Boston DSA 2003 Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Award

The Honorees

Ed Collins has been active in the labor movement for over 35 years. He joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union when he went to work at Western Massachusetts Electric Co. upon being discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1966. After serving as Financial Secretary of Local 455, he was appointed IBEW International Representative in 1988. He has served as President of the Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council, has been a Vice President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO since 1986, and presently serves as Executive Vice President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO for the Industrial and Service Sectors. He is a founding member and past Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCosh ) and a member of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, as well as a member of the Eugene V. Debs Foundation (which maintains the Eugene V. Debs home in Terre Haute, IN), and a Charter Member of Democratic Socialists of America. He is also a proud husband to a working mom, as well as a father and grandfather.

Ed was a leader in winning the Community “Right to Know” law, regulating hazardous chemicals in the workplace, and the Linemen’s Safety Law, protecting telephone workers. He also played an important role in voter mobilization against the repeal of the state prevailing wage law, and was a key organizer in several attempts to pass a graduated state income tax. In the 1990’s, after a company lockout of Boston Gas workers, Ed led a successful drive to win locked-out workers the right to receive worker’s compensation. These days, he’s trying to foster a “blue-green” coalition with environmental groups like Clean Water Action to both clean up the states’ polluting power plants and preserve IBEW jobs.

Founded in 1993, the Roxbury-based Alternatives for Community and Environment has become one of the nation’s leading voices for environmental justice and sustainable development, helping low income neighborhoods to organize against environmental racism and to have a say in the decisions which affect their communities. One of their most successful projects has been the T Riders Union (TRU), launched in Summer 2000, under the leadership of Khalida Smalls. TRU is a membership organization of transit riders in Greater Boston, and a movement for better public transportation, especially in Boston’s most transit-dependent communities. TRU pressures state agencies to end transit disinvestment in inner cities, and to stop prioritizing highways for suburban commuters. Under Khalida’s leadership, the union has waged a campaign to force the MBTA to replace the asthma-causing diesel busses with less polluting alternatives, has led community opposition to MBTA fare increases, and has won free bus-to-bus transfers and a reduced cost for the weekly Combo pass. TRU also played a leadership role in starting “On the Move: Greater Boston Transportation Coalition”, which developed a “Platform for Transportation Justice and Livable Communities” endorsed by more than 50 organizations.

Khalida Smalls, mother of an energetic seven-year-old, has been involved in community organizing since her teens, starting with Project Leadership Education & Employment Opportunities (LEEO), an educational and advocacy organization for young men of color, and joining the staff of ACE in 1997. Khalida has received a nationwide "American Dream Awards" in recognition of excellence in School-to-Work initiatives, and the “Big Picture Award” for community activism presented by The City School, a local youth organization.

Boston Democratic Socialists of America