Victor Bussie
Encyclopedia
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. 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.
, Texas
, is 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 Accountant
s in northwestern Louisiana, having also been licensed to practice in California
and Nevada
. Bussie, who was half Choctaw
Indian
, commented on his background, as follows:
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."
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 1954–1958, 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. 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.
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.
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.
, 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.
Board of Supervisors, and was the chairman of the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority. 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
. 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. 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.
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.
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.
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. 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. 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..
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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
“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.
d, was the former Gertrude Foley (October 15, 1918–September 16, 2005), who died in Round Rock
in suburban Williamson County
, Texas.
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.
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. 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
. He is a former recipient of the "Racial Justice Award" given annually by the Baton Rouge Young Women's Christian Association
. In 1998, Bussie and former Governor John McKeithen
were among recipients named "Living Legends" by the Louisiana Public Broadcasting Service
.
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... ".
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
. Victor and Fran Bussie have also completed an oral history
for the Louisiana Secretary of State's office.
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.
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. 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.
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
, having first assumed the mantle of union leadership in 1956. 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
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
known as the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, known by the acronym LABI, is the largest and most successful business lobbying group in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded in Baton Rouge in 1976, when Louisiana adopted a new right-to-work law during the administration of Democratic...
(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.
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. The senior Bussie was a unionized employee of the Texas Pacific Railroad. Bussie had a brother and five sisters, one of whom, Authree B. Gorrell of AustinAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, is 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
Boyce, Louisiana
Boyce is a town in northern Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,190 at the 2000 census. The community is nearly 75 percent African American.-History:...
. Fannie Heard was one of the first female Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
s in northwestern Louisiana, having also been licensed to practice in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. Bussie, who was half Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, 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.
- That very same year, Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr.Huey LongHuey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
, persuaded the Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana State LegislatureThe Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
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.
In 1959, as AFL-CIO president, Bussie checked himself into a mental health facility in Galveston
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, Texas, as a ruse for the confinement of Governor Earl Kemp Long, who was committed by his wife, Blanche Revere Long
Blanche Long
Blanche Beulah Revere Long was the first lady of Louisiana from 1939–1940, 1948–1952, and 1956-1960. She was also a "partner in power" to her husband, Governor Earl Kemp Long. From 1956-1963, she was the Democratic national committeewoman from Louisiana...
and Long's nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
, U.S. Senator Russell B. Long
Russell B. Long
Russell Billiu Long was an American Democratic politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987.-Early life:...
. "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."
Bussie in Shreveport
Bussie, a veteran of the United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, joined the Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
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
James C. Gardner
James Creswell Gardner, I, known as Jim Gardner , was a power company executive best known as the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, who served a single term from 1954-1958....
, who served as mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Shreveport from 1954–1958, 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. 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.
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
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
allied with the Longs, Crawford H. "Sammy" Downs of Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
, 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.
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.
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 KlanKu Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, 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
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
teacher in Port Allen
Port Allen, Louisiana
Port Allen is a city in and the parish seat of West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States. Port Allen is located between Interstate 10 and US Highway 190 on the West bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 5,180 at the 2010 census...
, 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
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
. Kimble was eventually booked with aggravated assault, impersonating a police officer, and carrying a concealed weapon.
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 UniversityLouisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
Board of Supervisors, and was the chairman of the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority. 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
Margaret Dixon
Margaret Richardson Dixon, usually known as Maggie Dixon , was perhaps the most influential woman journalist of 20th century Louisiana. She was the managing editor of her state's capital city newspaper, the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, from 1949 until her death some two decades later...
, 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
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
. President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
asked Bussie to pressure Senator Russell Long, whom Bussie had known since boyhood, to push Medicare
Medicare
Medicare may refer to any of several publicly funded health insurance programs:*Medicare *Medicare *Medicare - See also :*Medicaid*Medicare Australia*Medicare Resources - China*Medicare Rights Center - United States...
through a Senate committee that Long chaired. However, Medicare was not enacted until Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
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.
Bussie sues Margaret Lowenthal and Boeing
On October 15, 1985, State RepresentativeLouisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
Margaret Welsh Lowenthal, an unsuccessful Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate for Louisiana's 7th congressional district
Louisiana's 7th congressional district
Louisiana's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana located in the southwestern part of the state. It contains the cities of Crowley, Eunice, Jennings, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Opelousas, Sulphur and Ville Platte....
seat in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, addressed the Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
Optimist Club at its regular luncheon meeting. Lowenthal claimed that she had been told by an unidentified representative of Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
that the firm had considered locating a manufacturing facility in Louisiana, but ultimately chose Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
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.
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.
Bussie fights right-to-work
The Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
passed a right-to-work law
Right-to-work law
Right-to-work laws are statutes enforced in twenty-two U.S. states, mostly in the southern or western U.S., allowed under provisions of the federal Taft–Hartley Act, which prohibit agreements between labor unions and employers that make membership, payment of union dues, or fees a condition of...
in the 1952 session at the urging of then Governor Robert F. Kennon
Robert F. Kennon
Robert Floyd Kennon, Sr., known as Bob Kennon , was the 48th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1952-1956. He failed to win a second non-consecutive term in the 1963 Democratic primary....
