Labor on the Move: In Memoriam (12/18/07)

SUSAN ELLEN HOLLERAN, 66, a long-time union member and activist, died of cancer December 15 at the Capital Hospice in Arlington, VA. Holleran championed worker and women’s rights, economic justice and peace throughout a long career in the labor movement. Holleran was the founding director of the United Labor Agency, a labor social service agency specializing in providing information and referral services, and developing needed programs for DC area union members and their families. She also coordinated the first national conference on pay equity, which resulted in the founding of the National Committee on Pay Equity in 1979. She became an assistant editor in the Public Affairs department of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in 1982, covering news from AFSCME affiliates in 15 states and topics of national interest for the International Union’s magazine. In 2005, Holleran was named the recipient of the Max Steinbock Award, the top media prize of the International Labor Communications Association. A founding member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), established in 1974, Holleran was elected to its original National Executive Board, served as CLUW’s first Mid-Atlantic regional vice president, chaired its Education Committee. She also served as chapter president and vice president for the Washington DC area CLUW chapter and also served as the DC state vice president and DC alternate state vice president. This October, at the CLUW national convention, Holleran received the Clara Day Award, one of the organization’s highest honors. A member of the DC Labor Chorus, Holleran appeared in the 2003 production of the labor-jazz opera Forgotten: Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant in 2003. A memorial will be held at 11A on Thursday, December 27, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 2430 K St., NW. Contributions in her memory can be made to either of the following: Coalition of Labor Union Women (815 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20006) or the Capital Hospice Halquist Memorial Inpatient Center (4715 North 15th Street Arlington, VA 22205). Longtime labor supporter HILDA MASON passed away Sunday morning, December 16. Mason, 91, moved to the District of Columbia in 1945 and worked in DC public schools before serving on the DC Board of Education representing Ward Four from January 1972 to April 1977, where she founded the Ward Four Council on Education. She went on to serve on the DC City Council, where she was a stalwart labor champion for many years. "Hilda – the grandmother of the workers - was a tried-and-true friend of working people," said Metro Council President Jos Williams. “We send our deepest condolences to her family and friends.”