hillary' signs
First lady scores big with PEF delegates
From the first day of PEF's 21st Annual Convention, held Oct. 17-20 in Rochester, delegate excitement was focused on the one big event that wasn't on the printed agenda.
What had the nearly 900 delegates buzzing was a rumor and then the announcement that they should all be in their seats no later than 8:30 a.m. on the last day of the convention for a visit from first lady Hillary Clinton.
The hall was packed and delegates were enthusiastic in their welcome when PEF President Roger Benson escorted Clinton to the dais.
Mutual admiration
Clinton smiled and waved
to the energized delegates who stood, applauded, cheered,
waved "Welcome Hillary" signs and then chanted,
"Run, Hillary, run!" to indicate their approval
of her possible run next year for the U.S. Senate from
New York.
"Thank you so much! Wow!" she responded.
"This is the most exciting wake-up call, I could
get!"
The first lady thanked them for their welcome and for
their public service. "When I think about public
employees, I don't think about an abstract person, but
about real people who are on the front lines. I have a
lot of faces I can put on public employees. I thank all
of you for answering that call to service. The work you
do every single day is really what we're celebrating
here," she said.
Clinton said it's wrong (for the state) to take the work
of PEF members for granted, and affirmed her own
"support for your being treated fairly for the work
you do."
After all, she said, "You helped make this country
and this state the prosperous place it is today."
Clinton applauds Labor
Clinton also commended the
delegates for their union activism and expressed her
admiration and gratitude for the many sacrifices union
members have made throughout this country's history to
the benefit of all Americans.
Clinton returned to a favorite theme when addressing
upstate audiences - the example of Kate Mullaney. The
impoverished 19-yr.-old Irish immigrant organized her
coworkers in the shirt-collar laundries of Troy into the
nation's first all-female labor union more than 100 years
ago.
In another apparent reference to PEF's struggle to get a
fair PS&T contract with New York state, Clinton
shared a 19th century labor slogan with the same wisdom
and punch today it had then - "Agitate, educate and
exasperate!"
"Think about the progress - the minimum wage, the
eight-hour workday, the 40-hour week, and unemployment
insurance - resulting from educating and occasionally
agitating and exasperating," she said.
"We need the men and women of organized labor to
show us what it means to be an American, that there's a
basic bargain at the heart of America that says if you
work hard and do your part, you will be treated
fairly," Clinton continued. She added that too
often, today, that bargain is not fulfilled and Americans
feel shortchanged.
She and the president take pride, she said, in joining
with organized labor in the fight to raise the minimum
wage and get health benefits for all Americans.
Much still to be done
Clinton talked to the
delegates about the long agenda of "unfinished
business" facing America's working families, such as
a "quality education for every child," and a
reduction in the level of crime and violence.
"I am very proud of the progress this country has
made under the leadership of my husband, the president of
the United States," she said. "Seven years ago,
I would have asked you to take on faith that it could be
done. Now, I thank you for believing. Now, we've got the
opportunity to build on these successes."
She called on the delegates and PEF to help "create
better partnerships among all different kinds of
people."
"We don't make progress by playing the blame game or
wringing our hands," Clinton said, "but by
rolling up our sleeves."
Upstate New York has not kept pace with job and economic
growth nationwide, she said. "If upstate New York
were a separate state, it would rank 49th in job and
income creation."
She suggested that much of the area needs to be more
accessible, needs lower power costs and should get a
high-tech boost by linking its great universities'
research and data capabilities.
Her "listening tour" of New York state, she
said, has convinced her that "everybody has an idea
for how to make their family's life better, if only they
have a chance for their ideas to be heard and a chance to
work for them."
Meanwhile, Clinton said, "Thank you for making sure
this state keeps on working!"
Clinton's speech was interrupted with applause and
received another standing ovation.
She responded by taking the time to shake hands with countless delegates before taking her leave.