269:: "Zander's supporters attempted to prevent Wurf's backers from reading results of the election into the convention records. The struggle from the floor, with Zander guiding the fight from the podium continued into the afternoon session." COUR won ten out of eleven seats on the executive board. After the announcement of his narrow victory, Wurf surrounded himself with bodyguards and sent three people to the union office in Washington to change the locks. He also moved to designate Zander 'president emeritus' and provide him with a full salary and expenses until retirement age.
313:
through trusteeships, and required that union vice presidents be elected locally and not paid members of the "international" office. The convention did increase the powers of the union president, authorizing him or her to "employ, terminate, fix the compensation and expenses, and direct the activities of such office staff, administrative assistants, technical and professional assistants, field staff, organizers, and representatives as are required to carry out effectively the functions of his office."
258:
benefited from rules limiting any one Local's representation to five delegates (with one delegate per hundred members), rules which substantially decreased the power of larger urban Locals. Wurf himself did not campaign actively in 1962, although he did receive a nomination for president. Even so, the final vote was close (1490 to 1085). Zander, surprised by the result, subsequently lost face at the convention during unsuccessful efforts to increase union taxes on the Locals.
312:
In 1965, Wurf called a constitutional convention for AFSCME in
Washington. The convention passed amendments that increased representation from large Locals (allowing them more than five delegates, though only one for every additional thousand), decreased the central office's ability to control Locals
284:
When Wurf arrived at AFSCME offices at 815 Mount Vernon Place in
Washington, they were trashed inside and outside. One floor of the building had been leased to a pizza bakery. After examining the account books, Wurf also realized that AFSCME was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Wurf sold the
211:
hired Wurf to the union in 1947, after it became clear that Wurf was not welcome in HERE. At this point, AFSCME was not very powerful, and Wurf recalled being treated with contempt by other local organizers. He was generally disillusioned by his union's apparent capitulation to the anti-communism of
524:
Running for re-election in 1961, Mayor Wagner was opposed by the old-line party bosses of all five boroughs. He turned to a new force, the public-sector unions, as his political machine. His re-election resonated at the
Kennedy White House, which had won office by only the narrowest of margins in
257:
Wurf and others unhappy with Zander's leadership formed COUR, the
Committee on Union Responsibility, as an opposition party. The organization gained popularity, and received a number of votes in 1962 even though hundreds of "international" delegates were directly controlled by Zander. Zander also
261:
Over the next two years, Zander tried to expel Wurf and other members of COUR from the union. This proved difficult due to their popular support. Zander and his supporters also published negative stories about Wurf in the union's newspaper, denying COUR access to the mailing list for its
199:(HERE), in 1943. Local 448 was becoming powerful when HERE leadership incorporated it into Local 325 (Cooks, Countermen, Subdispensers, Cashiers and Assistants), then fired Wurf. Wurf believed that hostile union leaders caused him to be systematically denied work in the following years.
366:
in April 1968. "Let us never forget that Martin Luther King, on a mission for us, was killed in this city. He helped bring us this victory," Wurf later said. Although Wurf did not back the strike initially, due to the violent atmosphere, he supported it after it went into effect.
857:
AFSCME's
International President Jerry Wurf defended the action of the strikers in an editorial in the Sun . Wurf argued that without the strikes of the city's blue collar workers for 15 days and of the police for 5 days, there would not have been the negotiated pay
713:
After Wurf's election as president in 1964, an insurgent group—which included
Catholics, Jews, Puerto Ricans, and African Americans—took over. AFSCME integrated its staff, no longer organized white and black workers separately, and began to build a solid core of
827:
It was the 48-year-old Jerry Wurf who, as national president of the
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employes, AFL–CIO, actually gave the signal for the garbage strike of 1,300 predominantly Negro garbagemen in Memphis last Feb. 12, Lincoln's
525:
1960. Ten weeks after Wagner's victory, Kennedy looked to mobilize public-sector workers as a new source of
Democratic Party political support. In mid-January 1962, he issued Executive Order 10988, which gave federal workers the right to organize in unions.
