"It Still Feels Like Family Here"; IAFF 36’s Smith Recalls Seafaring Father

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)As a child, the old Seafarers (SIU) hall on East Baltimore Street “almost seemed like a big playground” to Edward C. Smith, who occasionally went there on weekends with his dad, the late SIU Representative Ed Smith. “When you’re a little kid, it was fun to go to work with your father,” Smith, President of DC Fire Fighters Association (IAFF Local 36) recalled. “It was something to look forward to.” But the son’s appreciation for the union definitely wasn’t limited to those trips to the hall. Calmly but firmly, the elder Smith regularly reminded his son, “Those shoes on your feet and those clothes on your back are because of the SIU.” In some ways, that sentiment helped develop Ed Jr. into a lifelong trade unionist. Click here for the rest of Smith’s memories of his dad and the labor movement. Story/photo courtesy Seafarers International Union