Congressman Jim Moran's News Commentary

In memory of Mr. Bertrand Seidman, Falls Church resident and lifelong labor activist who recently passed away, I wanted to share my statement delivered for the Congressional Record on July 9, 2004, detailing Bert's life and many accomplishments...

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a man who spent his entire life devoted to helping working men and women and their families. Bertrand Seidman, a constituent of my district and legend in the labor movement, recently passed away after a lifetime of advocating for working people in the United States.

After earning his Master's degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Mr. Seidman began his stellar career at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC. In 1944, he started performing his service as a conscientious objector clearing a path for the Blue Ridge Parkway. During this time he began educating his fellow workers in industrial relations and later led a year-long strike after the government stopped paying conscientious objectors while still having them work.

In 1948 he began his distinguished career with the AFL-CIO as an economist in their research department and later served as the European representative for the AFL-CIO. He continued his service to the nation as a member of the United States delegation to the United Nations' International Labor Organization from 1958 to 1976 and then from 1987 to 1988.

It was after this service that Bert Seidman was appointed to become head of the AFL-CIO's Social Security department. He worked there for twenty four years and ensured that the labor movement would continue to focus on social welfare issues. He was especially interested in health care, pensions and occupational health for all. Mr. Seidman was also active in making sure that Social Security would not be privatized and that all Americans would have health insurance, regardless of their economic status.

Our nation lost an activist when Bert Seidman passed away on June 24th. He will always be remembered for his role in our nation's labor movement. Bert wanted to make sure that when people worked their whole lives, they would be taken care of in their retirement, and if they were ill or injured, they would have ample health care to help their recovery. Most importantly, he was for the most basic right, equality. I am grateful for his vision, his dedication and the many years of service he gave to our nation. May his memory and the ideals he fought so hard to protect be preserved so future generations of working people are assured of basic rights and protections in a vastly changing workplace.