797:
Bargaining ended Sunday night after Jerry Wurf, international president of the AFSCME, claimed he had been assaulted by an attorney for the city and accused the city of using tape recorders and plainclothes policemen to harass the
767:
by two union leaders. Jerry Wurf, international president of the State, County, and
Municipal Employes, sent a telegram to Wagner late Monday asking the mayor to meet with a committee to consider ways of resolving the
223:. This upset various established local union leaders, who in many cases tried to leave AFSCME for other unions. Nevertheless, District Council 37 achieved some concrete victories for workers under Wurf's leadership.
242:, which recognized the right of federal employees to collective bargaining. ) District Council 37 won many of the ensuing elections, making it into one of the large public employee local unions in the world.
1051:
649:
Wurf subsequently learned that the union had funneled $ 878,000 to Latin
America from 1957-1964 (other sources give varying amounts, but all are in the million dollar range).
959:
120:
234:, and providing for elections which could establish these unions as exclusive bargaining agents for the workers in various city agencies. (This order was a model for
763:
Prospects appeared bleak today for an immediate settlement of the eight-day-old strike of some 7,000 city Welfare Department employes , despite new appeals to Mayor
249:. He also questioned Zander's growing authority over individual Locals through trusteeships. After the union's 1958 convention, he decided to seek its presidency.
324:
Through energetic organizing and aggressive bargaining, AFSCME grew rapidly under his leadership from about 220,000 members to just over one million in 1981.
265:
In 1964, Wurf unseated Zander by just 21 votes, despite Zander's active use of his incumbent position to control the election procedurally. According to the
1046:
1061:
661:
729:
909:
Although not welcoming the strike, the AFSCME national office took it very seriously. By Monday night, it had an interracial team in Memphis...
196:
589:
1071:
622:""When you're handed money on a platter, it's very hard to say, 'where are you getting this?'": The AFL-CIO, the CIA, and British Guiana"
176:
1066:
363:
136:
418:
1041:
902:
706:
380:
621:
482:
1056:
550:
460:
140:
171:, he was inclined towards radicalism by his family's poverty and by communists he met. For some time he joined the
132:
219:
On the brink of quitting his job in 1952, Wurf was appointed, again by Zander, to the presidency of New York's
811:
780:
746:
508:
608:
His successor in the American union, Jerry Wurf, disapproved of the subsidy and canceled it, Zander said.
563:
351:
289:
179:. He was a critical of both groups, but preferred the YPSL due to his dislike of Soviet totalitarianism.
172:
395:
359:
128:
272:
Wurf became the first challenger to defeat a president of a major AFL-CIO international union since
195:
by working cafeterias and organizing the workers, forming Local 448, Food and Cashiers Local of the
979:
113:
328:
160:
923:
355:
124:
894:
885:
992:
698:
689:
347:
239:
1036:
1031:
227:
8:
220:
188:
898:
702:
546:
456:
321:
Wurf's election in 1964 began an area of growth and racial inclusion for the union.
764:
633:
384:
65:
46:
1013:
1001:
235:
1009:
969:
388:
334:
Wurf was a frequent dissenter to the policies of the AFL-CIO and its president
327:
Wurf presided over strikes in New York (1965), Lansing (1966), Memphis (1968),
297:
293:
273:
246:
192:
168:
891:
Going down Jericho Road the Memphis strike, Martin Luther King's last campaign
695:
Going down Jericho Road the Memphis strike, Martin Luther King's last campaign
394:
Wurf's legacy as AFSCME President is documented in the AFSCME Archives at the
1025:
951:
937:
Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs. Wayne State University.
931:
Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs. Wayne State University.
208:
152:
42:
637:
376:
335:
301:
292:
program within AFSCME. This program funneled around a million dollars to
231:
213:
116:
127:, and was arrested multiple times for his activism, notably during the
934:
928:
245:
Wurf broke with Zander over his allegiances to the AFL–CIO and to the
191:
but dropped out to pursue radical organizing. He got his start in the
620:
Waters Jr., Robert Anthony; Daniels, Gordon Oliver (1 January 2006).
