The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists 35th Ernest and De Verne Calloway Awards Banquet was held Saturday, October 15, 2022 at the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel with 340 guests in attendance. Congresswoman Cori Bush and State Sen. Karla May were recipients of the 2022 Ernest and De Verne Calloway Award, and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones delivered the keynote address.
Ernest Calloway was a former Director of Education for Teamsters Local 688 and president of the St. Louis NAACP.
His wife De Verne was a political, civil and human rights activist leader, and was the first female African American state representative elected to the Missouri Legislature.
The banquet’s theme was “We Vote! We Win! 11-8-22,” which emphasized the importance of the Black vote ion the Nov. 8 mid-term elections, according to Lew Moye, St. Louis CBTU Chapter president emeritus.
He said Bush and May were honored “for their strong voices in the U.S. Congress and the Missouri Legislature for the freedom to be heard, voting rights protection, worker’s rights, women’s rights to choose and their passionate and relentless fight against racism and all other forms of social and economic oppression.”
Founded in 1972, CBTU represents the independent voice of Black workers within the Trade Union Movement and challenges Organized Labor to be more relevant to the needs and aspirations of Black and poor workers. The organization consists of members from 77 international and national unions and has 42 chapters across the country.
