Peter Kellman facts for kids

Peter Kellman (born in 1946 in Brooklyn, New York) is a person who has spent his life working for trade unions. He was also involved in important movements like the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-war Movement in the 1960s. Later, in the 1970s and 80s, he joined groups working against nuclear power and for a cleaner environment. Today, he is part of a movement focused on new ways of farming. Peter has lived most of his life in Maine. His mother first took him to a protest when he was a baby. It was at a bank where workers were on strike.

Peter's parents and their friends were active people who believed in making the world a better place. They were often talking about politics and how to create a fair and peaceful world. In 1952, Peter's family moved to Salem, New Hampshire, where he went to grade school. Then, in 1959, they moved to Sanford, Maine, where he attended high school. In 1963, he started college at the University of Maine. He played football there but left after his first year.

In the fall of 1964, Peter worked for Helen and Scott Nearing on their farm in Harbourside, Maine. In early 1965, he started working for the Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA) in Connecticut. There, he helped organize protests against the Vietnam War. When the United States began bombing North Vietnam, CNVA sent Peter to Washington, D.C., to organize more protests against the bombing.

After returning from Washington, D.C., CNVA sent Peter to represent them on a civil rights march. This march went from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. During the march, Peter led a group of 50 students who helped set up tents for the marchers. He stayed in Selma after the march and helped build a free library. Later in 1965, Peter volunteered with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Alabama. He helped organize independent political groups, which led to the idea of Black Power. Peter worked on this project in Sumter County, Alabama.

After his work with SNCC, Peter returned North. He helped organize the anti-draft movement. This movement was against young men being forced to join the military. He also helped with the Assembly of Unrepresented People in Washington, D.C. This was the first large protest against the Vietnam War where many people were arrested. In 1967, Peter went to live in Canada to avoid the draft. When he returned to the United States in 1973, he was arrested. The charges against him were later dropped.

Working for Workers' Rights

In 1976, Peter Kellman worked at a Converse shoe factory in North Berwick, Maine. He tried to help his 500 co-workers form a union. A union is a group of workers who join together to protect their rights. This effort was not successful, and Peter was fired. However, he later won a case against the company with the help of the National Labor Relations Board. This experience made him even more determined to work for workers' rights.

Peter also became involved in the movement against nuclear power. In 1977, he worked with the Clamshell Alliance. This group wanted to stop nuclear power plants from operating in New Hampshire and Maine. He took part in protests against the building of the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire. Many people were arrested during these protests.

In 1979, Peter started working at the Laconia Shoe Shop in Sanford, Maine. There, he was elected president of his local union, Local 82. One day, the company told him to remove a flyer from the union bulletin board. The flyer asked workers to vote to shut down a nuclear power plant. Peter and two other union members refused to leave the factory after being suspended. But then, all the workers in the shop supported them. The company gave in and brought the three workers back with pay. They also told Peter that from then on, they could put whatever they wanted on the union bulletin board.

In 1980, Peter became active with the Maine AFL-CIO. This is a large group of unions in Maine. He was put in charge of a committee that dealt with companies moving their factories away. He worked on a law in Maine that was the first of its kind. This law made sure workers got notice before a factory closed and received severance pay.

Peter later joined the painter's union and became a steward. In 1984, he managed a political campaign for a candidate running for Congress in New Hampshire. After that, he returned to Maine. In 1986, he started working for the Maine AFL-CIO again. His job was to get union members involved in elections.

In early 1987, the Maine AFL-CIO asked Peter to help with a lockout at the Simplex Wire and Cable Plant in New Hampshire. A lockout is when an employer prevents workers from entering the workplace. Many workers from Maine were affected by this lockout.

The International Paper Strike (1987–1988)

After the Simplex Lockout, Peter was asked to work with unions at the International Paper Company in Jay, Maine. The national union, the United Paperworkers International Union (UPIU), told their 1250 members to prepare for a strike. A strike is when workers stop working to demand better conditions. Their contract was ending on June 16, 1987. The workers in Jay joined other workers who were locked out in Mobile, Alabama. They also went on strike with workers at IP mills in Lockhaven, Pennsylvania and De Pere, Wisconsin.

