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Billy JOE Jordan
My name is Billy Joe Jordan. I was born December 25, 1939 in Lineville, Alabama. I lived with my grandparents until I moved to Pittsburgh at the age of six. At a very young age, I was aware of raci...view moreMy name is Billy Joe Jordan. I was born December 25, 1939 in Lineville, Alabama. I lived with my grandparents until I moved to Pittsburgh at the age of six. At a very young age, I was aware of racism in our society. I was 22 years old when I started working for Gimbals Department Store. I worked as an elevator operator from 1963-1972. This was a union job for SEIU, Local 29. At this time I was not involved in the union. I was participating in civil rights marches and rallying for job opportunities for black people. I never was a person that went along just to get along. The elevator job was my first job as a grown man. I rallied other young elevator operators to fight for the right to wear beards because I felt to deny the elevator operators their right to wear beards was a violation of their individual rights.In 1972, I worked as a janitor at night for Pittsburgh National Bank. I confronted a supervisor who had disciplined employees about the work they did. I told the supervisor, "It was not the janitor's work that was the problem; it was those beat-up old vacuums that blew out more dirt than it was collecting." The cleaning company got the employees all new equipment and that is how my peers first recognized me. The workers voted me to be their shop steward to represent them. That is how my career started as a Union Man.view less