399:
402:, 1959–1981, as well as many other AFSCME departmental collections.
1052:
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees people
730:"Jerry Wurf, Leader of Federation of Municipal Workers, Dies at 62"
988:
159:
immigrants (his father was a tailor and textile worker) from the
841:
619:
288:
Also soon after arriving, Wurf discovered and ended an ongoing
230:
an executive order giving the city's workers the right to form
156:
350:. He helped establish the first New York State chapter of the
164:
960:
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
121:
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
654:
354:(CORE) in the late 1940s. He was a close associate of
296:
between 1957 and 1964 for the purpose of supporting
935:
AFSCME Office of the President: Jerry Wurf Records.
884:
688:
400:AFSCME Office of the President: Jerry Wurf Records
285:building and moved the union to a smaller office.
167:at the age of four. As a young man growing up in
123:(AFSCME) from 1964 to 1981. Wurf was a friend of
1023:
803:
833:
545:Washington, D.C.: Robert B. Luce, Inc., 1974.
500:
197:Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union
446:
444:
442:
440:
438:
436:
434:
432:
430:
428:
202:
876:
773:
680:
476:
474:
472:
307:
839:
739:
724:
722:
1047:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
590:"Public Service Union Abroad Aided by CIA"
581:
537:
535:
533:
509:"How Public Unions Took Taxpayers Hostage"
425:
370:
1062:Members of the Socialist Party of America
697:(1 ed.). New York : Norton. p.
662:"Article V - The International President"
469:
216:and to the desires of local politicians.
112:(May 18, 1919 – December 10, 1981) was a
924:Jerry Wurf, 1919-1981: A Short Biography
893:(1 ed.). New York: Norton. p.
719:
613:
541:Billings, Richard N. and Greenya, John.
341:
279:
135:" oratory at the strike, the day before
626:Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire
587:
555:
530:
450:
16:American labor union leader (1919–1981)
1024:
809:
506:
480:
391:succeeded him as president of AFSCME.
882:
686:
588:Harwood, Richard (23 February 1967).
481:Serrin, William (12 September 1982).
381:George Washington University Hospital
561:
358:, who was working in support of the
252:
871:Jerry Wurf: Labor's Last Angry Man.
753:. Associated Press. 12 January 1965
13:
455:(1 ed.). New York: Atheneum.
453:Jerry Wurf: Labor's Last Angry Man
175:; he subsequently left it for the
103:Sigmund and Lena (Tannenbaum) Wurf
14:
1083:
917:
842:"The 1974 Police Officers Strike"
812:"Strike Reveals New Labor Leader"
346:Wurf was extremely active in the
929:Jerry & Mildred Wurf Papers.
873:New York: Atheneum, 1982, p. 56.
810:Riesel, Victor (20 April 1968).
787:. Associated Press. 18 July 1966
747:"Prospects Bleak in Welfare Row"
507:Siegel, Fred (25 January 2011).
85:Sylvia (Spinrad) Wurf (divorced)
863:
690:"Struggles of the Working Poor"
226:In 1958, Wurf wrung from mayor
177:Young People's Socialist League
1072:Vice presidents of the AFL–CIO
1067:American democratic socialists
840:D'Adamo, Charles (Fall 2007).
411:
1:
483:"A Leader for the Little Guy"
405:
316:
146:
131:. He was present for King's "
1042:American trade union leaders
781:"Lansing Employes on Strike"
133:I've Been to the Mountaintop
119:leader and president of the
7:
564:"Zander Ouster 'Agonizing'"
543:Power to the Public Worker.
451:Goulden, Joseph C. (1982).
352:Congress of Racial Equality
10:
1088:
1057:People from Brighton Beach
883:Honey, Michael K. (2007).
687:Honey, Michael K. (2007).
203:AFSCME District Council 37
1006:
986:
976:
966:
956:
948:
943:
562:Golz, Earl (1 May 1964).
396:Walter P. Reuther Library
360:Memphis sanitation strike
308:Constitutional convention
129:Memphis sanitation strike
99:
91:
81:
73:
54:
28:
21:
387:, on December 10, 1981.
