Victor V. Bussie was until his retirement in 1997 the 41-year unopposed president of the
Louisiana AFL-CIO,
having first assumed the mantle of union leadership in 1956 died from stomach cancer he was 92..
Journalists often described him as the most significant non-elected
"official" in his state's politics. Bussie's influence with governors
and state legislators became so great in the 1970s that a
trade association known as the
Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
(LABI) was established as a counterbalance to the AFL-CIO. LABI won a
huge victory in 1976 with the passage of the state's still-standing
right-to-work legislation.
(
January 27, 1919 – September 4, 2011)
Defender of the Longs
Bussie recalled having been born in poverty in the community of Montrose in
Natchitoches Parish to Christopher "Chris" Bussie and the former Fannie LaCaze.
[1] The senior Bussie was a unionized employee of the
Texas Pacific Railroad.
[2] Bussie had a brother and five sisters, one of whom, Authree B. Gorrell of
Austin,
Texas, was still living as of 2011. At some point, the Bussies headed south to
Rapides Parish because another sister, Fannie Mae Bussie Heard (1924–2009) of Shreveport, was born in
Boyce. Fannie Heard was one of the first female
Certified Public Accountants in northwestern Louisiana, having also been licensed to practice in
California and
Nevada.
[3] Bussie, who was half
Choctaw Indian,
[4] commented on his background, as follows:
- My mother and father struggled to send us to school because of the
high cost of school books. There finally came a time when they could no
longer afford to buy books for seven children. We children were told
that we could no longer attend school.[5]
- That very same year, Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr., persuaded the Louisiana State Legislature to fund schoolbooks for all children attending public schools.
Not only did that mean that my brother and sisters and I could finish
our education but also thousands of other children could as well. My
family never forgot Huey Long and became longtime political supporters
of the Long family.[5]
In 1959, as AFL-CIO president, Bussie checked himself into a mental health facility in
Galveston, Texas, as a ruse for the confinement of Governor
Earl Kemp Long, who was committed by his wife,
Blanche Revere Long and Long's
nephew,
U.S. Senator Russell B. Long.
"It’s hard to believe that I was involved in it. It was a mess. He
(Long) could have easily sued me, but that never occurred to me. He was a
friend, and I just tried to help as best I could."
[6]
Bussie in Shreveport
Bussie, a veteran of the
United States Navy during
World War II, joined the
Shreveport
Fire Department and became a leader in the departmental union. He
became chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau and the president of the
Central Trades and Labor Council.
James C. Gardner, who served as
mayor
of Shreveport from 1954 to 1958, described Bussie as "well-spoken" and
his "polite and reasonable manner made him widely sought as the 'labor
member' of various civic boards." As a second assistant chief, a
position Bussie obtained without waiting for civil service seniority,
his signature was required on all certificates of occupancy for
commercial buildings, a position of considerable power.
[7]
Some in the business community accused Bussie of requiring work beyond
the municipal building or fire code regulations in order to create more
employment within the building trades. To check Bussie, officials
activated, as permitted by the city charter, a building code board of
appeals to prevent abuses.
[8]
Early in 1955, Bussie, acting through the Central Trades and Labor
Council during his lunch hour, called a strike of waitresses at
Brocato's Restaurant in Shreveport when the company declined to rehire a
fired waitress. In retaliation, Shreveport Public Safety Commissioner
J. Earl Downs, the brother of an influential
state senator allied with the Longs,
Crawford H. "Sammy" Downs of
Alexandria, the seat of
Rapides Parish,
demoted Bussie to the rank of captain and assigned him to a fire
station. Bussie instead took unpaid leave and appealed Downs' decision
to the Fire and Police Civil Service Board. After fourteen sessions and
fifty hours of testimony, the civil service board voted 4–1 to uphold
the demotion, with the lone dissenter being the firefighters'
representative. Bussie announced that he would appeal to the courts.
Meanwhile, he became the state AFL-CIO president for the remainder of
his working career and lived in Baton Rouge. No action was ever taken by
the courts in Bussie's appeal.
[9]
Gardner said that the demotion "turned out to be the best thing that
could have happened to Bussie and the labor movement in Louisiana... He
was extremely effective as the Louisiana leader of organized labor and
brought a level of influence for labor in Baton Rouge that it had not
previously enjoyed.
