Byline: Tim O'Brien Staff writer
A city union activist and Ireland native has fulfilled a longtime dream, convincing his homeland to start its own United Way.
James Devine, a Troy resident and president of Local 1116 of the Communication Workers of America, worked for more than two years to overcome resistance among labor unions and human-service agencies to the idea.
On Oct. 31 in Dublin, Ireland, his goal was reached when the formal announcement was made that the United Way of Ireland had been born.
"The project had come to a complete standstill 2 1/2 years ago," said Devine as he sat Wednesday in his union office in Lansingburgh. He is on the board of the United Way's Albany branch.
Irish human-service agencies, worried about whether they would lose funding, pressured trade unions to oppose the non-profit organization.
"The human-service people were alarmed by the way it was being developed. They felt left out," he said.
Contacted by a representative of United Way International, Devine was asked to help revive Irish interest.
A native of Belfast, Devine came to the United States in 1964.
His first step was to seek the support of trade unions, a powerful force in his homeland. He contacted Chris Kirwan, then the general secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union and the current president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
The two had met in 1986 when Devine built a memorial in Troy to James Connelly, an Irish rebel and one-time Troy resident executed in 1916.
"He was the first one I asked to re-evaluate the process," Devine said. "Kirwan was convinced that the idea had a lot of good potential for working people in Ireland."
The Irish were especially skeptical after recent scandals involving charitable contributions being diverted to private pockets, he said.
Devine next turned to Frank Woods, treasurer of the Order of Malta, an Irish human-service agency, to gather the support of workers in non-profit agencies.
"He was the one key person in Ireland who kept the dream alive," he said. "Woods' good relationship with other key human-service people enabled me to pull the key people together for another look at the process."
Woods, in an interview from his Dublin home, gave equal credit to Devine.
Devine led Woods and representatives from three other human-service agencies on a tour of United Way branches in Boston, Albany and Troy.
"He certainly makes things move. He played a great role for us," Woods said. "Our trip in 1988 hit the spark for us."
John Glaser, chief operating officer for United Way International in Alexandria, Va., said Devine played an indispensable role in getting the Ireland organization under way.
"He was very instrumental because of his contacts. He went over there and worked them very well," Glaser said. "He can bridge the corporate community with the labor community and the not-for-profit community as well. It wouldn't have happened if he hadn't put the time and effort into it."
Devine first became active in the United Way 12 years ago.
"I was always impressed with it. So much of the money gets where it's got to go," he said, adding that his charity work was an outgrowth of his labor role. "Every time people think of the union movement, they think of strife and so on. But the union movement has a strong dedication to human services."
And Woods said that dedication will likely make the United Way of Ireland a success.
"We're very confident of the branch. We got very good press coverage, very good TV coverage," he said. "We had a good attendance from the industrial, the commercial and the trade union life as well."
CAPTION(S):
PHOTO - TIMES UNION FILE PHOTO
AT LAST - Jim Devine has realized a longtime dream: His native Ireland has a United Way.
No comments:
Post a Comment