886:"On Strike for Respect"
513:The Wall Street Journal
371:After AFSCME presidency
182:
161:Austro-Hungarian Empire
638:10.3406/rbph.2006.5061
356:Martin Luther King Jr.
173:Young Communist League
125:Martin Luther King Jr.
95:Two daughters, one son
993:Trades Union Congress
348:civil rights movement
342:Civil rights movement
280:Arrival in Washington
276:had done so in 1946.
240:Executive Order 10988
137:King was assassinated
87:Mildred (Kiefer) Wurf
944:Trade union offices
816:The Portsmouth Times
728:Robert D. McFadden,
228:Robert F. Wagner Jr.
155:in 1919. The son of
869:Joseph C. Goulden,
666:AFSCME Constitution
221:District Council 37
189:New York University
846:Indypendent Reader
785:Owosso Argus-Press
568:Milwaukee Sentinel
398:in Detroit as the
267:Milwaukee Sentinel
1020:
1019:
1007:Succeeded by
983:William J. Farson
967:Succeeded by
904:978-0-393-04339-6
736:11 December 1981.
708:978-0-393-04339-6
253:Election campaign
236:President Kennedy
207:AFSCME president
151:Wurf was born in
107:
106:
58:December 10, 1981
1079:
991:delegate to the
977:Preceded by
949:Preceded by
941:
940:
912:
911:
888:
880:
874:
867:
861:
860:
854:
852:
837:
831:
830:
824:
822:
807:
801:
800:
794:
792:
777:
771:
770:
765:Robert F. Wagner
760:
758:
751:The Evening News
743:
737:
726:
717:
716:
692:
684:
678:
677:
675:
673:
658:
652:
651:
646:
644:
632:(4): 1075–1099.
617:
611:
610:
605:
603:
594:
585:
579:
578:
576:
574:
559:
553:
539:
528:
527:
521:
519:
504:
498:
497:
495:
493:
478:
467:
466:
448:
423:
422:
415:
385:Washington, D.C.
329:Baltimore (1974)
66:Washington, D.C.
61:
38:
36:
19:
18:
1087:
1086:
1082:
1081:
1080:
1078:
1077:
1076:
1022:
1021:
1016:
1014:Herman D. Kenin
1012:
1002:William Pachler
998:
996:
984:
982:
972:
963:
954:
920:
915:
905:
881:
877:
868:
864:
850:
848:
838:
834:
820:
818:
808:
804:
790:
788:
779:
778:
774:
756:
754:
745:
744:
740:
734:New York Times,
727:
720:
709:
685:
681:
671:
669:
660:
659:
655:
642:
640:
618:
614:
601:
599:
597:Washington Post
592:
586:
582:
572:
570:
560:
556:
540:
531:
517:
515:
505:
501:
491:
489:
479:
470:
463:
449:
426:
417:
416:
412:
408:
375:Wurf died of a
373:
344:
319:
310:
282:
255:
205:
187:He enrolled at
185:
163:, he developed
149:
139:, and attended
86:
69:
63:
59:
50:
40:
34:
32:
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1085:
1075:
1074:
1069:
1064:
1059:
1054:
1049:
1044:
1039:
1034:
1018:
1017:
1010:William Gillen
1008:
1005:
985:
978:
974:
973:
970:Gerald McEntee
968:
965:
955:
950:
946:
945:
939:
938:
932:
926:
919:
918:External links
916:
914:
913:
903:
875:
862:
832:
802:
772:
738:
718:
707:
679:
668:. AFSCME. 1965
653:
612:
580:
554:
529:
499:
487:New York Times
468:
461:
424:
409:
407:
404:
389:Gerald McEntee
372:
369:
343:
340:
318:
315:
309:
306:
298:Forbes Burnham
294:British Guiana
281:
278:
274:Walter Reuther
262:distribution.
