36th Evening With Labor Honors Local Labor Heroes

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)"I promised you I wouldn't let you down and I'm still here," said 2012 J.C. Turner award-winner Kendall Martin on Saturday night, recognizing fellow Iron Workers 5 member Ron Borza Jr., who had originally recruited Martin to become an iron worker. The Local 5 Business Manager (second from right), noting that his duties as a labor leader mean he spends "a lot of time on the road, away from my family," thanked his wife, Susanne, "for her tremendous support" as well as Metro Council President Jos Williams "for making me part of your leadership team." Evening with Labor award-winners received a special bonus this year when they were given recognition awards from the state of Maryland -- personally presented by Lt. Governor Anthony Brown -- and U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski. Organizing Award winners Laborers 657 and Golden Picket Sign winners UFCW 1994/MCGEO both brought up teams of activists and staff to receive their awards, while Maryland COPE Award winners Mark Coles, Cynthia Collins, Michele Lewis and Tony Perez were all smiles as they hoisted their awards. Thomas M. Bradley Community Services Award winner Ann Hoffman reminisced fondly about Bradley and Williams entertained the audience of more than 900 with a story about how the diminutive Hoffman had acted as his "bodyguard" when they were serving as election observers in South Africa.  AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt-Baker praised the Metro Council for its effectiveness, saying the awards recognizing organizing, coalition-building and political accountability "are a blueprint of what we need to move America forward," and DC Mayor Vincent Gray presented Williams with a proclamation declaring Saturday "Metro Washington Council Day." Perhaps the most moving part of the 36th annual event was the moment of silence for Dwight Bowman, the AFGE District 14 leader who unexpectedly died earlier this year, and whose widow received a standing ovation. - Chris Garlock; top right photo (l-r): EWL Chair Fred Allen, MD Lt Governor Anthony Brown, Kendall Martin & Jos Williams; bottom left: DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton leads The Electric Slide; photos by Bill Burke/Page One