Editor's Note: Tom Pryce, business manager of Niagara Falls-headquartered Iron Workers Local 9 (pictured above), delivered the following comments on Wednesday evening during the Niagara-Orleans AFL-CIO Central Labor Council's annual awards dinner, where Pryce received one of six Union Champion At Work Awards that were presented to several Labor Leaders, as well as to WNYLaborToday.com.  Pryce's observation on the Labor Movement was both sobering and motivating.  His acceptance speech was delivered as follows:

I always feel at home here at the Labor Council - surrounded by activists, radicals, loud and proud Union people.

As we gather this year, we are confronted by a perfect storm - an economic melt-down, political dysfunction and, I would suggest, a Union Movement at the National level which has lost its way.

This Great Recession is different - a lot of the jobs lost are not coming back.  That is why we hear about Green Jobs and a new economy.  America's dominance is over, and who knows what place in the Globalized economy we will settle into.

Our political leaders are mired in deal making and self preservation, and any meaningful leadership is lacking.

Our national Union leadership is not much better. 

Big Labor is viewed as a part of They - They who are not to be trusted, they who are out of touch, they who are part of the problem - like bankers, lobbyists and politicians. 

Where did Labor take a stand in the Health Care debate?

The issue of taxation of Cadillac Health Plans?

What do we stand for?

What became of Universal coverage?

Even if we lost, we would have been true to our heritage and on the side of fairness and human dignity.

Instead it appears that they went all-out to protect a narrow, elitist perk that most Americans can't fathom.

So that leaves us, at the local level.  We who are fully aware of the challenges faced by our members and their families, we who are charged with doing everything in our power to protect the jobs and benefits, we who - I hope - are actively committed to being a part of finding solutions and strategies to mitigate this mess on the local, personal, human level.

Those of us in the Building Trades Unions have been dealing with the issue of our very survival for quite some time now.  The UAW (United Auto Worker) folks and the Industrial Unions know what I'm talking about.  Now State and Federal budget problems have surely put teachers, nurses, social workers and other public employees directly in the path of a steamroller coming down the Thruway from Albany.

Out of necessity we have developed cooperative Labor-Management relationships.  More than ever before, we have taken ownership of benefits issues, training, marketing, quality control and customer satisfaction.  We are still faced with negative stereotypes and blatant lies that some county executives and talk show hosts are only too eager to perpetuate.  But our customers know that we are better trained, safer and more productive than ever.

So the lesson we learned, and my unsolicited advice, is to recognize the new reality and take the initiative. 

Don't simply react and stonewall. 

Take ownership of the situation.

Lead, identify strategies and solutions.

Frame the debate.

You know far better than any Superintendent or CEO, what efficiencies and economies can be achieved, what's important and what's not. 

You will be demonized and accused of all sorts of things, so you need a positive and pro-active message and you will need to get that message out.

Tough times should be Union Time.

Hopefully, we the people can lead this county, state and nation to a better, fairer future like the Union rabble rousers who came before us.