848 Loses One of Our Best
Fifty years ago, Everett Day found out that his union needed him
and that he could make a difference. When he came to work, a big collection of
people were standing outside the gate. He soon learned that Vought Aircraft
management was refusing to allow people through the gate if they had a
"UAW Local 893" label attached to their company badges. The union had
made up the labels with their name and address so that lost badges could be
easily found and returned. The company was charging $5 for replacement badges,
and that was a lot of money for an aircraft worker in 1953.
Everett didn't go in to work that day or the next. Instead, he
helped explain the situation to other people as they appeared. Somebody dragged
an old piano to the old bowling alley that had been converted to a union hall,
and the members spent the day singing songs and learning about the union while
management fumed. Eventually, a compromise was effected.
But Everett Day had caught the attention of President Charles Scott,
who urged him to run for union office. The rest, as they say, is union history.
Everett Day served Local 893 and its successor, UAW Local 848, until his death
on May 25. He had his photo taken with the top union leaders and top political
figures of his time.
Even after he retired, Everett
Day hardly ever missed a union meeting or an opportunity to support our local.
In politics, Everett Day had little competition as the best union supporter in
our local. Very few people sold more CAP raffle tickets than Everett.
Since his death, every UAW meeting has remembered him and
expressed their best wishes for his widow, Eunice. At the May Area Retirees'
meeting, Junior Baker of Local 276 said, "You won't find a better union
man than Everett Day was." Ed Reach said, "There's people who say
they work, but Everett Day was a real worker." At Local 848's June
luncheon, Chairman Gene Cates told everyone that Everett would have wanted them
to fight on for the union. Cates said,
Everett, on right, with friend Pancho Medrano at a
Martin Luther King parade
"Pick up your weapon and go back into the battle. That's
what Everett would want!"