[10]
Bussie's home bombed
On July 19, 1966, Bussie's Baton Rouge residence in the Kenilworth
subdivision was bombed, but there were no injuries. Jules R. Kimble, a
then 24-year-old proclaimed former member of the
Ku Klux Klan,
who also claimed to have been the heir to a nonexistent fortune, told
police that he had overheard three Klansmen plot the bombing of both the
Bussie residence and that of Viola Logan, an
African American teacher in
Port Allen, the seat of
West Baton Rouge Parish. Kimble said the plot was hatched in Kimble's
New Orleans
home but that he declined to participate in the execution of the plans.
It was theorized that the bombing was inspired by Klansmen who favored a
state grant-in-aid program to benefit white private academies which
would soon mushroom in predominantly black sections of Louisiana with
the arrival of court-mandated school
desegregation. Kimble was eventually booked with
aggravated assault, impersonating a police officer, and carrying a
concealed weapon.
[11]
Service on boards and commissions
As he had served on Shreveport boards, Bussie also was the union
representative over the years on many state boards and commissions,
including the
Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors,
[12] and was the chairman of the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority.
[13] On his retirement, a
Baton Rouge Morning Advocate editorial concluded, "Bussie might well be the most powerful Louisianan never elected to public office."
Bussie, ever with an eye toward friendly relations with the media, once invited the
Morning Advocate managing editor,
Margaret Dixon, to address the AFL-CIO convention. He also maintained a highly visible public image for himself.
He served two four-year terms on the
Democratic National Committee.
[1] President
John F. Kennedy asked Bussie to pressure Senator Russell Long, whom Bussie had known since boyhood, to push
Medicare through a Senate committee that Long chaired.
[2] However, Medicare was not enacted until
Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded Kennedy as President.
At the time of his death, Bussie was still a member of the Baton Rouge Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board.
[1]
Bussie sues Margaret Lowenthal and Boeing
On October 15, 1985,
State Representative Margaret Welsh Lowenthal, an unsuccessful
Democratic candidate for
Louisiana's 7th congressional district seat in the
United States House of Representatives, addressed the
Lake Charles Optimist Club at its regular luncheon meeting. Lowenthal claimed that she had been told by an unidentified representative of
Boeing that the firm had considered locating a manufacturing facility in Louisiana, but ultimately chose
Mississippi
because of Louisiana's unstable political climate and its longstanding
problems with public education. Lowenthal said that she was told further
by the Boeing representative that, "'As long as you have a man named
Victor Bussie sitting in Baton Rouge, calling the shots for labor, we
don't need to be in your state.'" Her remarks were telecast over Lake
Charles television.
[14]
Bussie filed suit against Lowenthal and Boeing alleging that the
statements were false and were made with actual malice. Bussie alleged
that as such the statements damaged his reputation and held him up to
public contempt and ridicule and caused him embarrassment, humiliation,
mental suffering, and anxiety. Lowenthal claimed that the statements had
been made to her while she was attending a cocktail party given by the
Louisiana delegation to the National Conference of State Legislators.
[14]
Bussie fights right-to-work
The
Louisiana State Legislature passed a
right-to-work law in the 1952 session at the urging of then Governor
Robert F. Kennon.
Gardner was a freshman member of the Louisiana House at the time and
voted for right-to-work. In 1956, however, when Gardner was mayor, the
legislature repealed the law at the urging of Governor Earl Long.
Organized labor took the leading role in the repeal, a reflection of
Bussie's growing influence in state politics. Indeed, Louisiana was
clearly the most unionized state in the
American South.
[15]
Bussie found that rural state legislators wanted farmers excluded from
the repeal of right-to-work. Therefore, he endorsed one bill to repeal
right-to-work and another to restore right-to-work for farmers. "We
became the first and only state labor organization in the nation ever to
sponsor a right-to-work law," Bussie said.
[2] The maneuvering caught the eye of former
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt,
who penned an editorial saying that Bussie should be expelled from the
union for sponsoring the restoration of right-to-work for farmers.
[2]
In the 1976 legislative session, right-to-work was again passed by a
nearly all Democratic body, a reflection of the growing presence of
LABI, which sought to reverse what it claimed had been "
socialism" in the heyday of Bussie's influence.
[16]
Bussie has since never wavered in his call to repeal the Louisiana
right-to-work law, which he calls the "right-to-work-for-less."
Supporters of the measure, however, insist that it merely protects
employees' freedom to refuse to pay compulsory "fees" to a union which
they do not wish to join. Twenty-one other states, including all
southern states, have such laws.
