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| Rick Peduzzi |
Rick Peduzzi, the union's hardworking director of special projects whose many contributions to the union include creating and maintaining this website, died January 18 as the result of an apparent stroke. He was just 56 years old.
Rick joined the UE national office staff in 1987 as a reporter for the UE NEWS. In the 1990s he became the union's education director. In that job, under the guidance of then-UE President John Hovis, Peduzzi was primarily responsible for producing some outstanding member education booklets and leadership training materials that the union still uses today. These include the UE Steward Handbook, UE Steward Pocket Guide, Aims and Structure: How Rank-and-File Unionism Works, and Open Books, Tight Fists: Financial Integrity in a Rank & File Union. He was part of the team that wrote and published Solidarity and Democracy: A Leadership Guide to UE History. He revived publication of the monthly UE Steward, which had ceased in the 1950s. Rick worked closely with John Hovis to produce the massive UE Leadership Guide, the all-inclusive user's manual for operating a rank-and-file local union. Rick also produced highly-sophisticated videos which were used in organizing campaigns and in membership education.
As the operation of the union gradually became more dependent on technology, Rick was the person in the national office who mastered computer technology and brought the union into the computer age. He set up and maintained the computers in the national office, the network by which they are all linked and interact, and other technology. In the mid-1990s he started this website and continued to develop and improve it over the years. Rick's work as UE's webmaster won the union international honors in 2009 when readers of LabourStart.org, the global labor news website based in Britain, voted the UE website "Labor Website of the Year.
Rick's contributions on the technology front reached far beyond the national office. He helped UE field staff and local unions with countless computer issues over the years. Rick was a huge behind-the-scenes presence at UE conventions, setting up the union office that served as the nerve center of the convention, as well as the audio, video and recording systems in the convention hall.
UE President Bruce Klipple commented on what Rick Peduzzi has meant to UE and the magnitude of this loss for the union.
"Brother Peduzzi did so much for UE that so many of us didn't know about. Many of the excellent education materials we provide for the membership were developed by Rick. And of course he had the sole responsibility of development and maintaining the UE website. His work in both areas has brought our union praise, from our own members and from people in other sections of the labor movement. This is the kind of dedication and attention to detail in his work that Rick unselfishly gave to UE. In the National office, Rick was the go-to person when we experienced any kind of technology problem or breakdown. No matter what else he was working on, if someone's computer was suddenly misbehaving, Rick got right on it! And those of us who worked closely with Rick knew he wouldn't stop until the job was done - correctly!
"Whether it was the UE NEWS, National Conventions, workshops, or so many other UE events and activities, Rick was often one of the people making it happen even though he didn't have a visible up-front role. Rick was an important part of all of it. So many things can be said for Rick's contribution to UE's success. He deeply believed in the democratic principles of our great union, rank-and-file control, member education. He made tremendous contributions to keeping UE members well informed, and UE rank-and-file leaders well-trained for the tasks they face, in order to carry on the UE tradition.
"Rick will be greatly missed in so many ways. For all of us in the national office, he was truly part of our family. For over 24 years, Brother Rick Peduzzi worked tirelessly for UE members and his union. In many ways, the work he's done for UE will live on forever."