Peter was very good at bringing people together and organizing. He helped turn a regular strike into a big movement with rallies and meetings. The union in Jay, Local 14, faced very tough demands from International Paper. The company wanted to stop paying extra for Sunday overtime. They also wanted to get rid of Christmas Day as a holiday. They wanted to cut 156 jobs and have outside companies do all maintenance work, which would remove 350 jobs. They also wanted to get rid of the way workers could complain about problems.

Before the strike, the local union didn't have many active members. But Peter started teaching and organizing the mill workers. He helped them become a strong group. Peter used what he learned from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s to help the labor movement in Jay.

For 16 months, the striking workers held a large meeting every week. More than 1,000 people attended these meetings. After two months, International Paper replaced all the striking workers permanently. But the workers kept striking. The strike in Jay got attention from all over the world. A bill was even introduced in Congress to ban companies from replacing striking workers. President Bill Clinton promised to sign the bill if it passed. The bill passed in the House of Representatives. However, two senators from Arkansas voted against it, and the bill was defeated by two votes. It never reached the President.

Many people in the labor movement, including Peter, felt that the national union had not fully supported Local 14. The strikers continued their strike for 16 months until October 1988. At that time, the UPIU's International President, Wayne Glen, changed his mind. He agreed to sign contracts at other IP locations. This left the striking locals isolated. To explain why the strike was lost, Peter wrote a book called "Divide We Fall" in 2004. It tells the history of unions in paper mills. After the strike, Peter became the director of a new group called the New Hampshire Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health. While working in New Hampshire, Peter was in a car accident. After that, he went back to college and earned a degree in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts.

Studying Corporations and Democracy

Peter Kellman worked as a researcher for the Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy (POCLAD). At POCLAD, he studied and wrote about the history of the labor movement. He also wrote about how big companies can affect laws, politics, money, culture, and democracy. He looked at these issues from the point of view of working people. While at POCLAD, he wrote many articles. These were published in their journal, "By What Authority," and in their book, "Defying Corporations, Defining Democracy."

Other Activities

Peter started the "Jay-Livermore Falls Working Class History Project." This project led to a book called "Pain on their Faces." It is a collection of stories written by people who were part of the Jay Strike of 1987-1988.

He also taught classes on labor history. He taught at Heartwood College of Art in Maine and the University of Southern Maine.

Peter served as President of the Southern Maine Labor Council. When he retired from that role, he was given the title of President Emeritus. This means he is honored for his past leadership. Peter also represented the Council on the Executive Board of the Maine AFL-CIO. He is still on the Executive Board of the Southern Maine Labor Council today.

Peter helped create the Workers Rights Platform for the Labor Party. His small book, "Building Unions," came from his work with the Labor Party.

Farming in the 21st Century

Today, Peter Kellman and his wife, Rebekah Yonan, are trying to grow all their own food. They mostly use human labor to do this. He is also learning about and starting to organize around the cultural side of farming. In a way, he has come full circle. In 1964, he worked for Helen and Scott Nearing. Many people see them as the founders of the 1960s back-to-the-land movement.

Memberships and Awards

Peter Kellman is a member of the National Writers Union. He is also a member of Local 1981 of the United Auto Workers, which is part of the AFL-CIO. He has been a member of several other unions in the past. These include the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers, and the American Federation of Teachers. He was also part of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. He led the Maine Chapter of the Labor Party.

In 2002, Peter Kellman received the Stringfellow Awards for Justice and Peace. He shared the award with someone else. This award is given by Bates College to honor a peace activist named William Stringfellow.

His portrait is part of the "Americans Who Tell the Truth" collection.

Published Works

• Kellman, Peter. Building Unions. Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Apex Press, 2001. ISBN: 1-891843-09-5.
• Kellman, Peter. Divided We Fall: The Story of the Paperworkers' Union and the Future of Labor. Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Apex Press, 2004. ISBN: 1-891843-23-0
• Kellman, Peter, ed. Pain On Their Faces: Testimonies on the Paper Mill Strike, Jay, Maine, 1987-1988. Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Apex Press, 1998. ISBN: 0-945257-96-1
• Kellman, Peter and Bruno, Ed. "Toward a New Labor Rights Movement." WorkingUSA. Spring 2001.