ABSTRACT
During the growth years, the operating engineers union felt strong enough to reach beyond its own immediate institutional concerns and pursue legislation designed to improve the lot of the less-advantaged members of society. The union threw its support behind progressive amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act, extended unemployment insurance benefits, Medicare and other enhancements to Social Security, the Area Redevelopment Act of 1961, the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962, the Economic Opportunity Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1966, and more than eighty bills designed to improve conditions for federal civil servants. At the same time, the union supported legislation that would help create jobs for its members, including economic development, continuation of the interstate highway program, mass transit, construction of facilities for the mentally retarded, housing for the elderly, and environmental protection facilities.
