Secretary Treasurer's Report
ANTHONY SPEELMAN
My American Dream
The phrase "Living the American Dream" is used so often these days people sometimes lose sight of what it means. The events of the last couple of months have given me an opportunity to appreciate the American Dream more than ever and to renew my dedication to helping ensure that you have the chance to fulfill that dream as well.
This past November, the UFCW Local 1500 Executive Board unanimously voted to appoint me to the position of UFCW Local 1500 Secretary-Treasurer to fill the unexpired term of now retired Secretary- Treasurer Lenny Salvo. I am truly humbled by this appointment. I want to thank UFCW Local 1500 President Bruce W. Both, Local 1500 Recorder Rhonda Nelson and the entire Local 1500 Executive Board for their confidence in me. I will work tirelessly to see that their trust in my ability is warranted. I also want to thank former Secretary-Treasurer Lenny Salvo, not only for his friendship and support, but for the more than 30 years of his life he has given to this Union and its membership. He helped to build Local 1500 into the Union it is today.
For those who may not know me, I want to share with you some of my background. I was born in the Bronx but now live in Medford on Long Island. I attended Suffolk Community College in 1975 where I majored in communications. To help pay for college I started working at Dairy Barn, a Local 1500 employer on Long Island. I went from part timer to store manager over the next 12 years, all the time staying in Local 1500 as a member.
I got involved with the Union through contract negotiations with Dairy Barn and was elected a Vice President on the Local 1500 Executive Board in 1979. I served as a VP until 1986 when I was hired as a Local 1500 organizer. Over the next 24 years, I held the positions of Union Representative, Political Director, and Executive Vice President. I also serve on the Local 1500 Health, Pension and Scholarship Funds as a Trustee. I have been given the chance over the years to oversee every aspect of the Union's operations and to understand what it takes to run this organization. I feel I am truly prepared for this challenge.
I know that I am living the American Dream and I want everyone of our 23,000 members to share in it as well. I know that only as a team will we reach that goal. Whether it's through contract negotiations, political elections or union organizing drives, we all have a chance to get involved and pull together for a better future for all of us and our families. In fact, with the Contract 2010 campaign for a new Local 1500 Union contract with our major employers already in full swing, that chance for involvement and team work is at hand now. I can commit to you that I will be a strong leader on this team but will also need you to help out.
I want to conclude by thanking my family for all of their support over the years. I would not be in this wonderful position if not for the love and support of my wife Beverly, my two children, Carissa and Derrick and my mom, Zina. Both at work and at home, family is the root of many of our successes. I know that with your help, together we will make sure that the UFCW Local 1500 family grow, prosper and reach their idea of the American Dream.
