‘Heart of a servant’ : Fayetteville’s advocate for workers, Lioneld Jordan was once a victim of what he now fights to prevent
Posted on Monday, September 6, 2004
America was built by the sweat and blood of workers, who for generations have recognized their power comes not from laws, but from each other. "If not for unions we would not have paid holidays, a 40-hour work week or an eight-hour workday. Union workers died for those rights," said Lioneld Jordan, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 0965.
A journeyman carpenter with the University of Arkansas, Jordan has been involved with labor unions off and on for 15 years, and heavily so for the past decade. "There’s power in masses," he said. "If you get enough people behind you it doesn’t matter what the law says." That lesson was reinforced in 1999, Jordan said, "when we came to work one day and they told us they were going to lay off 32 workers — we began to try and salvage their jobs."
Jordan, who was at the time vice president of the local, said that because the university is exempt from the Wagner act it doesn’t have to recognize the union. Even though the union, which is open to all UA employees, grew to include 51 percent of all workers, he said, the UA would only negotiate with state legislators.
Helping those workers took a collaboration between the union, churches and other groups, Jordan said, but little would have been accomplished without the efforts of state Sen. Sue Madison, Rep. Jan Judy, Rep. Mike Hathorn and Sen. John Fitch.
The power of unions comes not only from numbers, but from listening to each other and working together to solve any problems that arise. Such empowerment is something Jordan says he tries to incorporate as representative of Ward 4 on the Fayetteville City Council.
The Ward 4 monthly meetings are modeled after union meetings, Jordan said. People get a chance to share issues of concern, the group discusses them and then decides on a course of action, he said.
Though Jordan says he strives to keep his roles as alderman and union president separate, he is always "labor friendly." While public officials often talk of wearing different "hats," Jordan is believable when he says, "I’ve never considered myself a politician, I just don’t." "I trust him implicitly," said Steve Smith, professor of communications at the UA, adding that he has faith not only in Jordan’s capacity as a leader but, "I trust him as a person, too."
Among the faculty members recruited by Jordan during the fight against layoffs, Smith describes Jordan as his "hero." "I just think he’s a dedicated public citizen, he cares about the community and people and puts a lot of energy into it," Smith said. "He’s generally selfless and almost always right."
The two have known each other since the 1960s, when they were in high school in Huntsville, Smith said, where Jordan "was a good student, but Huntsville was a century ago — still is. [We grew] up in a county that still doesn’t have a stop light in it."
Smith said Jordan has become highly respected statewide for his service in the statewide AFSMCE, the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council and in representing the AFL-CIO. "[Jordan] is knowledgeable about issues and articulate in representing the interests of working families," Smith said. "Lioneld is well read, conscientious and has tremendous energy."
Sitting on his shaded back porch Saturday, hours away from walking to the stadium for a Razorback football game, Jordan recounted how he made his decision to get involved in the labor movement after being unfairly fired from a construction job. "I was brought up on unfounded charges because a supervisor didn’t like me. I had a young family and didn’t know exactly what I’d do, but I made a vow," Jordan said. "I couldn’t help myself, but if I could ever help another worker I would."
Consumed with the an overwhelming desire for equality, Jordan said, "it’s sometimes difficult to express the feelings I have for the poor, especially the poor working class."
Jordan’s level of intensity always rises when the conversation shifts to wages and housing. Though Eugene Debbs and Bill Hayward are among his heroes, Jordan said he has a fondness for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose thoughts on labor mirrored his own.
FDR was right, Jordan said, when he introduced an Economic Bill of Rights for the American people in 1944, in which he said: "... In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity may be established for all — regardless of station, race, or creed. Among these are:
" The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; "The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
" The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; "The right of every family to a decent home..."
These are among the issues that keep Jordan involved in the public process. But his desire to help, he said, comes from having the "heart of a servant."
Jordan said that whether in the union, on the council or elsewhere, leaders must "represent all the people all of the time, or you may as well not represent the people at all."
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