[17]
Bussie claims that the effect of the law has been "to drive down
wages, ... particularly in the construction industry." Data furnished by
the
U.S. Department of Labor
and the Louisiana Department of Labor show that construction wages in
the state have sharply increased relative to the national average since
passage of right-to-work. In 1976, Louisiana construction hourly wages
were 77 percent of the national average. By 2000, Louisiana construction
wages had risen to 96 percent of the U.S. average.
[18]
Mark Mix, senior vice president of the
National Right to Work Committee in
Springfield,
Virginia,
noted that the same trend is evident in manufacturing. U.S. Department
of Labor data show that Louisiana manufacturing hourly wages has risen
from 102 percent of the national average in 1976 to 108 percent in the
21st century. Because the cost of living in Louisiana has been
traditionally lower than in other states, construction workers' real,
disposable income is above the national average.
[18]
Bussie said the decline of labor unions in Louisiana began in 1976,
when the state Legislature narrowly approved right-to-work legislation
that was pushed by Ed Steimel, founding president of the Louisiana
Association of Business and Industry. Bussie once called right-to-work
“the most misnamed, deceitful, misleading piece of legislation ever
introduced.” Bussie and unions argued that right-to-work was meant to
weaken unions so businesses could lower wages. Right-to-work proponents
said the legislation was needed to keep unions from forcing employees to
join and pay dues. The fight culminated with the 1976 passage of the
legislation when nearly 15,000 union members protested outside the State
Capitol.
[19]
“That is when wages started going down in Louisiana,” Bussie said.
“It was tough, very disappointing.” Bussie said that prior to
right-to-work, Louisiana had among the most skilled workers in the
nation. Businesses liked the skill of workers, except for those
companies that were just adamantly anti-union, he said.
[19]
“It was one of the biggest fights in the Legislature of this past
century,” Steimel said. He still feels the legislation was needed then.
But he said that corporations in Louisiana today are inadvertently
inviting the return of stronger unions because workers get paid more in
other states for the same jobs. "They’re abusing the power of
right-to-work," Steimel said.
[19]
Bussie in retirement
At the time of his death, Bussie was married to the former Frances "Fran" Martinez Nolan (born May 6, 1935),
[20]
herself a political activist. Fran Bussie's parents were John O.
Martinez (1906–1990) and Althea Williams Martinez (1914–2003) of New
Orleans.
[21] Her brothers are Tony and Johnny Martinez.
[1] Bussie's first wife, from whom he was
divorced, was the former Gertrude Foley (October 15, 1918 – September 16, 2005), who died in
Round Rock in
suburban Williamson County, Texas.
[22]
Bussie was affiliated with the
liberal wing of the Democratic Party. In 1964, he campaigned even in north Louisiana, a stronghold of the
Republican U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater that year, on behalf of
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who lost that region by a large margin in the last election prior to passage of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965,
which thereafter enfranchised tens of thousands of black voters, most
of whom became automatic Democrats. Bussie was even closer to Johnson's
vice president,
Hubert H. Humphrey of
Minnesota, who had attended
Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge during the 1930s but failed to win's the state's
electoral votes in 1968.
[23]
In retirement, Bussie joined a group of Louisiana business and political leaders, including the former Republican Governor
David C. Treen, in unsuccessfully urging President
George W. Bush to pardon imprisoned Governor
Edwin Washington Edwards. Edwards remained behind bars until 2011 in the federal facility in
Oakdale in
Allen Parish because of his conviction of
bribery.
Bussie supported Edwards in all four of the Democrat's successful
gubernatorial campaigns. Edwards once said that Bussie was the
singlemost influential person in his administration.
[24] Bussie also endorsed at least one Republican candidate in Louisiana,
John S. Treen, the older brother of David Treen. John Treen lost to
David Duke in the 1989
special election for the Louisiana state House from Jefferson Parish.
In 1994, Bussie, along with the late U.S. Senator
Allen J. Ellender, was among the second round of public figures inducted into the
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in
Winnfield.
[25] He was a recipient of the "Racial Justice Award" given annually by the Baton Rouge
Young Women's Christian Association.
[26] In 1998, Bussie and former Governor
John McKeithen were among recipients named "Living Legends" by the Louisiana
Public Broadcasting Service.
[27]
In 1997, Bussie received an honorary degree from
Southeastern Louisiana University in
Hammond, and other such honorary degrees followed. Then Southeastern President
Sally Clausen
described Bussie as "an individual who has distingused himself through
his quiet but steadfast work for the underprivileged and his strong
stand for justice. He has been a lifelong supporter of education,
serving as an advocate for quality instruction and a voice of support
for higher education... ".
