Edgar West and Pam West oral history interview, 2005-09-14
In this interview, West only briefly mentions his early life, spending a great deal of the interview discussing the day-to-day work of an iron worker. He talks about the travel and the dangers he faced as an iron worker, recounting in particular his experiences working on the John Hancock building i...
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ftgeorgiastunidc:oai:digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu:voicelabor/26 2023-05-15T16:30:18+02:00 Edgar West and Pam West oral history interview, 2005-09-14 West, Edgar; West, Pam Slawsky, Norman J., 1949- 2005-09-14 01:02:40 oral histories (document genres);audiocassettes;interviews audio/mpeg http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/voicelabor/id/26 English eng Georgia State University Library Southern Labor Archives http://research.library.gsu.edu/VoicesofLabor WestE_L2005-20 West, Edgar, and Pam West, interviewed by Norman Slawsky, September 14, 1995, Voices of Labor Oral History Project, Southern Labor Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University. http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/voicelabor/id/26 Copyright to this item is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this item available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ CC-BY-NC-ND Voices of Labor Oral History Project Iron and steel workers--Labor unions Building Iron and steel International Association of Bridge Structural Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers World Trade Center (New York N.Y.) Sound 2005 ftgeorgiastunidc 2017-11-19T16:10:49Z In this interview, West only briefly mentions his early life, spending a great deal of the interview discussing the day-to-day work of an iron worker. He talks about the travel and the dangers he faced as an iron worker, recounting in particular his experiences working on the John Hancock building in Chicago and the World Trade Towers in New York. He discusses his rise to business manager of Local 709 in 1988. West states that he is most proud of his success in negotiating a project labor agreement (PLA) at the Savannah River Site, and also thinks that the Clinton administration's willingness to help organized labor made that agreement, and others like it, possible. Pam West, Edgar's wife and daughter of Local 709's former business manager, joins in the interview and recalls some of her experience as secretary of Local 709. West and his wife agree that they value the union because it ensures workers' safety and and healthcare, and most importantly, it allows its members to look forward to a dignified retirement. A native of Savannah, Georgia, Edgar West was born on February 7, 1943. After graduating from high school, West spent three years in the Army working at a missile site in Greenland. He returned to Savannah after his military service and began an apprenticeship program with the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (Ironworkers) Local 709. Becoming a journeyman in 1969, West traveled around the country working on several projects, including the erection of the World Trade Center. In 1988 West became business manager of Local 709, replacing his father-in-law, and stayed in that position until his retirement in March 2005. Audio Greenland Georgia State University Library Digital Collections Greenland |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Georgia State University Library Digital Collections |
op_collection_id |
ftgeorgiastunidc |
language |
English |
topic |
Iron and steel workers--Labor unions Building Iron and steel International Association of Bridge Structural Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers World Trade Center (New York N.Y.) |
spellingShingle |
Iron and steel workers--Labor unions Building Iron and steel International Association of Bridge Structural Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers World Trade Center (New York N.Y.) West, Edgar; West, Pam Edgar West and Pam West oral history interview, 2005-09-14 |
topic_facet |
Iron and steel workers--Labor unions Building Iron and steel International Association of Bridge Structural Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers World Trade Center (New York N.Y.) |
description |
In this interview, West only briefly mentions his early life, spending a great deal of the interview discussing the day-to-day work of an iron worker. He talks about the travel and the dangers he faced as an iron worker, recounting in particular his experiences working on the John Hancock building in Chicago and the World Trade Towers in New York. He discusses his rise to business manager of Local 709 in 1988. West states that he is most proud of his success in negotiating a project labor agreement (PLA) at the Savannah River Site, and also thinks that the Clinton administration's willingness to help organized labor made that agreement, and others like it, possible. Pam West, Edgar's wife and daughter of Local 709's former business manager, joins in the interview and recalls some of her experience as secretary of Local 709. West and his wife agree that they value the union because it ensures workers' safety and and healthcare, and most importantly, it allows its members to look forward to a dignified retirement. A native of Savannah, Georgia, Edgar West was born on February 7, 1943. After graduating from high school, West spent three years in the Army working at a missile site in Greenland. He returned to Savannah after his military service and began an apprenticeship program with the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (Ironworkers) Local 709. Becoming a journeyman in 1969, West traveled around the country working on several projects, including the erection of the World Trade Center. In 1988 West became business manager of Local 709, replacing his father-in-law, and stayed in that position until his retirement in March 2005. |
author2 |
Slawsky, Norman J., 1949- |
format |
Audio |
author |
West, Edgar; West, Pam |
author_facet |
West, Edgar; West, Pam |
author_sort |
West, Edgar; West, Pam |
title |
Edgar West and Pam West oral history interview, 2005-09-14 |
title_short |
Edgar West and Pam West oral history interview, 2005-09-14 |
title_full |
Edgar West and Pam West oral history interview, 2005-09-14 |
title_fullStr |
Edgar West and Pam West oral history interview, 2005-09-14 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Edgar West and Pam West oral history interview, 2005-09-14 |
title_sort |
edgar west and pam west oral history interview, 2005-09-14 |
publisher |
Georgia State University Library |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/voicelabor/id/26 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland |
genre_facet |
Greenland |
op_source |
Voices of Labor Oral History Project |
op_relation |
Southern Labor Archives http://research.library.gsu.edu/VoicesofLabor WestE_L2005-20 West, Edgar, and Pam West, interviewed by Norman Slawsky, September 14, 1995, Voices of Labor Oral History Project, Southern Labor Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University. http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/voicelabor/id/26 |
op_rights |
Copyright to this item is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this item available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
_version_ |
1766020013677871104 |