Public Employee Press

Labor history group honors journalist Juan Gonzalez

One of the few journalists to consistently see the world through the eyes of working people - Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez - received high honors Dec. 1 from the New York Labor History Association for his contributions to labor education.

Gonzalez writes about critically important but often neglected subjects. A recent column focused on the plight of Catholic schoolteachers and their union as the church closes their schools. He exposed the unhealthy conditions facing 9/11 responders and cleanup workers at Ground Zero and has hit hard at excessive advertising and recruitment spending by charter schools, city tax exemptions for lucrative strip clubs (see 'Uncollected revenue could stop layoffs') and the failure of the contracted-out CityTime payroll project (see 'Feds catch CityTime crooks in $80 million fraud').

He and Amy Goodman co-host the award-winning "Democracy Now!" news analysis radio and television program.

Gonzalez and labor historian Janet Wells Greene received John Commerford Labor Education awards. NYLHA President Irwin Yellowitz noted that the award is named for a labor leader of the 1830s who "believed knowledge empowers workers."

Presenting the award, George Altomare of the Teachers union recalled getting a call from Gonzalez, a leader in the 1991 Daily News strike, asking if he used to teach history at Franklin K. Lane High School. The answer was yes, and student and teacher were reunited.

Reception patrons included DC 37, Municipal Hospital Employees Union Local 420, and New York Public Library Guild Local 1930. PEP Editor Bill Schleicher and Associate Editor Jane LaTour both serve on the board of the NYLHA.