[28]
With back problems, Bussie resigned in 2008 from his last state board, the
University of Louisiana System
Board of Supervisors. He and his wife, Fran, left their home and moved
into the St. James Place retirement community in Baton Rouge. In an
interview with the
Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, Bussie indicated that he would not write a book of
memoirs
despite his significance to 20th century Louisiana history. He has been
named the 2008 recipient of the "Friend of Education" award from the
Louisiana Federation of Teacher, an affiliate of the American Federation
of Teachers. Bussie said that he had long promoted educational
opportunity because college had never been an option for him. Bussie's
papers are in the
archives of the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
[29] Victor and Fran Bussie have also completed an
oral history for the Louisiana Secretary of State's office.
[6]
Bussie's legacy
Bob Mann, LSU communications professor, said that Bussie was more
influential than many governors. "I can't think of anyone who wielded so
much power for such an extended period of time." Mann described Bussie
as "a living, breathing treasure trove of Louisiana's political history"
but "so soft-spoken and modest."
Even
Ed Steimel,
Bussie’s top rival, had tremendous respect for Bussie. "Many
businesspeople felt organized labor was running the state,” Steimel said
of his being recruited by LABI to take on the AFL-CIO in the 1970s.
"But we were never really anti each other, and we’ve become closer
since.”
Bollinger Shipyards
CEO Boysie Bollinger, who sat next to Bussie on the UL System board,
said he initially saw Bussie as a Louisiana "icon," who as an aggressive
union lobbyist "represented everything that I was opposed to."
But Bollinger said that, after getting to know Bussie, they became
friends, and he respected Bussie’s passion for education and worker
safety.
Sibal Holt, the first black female president of an AFL-CIO state
branch, said Bussie was “the champion of workers” of all colors and
sexes. "I sort of viewed him as an octopus with tentacles reaching all
over. But he was as sincere as the day is long."
Critics have said Bussie’s and his colleagues’ involvement in so many
areas of government amounted to a power grab to keep unions very
influential. Bussie is emphatic that he only wanted to serve his state
as much as he was able. "It may sound corny, but that’s just the way I
lived." He is proud of serving on all the boards without ever accepting
any per diem payments or salaries.
Bob Mann said Bussie was just doing his job. “It was his job to place
labor in the most powerful positions he could,” Mann said. “He wielded a
lot of power, but he did it in a soft-spoken and respectful way.”
T. Wayne Parent, the Russell B. Long Professor of Political Science
at LSU and formerly a young staffer at the State Capitol, said that he
was often mesmerized watching Bussie lobby the legislature. Lawmakers
would look toward Bussie when certain bills came up, and the labor
president would nod "Yes" or "No." Parent said that Bussie "really did
represent the quiet strength labor can have behind the scenes."
Sally Clausen, the state commissioner of higher education, saw Bussie
as her political guide. Clausen remembers Bussie’s small,
"dungeon-like" office. Yet people would flock to him as soon as he
entered a room. "I’ve never known someone as altruistic and humble, and
still so powerful," she said.
Bussie said he had a good relationship with every governor from Earl Long to
Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., with the exception of Democrat-turned-Republican
Buddy Roemer.
Bussie remained close to former Governor Edwin Edwards. A few years
before his incarceration, Edwards flew in from a vacation to attend
Bussie’s 1997 retirement dinner. "I said, ‘Well Edwin, that’s the first
time you ever paid for anything out of your own money,’" Bussie joked.
[19]
Bussie died of complications from stomach cancer at the age of
ninety-two at Baton Rouge General Medical Center-Bluebonnet on the
Sunday before
Labor Day 2011. In 1989, Bussie had heart by-pass surgery, and in 1993, he lost a kidney to cancer.
[2]
In addition to his second wife, "Fran" Bussie of Baton Rouge, he was
survived by two daughters from his first marriage to the former Gertrude
Foley: Deanna Love, of
Wimberley,
Texas, and Carolyn B. Huff and husband David, of Round Rock, Texas;
stepchildren Tara Nolan Messenger and husband Terry and Michael Q.
Nolan, all of Baton Rouge; six grandchildren, and three
step-grandchildren. Services were held on September 9. 2011 at the First
United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge. Interment was at Resthaven Gardens of Memory Cemetery on the Jefferson Highway.
[1]
To see more of who died in 2011
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