(JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK) - For only the third time, a female Southern Tier Labor Activist/Leader has been awarded with the prestigious George Ritzer Memorial Labor Award - Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Local 807 President Bonnie Peters, who received the award during ceremonies held at the 38th Annual Greater Jamestown Labor Day Festival.

In conjunction with the annual citywide festival, which was postponed to Monday (September 4th) following inclement weather on Sunday, the Jamestown AFL-CIO Central Labor Council presented Peters with its 34th annual George Ritzer Memorial Labor Award.

“I am beyond honored,” said Peters - who also serves as CSEA Region 6 Secretary and whose Southern Tier Local Union represents 1,600 County Members in 19 different units – in a post on the Social Network Facebook.  “I don't do any of this for any recognition, I do it to help my fellow Union Brothers and Sisters across Chautauqua County and all of New York.  Receiving an award is hard for me to except.  Really, this is for all for us!”

The annual George Ritzer Memorial Labor Award is given to an individual who volunteers and contributes toward the Labor Movement and who volunteers time to community organizations.

The award itself was named after Local Labor Leader George Ritzer, who served as President of the Jamestown Labor Council for more than 20 years, as well as President of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1.

“What’s ‘important to me is that Bonnie was recognized for the hard work she does for Public Employees.’  ‘She is always steady and reliable,’” Jamestown AFL-CIO Labor Council President David Wilkinson told WNYLaborToday.com.  “She ‘has one of the hardest jobs’ representing Public Employees, ‘who seem to be easy to vilify by the media.’  ‘What impresses me is the job it does, which takes away from her personal life.’”

“And, ‘what’s also important,’” Wilkinson, himself a Ritzer Award winner, continued, “and ‘we didn’t plan it this way’ – ‘is the fact she is second woman under my leadership’ in the Jamestown Labor Council to receive this award.  ‘It also underscores the importance of women in the workplace, as well as the role they play in Organized Labor and our community.’  This is the ‘highest honor one can receive from the Jamestown Labor Movement.’”

Having been a staunch and unflagging volunteer in the community since she moved here nearly 30 years ago, Peters is an all-too-deserving candidate for such an award.

“I feel extremely honored to be receiving the 2017 George Ritzer Labor Award and I’m embracing this opportunity to speak about women’s involvement in our Unions,” Peters said at the event. “Women have shown that we have an impact in jobs outside of our homes in all different industries, including those that were often dominated by our male counterparts in the past.  As the Labor Movement continues to build itself back up to be the strong social movement we once were, now is the time to integrate women into our leadership roles.”

“Female Leaders have a tremendous commitment to our community and to our fellow man,” she continued. “We bring new ideas and strategies to Labor, many of which make a connection between what we face on the job and what we deal with at home.  Our ideas and strategies are creative and unique, often bringing surprising results.  Our Labor Movement continues to benefit from the type of leadership that women offer.”

Peters - who started working with Chautauqua County in 2000 and became involved with the CSEA in 2004, was born in North Dakota, where she met her husband, Mark Peters, who was stationed there with the military.  Bonnie and Mark were married in 1983 and moved to Mark’s home state of New York in 1989 with their daughter, Holly.  She also has one grandson, Noah.

Past female Ritzer Award winners include New York State United Teachers’ (NYSUT) Helen Sischo, who received the 1997 award, and CSEA’s Valerie Hagglund, who received the 2014 award.

Other past awardees include: The late Joe Sweeney - a Southern Tier Union Activist, a NYSUT Board Member and former Dunkirk Teachers Association President; the late Cattaraugus/Allegany AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President Hobart Rhinehart (Also a NYSUT Member); Jack Rudy, former President of the Jamestown Central Labor Council and a Member of CSEA Local 807; and Wilkinson.