. 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. 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. The maneuvering caught the eye of former First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, who penned an editorial saying that Bussie should be expelled from the union for sponsoring the restoration of right-to-work for farmers..
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
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
" in the heyday of Bussie's influence. 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.
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.
Mark Mix, senior vice president of the National Right to Work Committee in Springfield
Springfield, Virginia
Springfield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 30,484 as of the 2010 census. Homes and businesses in bordering CDPs including North 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.
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.
“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.
“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.
Bussie in retirement
At the time of his death, Bussie was married to the former Frances "Fran" Martinez Nolan (born May 6, 1935), herself a political activist. Fran Bussie's parents were John O. Martinez (1906–1990) and Althea Williams Martinez (1914–2003) of New Orleans. Her brothers are Tony and Johnny Martinez. Bussie's first wife, from whom he was divorceDivorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d, was the former Gertrude Foley (October 15, 1918–September 16, 2005), who died in Round Rock
Round Rock, Texas
Round Rock is a city in Travis and Williamson counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the metropolitan area. The 2010 census places the population at 99,887....
in suburban Williamson County
Williamson County, Texas
Williamson County is a county located on both the Edwards Plateau to the west, consisting of rocky terrain and hills, and Blackland Prairies in the east consising of rich, fertile farming land, The two areas are roughly bisected by Interstate 35...
, Texas.
Bussie was affiliated with the liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
wing of the Democratic Party. In 1964, he campaigned even in north Louisiana, a stronghold of the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater that year, on behalf of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, 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
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, who had attended Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge during the 1930s but failed to win's the state's electoral votes in 1968.
In retirement, Bussie joined a group of Louisiana business and political leaders, including the former Republican Governor David C. Treen
David C. Treen
David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
, in unsuccessfully urging President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to pardon imprisoned Governor Edwin Washington Edwards. Edwards remained behind bars until 2011 in the federal facility in Oakdale
Oakdale, Louisiana
Oakdale is a small city in Allen Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,137 at the 2000 census.Oakdale was founded as "Dunnsville" by William T. Dunn...
in Allen Parish because of his conviction of bribery
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
. 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. Bussie also endorsed at least one Republican candidate in Louisiana, John S. Treen
John S. Treen
John Speir Treen is a retired homebuilder from Metairie in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, who lost a 1989 special election for the Louisiana House of Representatives to the former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke. Treen is the older brother of the late David C. Treen, the first Republican governor of...
, the older brother of David Treen. John Treen lost to David Duke
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
in the 1989 special election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for the Louisiana state House from Jefferson Parish.
In 1994, Bussie, along with the late U.S. Senator Allen J. Ellender
Allen J. Ellender
Allen Joseph Ellender was a popular U.S. senator from Houma, Louisiana , who served from 1937 until his death. He was a Democrat who was originally allied with the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr.. As Senator he compiled a generally conservative record, voting 77% of the time with the Conservative...
, was among the second round of public figures inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, Louisiana, highlights the careers of more than a hundred of the state’s leading politicians and political journalists. Because three governors, Huey P. Long, Jr., Oscar K...
in Winnfield
Winnfield, Louisiana
Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
. He is a former recipient of the "Racial Justice Award" given annually by the Baton Rouge Young Women's Christian Association
Young Women's Christian Association
Young Women's Christian Association or YWCA or YWCA Building or Old YWCA Building or variations may refer to:*World YWCA, the organization formerly known as Young Women's Christian Associationor it may refer to:...
. In 1998, Bussie and former Governor John McKeithen
John McKeithen
John Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...
were among recipients named "Living Legends" by the Louisiana Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
.
In 1997, Bussie received an honorary degree from Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
in Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
, 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... ".
With back problems, Bussie resigned in 2008 from his last state board, the University of Louisiana System
University of Louisiana System
The University of Louisiana System is one of four public university systems in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its headquarters are in the Claiborne Building in Baton Rouge.-History and diversification:...
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
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...
. Victor and Fran Bussie have also completed an oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
for the Louisiana Secretary of State's office.
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
Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, known by the acronym LABI, is the largest and most successful business lobbying group in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded in Baton Rouge in 1976, when Louisiana adopted a new right-to-work law during the administration of Democratic...
, 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
Bollinger Shipyards
Bollinger Shipyards is an American constructor of ships, workboats and patrol vessels.The firm was founded in 1946.Its thirteen shipyards and forty drydocks are located in Louisiana and Texas....
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.
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
, with the exception of Democrat-turned-Republican Buddy Roemer
Buddy Roemer
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
. 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.
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
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
2011. In 1989, Bussie had heart by-pass surgery, and in 1993, he lost a kidney to cancer. 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
Wimberley, Texas
Wimberley is a small town in Hays County, Texas, United States. Prior to its incorporation in May 2000, it was a census-designated place . The population was 2,626 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, 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.