Laborers for JUSTICE report:

 

Article published Sunday: March 26, 2006

See background on local 500

http://www.thelaborers.net/LOCALS/Lu500/default.htm

Loyalists of Copeland remember his helping hand

By JIM TANKERSLEY
BLADE POLITICS WRITER
 

Bert Canterbury remembers the year Phil Copeland saved Christmas. And the next year, when he saved it again.

Knee and hip surgeries, the result of a bad jump onto a barge one windy workday, kept Mr. Canterbury from working. It was December, 2004, and he couldn't afford presents for his children. Mr. Copeland lent him the money. The next year, still unable to work, Mr. Canterbury faced eviction by his West Toledo landlord. He called Mr. Copeland. To vent, not to ask. But Mr. Copeland offered, and soon the Canterbury family moved into a new place on the east side.

"I don't want to sound corny or anything," Mr. Canterbury said, "but I really do love him for doing that for me."

Mr. Canterbury said he is an 11-year member of Laborers' Local 500, the union that Mr. Copeland serves as secretary-treasurer. He is tall and thick, with a graying goatee and sharp blue eyes that bat away tears when he talks about Mr. Copeland, the man he named his youngest son after.

Other union members tell similar stories.

Mr. Copeland, they say, helped them find work, paid their dues when they couldn't afford them, pushed them to learn new skills, often without any requests on their part. They reject the idea that Mr. Copeland has anything to do with a U.S. Labor Department investigation into Local 500, which includes questions of spending union money for personal entertainment. Mr. Cope-land denies any wrongdoing.

"It's somebody just trying to hurt him," said Denise Jones, whose dues Mr. Copeland helped cover when a pinched nerve from a bridge project kept her off work for a year. "Phil tells me it's not true. I believe that."

Cynthia Glynn was a waitress when she met Mr. Copeland through a mutual friend, Mr. Canterbury, 13 years ago. Mr. Copeland encouraged her to join the union and helped her land a bridge construction job. He loaned her money for dues when work was down. "He's there to help you," Ms. Glynn said, "no matter what your circumstances, no matter how small the situation seems to be."

Ms. Glynn is one of several union members who said Mr. Copeland's kindness inspired them to help his campaigns for City Council and now county commissioner, often on a volunteer basis. That includes Mr. Copeland's paid campaign manager, Dan Gilbert, who says of his boss: "It's an honor to carry his briefcase."

Ms. Jones said she and others will fight for Mr. Copeland like he has fought for them.

"He's the backbone of this union for a lot of us," she said. "He's our strength."

Contact Jim Tankersley at: jtankersley@theblade.com or 419-724-6134.