Bill Davis - "The Union Man"

The union man's name was Sullivan.
He came by two or three times a year.
The first time he came
was when I found out who management was,
since they weren't allowed to be around.
Sometimes he would ask
if anyone wanted to picket
at the airport,
or a building downtown,
during the day, for pay.
I don't know anyone who did.
The union was new
and no one understood it much,
and older guys didn't care at all.
It was only when the contract ran out
that the union seemed important,
and even then we settled for less.
After he talked to us,
the union man would listen
as shop steward McGuinness
called the roll,
from Gillan and Cuzzi
through McGillicutty and Collucci
down to the guys I knew.
There were five Sullivans on the list,
but they were hardly ever there.
I only saw two of them ever,
R. Sullivan and T. Sullivan,
and they were only there
when the union man was.


Local 254, 1976