UFCW International Vice President Esther Lopez was selected as the 2014 recipient of the Charlie Hayes Leadership Award due to her on-going support of working men and women. Photo courtesy of Greg Rodil
By Jennifer Rice
Managing Editor
Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014
Email Jennifer Rice at: jen@foxvalley
labornews.com
CHICAGO — Even though she’s the vice president of an international union, Esther Lopez has a soft spot in her heart for the Windy City.
“It is here where I have stood on so many shoulders. Here in Chicago is where I have learned about working together with little engines that do,” said Lopez, the UFCW International Vice President and Director of the Civil Rights and Community Action Department.
She was honored by Chicago Jobs with Justice Oct. 2 at Workers United with the 2014 Charlie Hayes Leadership Award. The award is named in honor of Hayes’ contributions to making life better for working men and women.
Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez called Lopez mission-driven and focused when it comes to protecting families and communities.
“For someone to do so much for so many — and do it in a way that is selfless, that is very rare,” Ramirez said. “Charlie Hayes was a person who believed in lifting other people up. He was a great man and it’s a great award to be named after. This night all comes together because I don’t know someone who embodies that spirit more than Esther.”
When work sends her traveling around the country, she often thinks of the working men and women in Chicago who understand what it means to fight together, and being together is what is going to get Democrats elected Nov. 4.
“We cannot be lulled by the perfume of excess. We have to see some action. We are in real deep fights and we need to understand that,” Lopez warned.
She recalled a Black Friday rally at a Wal-Mart in Albuquerque, N.M. last year where a family of seven, led by the grandfather, approached Lopez. She was concerned they might want to argue, so she was preparing for the worst.
“He said, ‘thank you for giving us another way to celebrate Thanksgiving.’ It was amazing. You guys are changing the narrative in this country about what we should be celebrating and whom we should celebrate,” Lopez said.