254:
251:
204:
201:
193:labor movement
184:
181:
169:Brighton Beach
148:
145:
141:King's funeral
105:
104:
101:
97:
96:
93:
89:
88:
83:
79:
78:
75:
71:
70:
64:
62:(aged 62)
56:
52:
51:
41:
30:
26:
25:
22:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1084:
1073:
1070:
1068:
1065:
1063:
1060:
1058:
1055:
1053:
1050:
1048:
1045:
1043:
1040:
1038:
1035:
1033:
1030:
1029:
1027:
1015:
1011:
1004:
1003:
995:
994:
990:
981:
975:
971:
962:
961:
958:President of
953:
952:Arnold Zander
947:
942:
936:
933:
930:
927:
925:
922:
921:
910:
906:
900:
896:
892:
887:
879:
872:
866:
859:
847:
843:
836:
829:
817:
813:
806:
799:
786:
782:
776:
769:
766:
752:
748:
742:
735:
731:
725:
723:
715:
710:
704:
700:
696:
691:
683:
667:
663:
657:
650:
639:
635:
631:
627:
623:
616:
609:
598:
591:
584:
569:
565:
558:
552:
551:0-88331-067-8
548:
544:
538:
536:
534:
526:
514:
510:
503:
488:
484:
477:
475:
473:
464:
462:0-689-11291-2
458:
454:
447:
445:
443:
441:
439:
437:
435:
433:
431:
429:
420:
414:
410:
403:
401:
397:
392:
390:
386:
382:
378:
368:
365:
361:
357:
353:
349:
339:
337:
332:
330:
325:
322:
314:
305:
303:
299:
295:
291:
286:
277:
275:
270:
268:
263:
259:
250:
248:
243:
241:
237:
233:
229:
224:
222:
217:
215:
210:
209:Arnold Zander
200:
198:
194:
190:
180:
178:
174:
170:
166:
162:
158:
154:
153:New York City
144:
142:
138:
134:
130:
126:
122:
118:
115:
111:
102:
98:
94:
90:
84:
80:
76:
72:
67:
57:
53:
48:
44:
43:New York City
31:
27:
20:
1000:
997:1967
987:
957:
908:
890:
878:
870:
865:
856:
849:. Retrieved
845:
835:
826:
819:. Retrieved
815:
805:
796:
789:. Retrieved
784:
775:
762:
755:. Retrieved
750:
741:
733:
712:
694:
682:
670:. Retrieved
665:
656:
648:
641:. Retrieved
629:
625:
615:
607:
600:. Retrieved
596:
583:
571:. Retrieved
567:
557:
542:
523:
516:. Retrieved
512:
502:
490:. Retrieved
486:
452:
413:
393:
377:heart attack
374:
364:assassinated
362:when he was
345:
336:George Meany
333:
326:
323:
320:
311:
302:Cheddi Jagan
287:
283:
271:
266:
264:
260:
256:
244:
225:
218:
206:
186:
150:
109:
108:
77:Union leader
60:(1981-12-10)
39:May 18, 1919
1037:1981 deaths
1032:1919 births
714:organizers.
110:Jerome Wurf
23:Jerome Wurf
1026:Categories
964:1964-1981
858:increases.
406:References
331:and more.
317:Presidency
147:Background
74:Occupation
35:1919-05-18
980:Paul Hall
828:Birthday.
672:10 August
100:Parent(s)
82:Spouse(s)
851:4 August
821:13 April
791:13 April
768:dispute.
757:13 April
643:4 August
602:4 August
573:13 April
518:4 August
492:4 August
92:Children
47:New York
989:AFL-CIO
214:AFL–CIO
999:With:
901:
798:union.
705:
549:
459:
419:"Home"
232:unions
157:Jewish
68:, U.S.
49:, U.S.
593:(PDF)
300:over
247:Mafia
165:polio
117:labor
899:ISBN
853:2012
823:2015
793:2015
759:2015
703:ISBN
674:2012
645:2012
604:2012
575:2015
547:ISBN
520:2012
494:2012
457:ISBN
212:the
183:HERE
114:U.S.
55:Died
29:Born
895:109
634:doi
383:in
379:at
290:CIA
238:'s
1028::
907:.
897:.
889:.
855:.
844:.
825:.
814:.
795:.
783:.
761:.
749:.
732:,
721:^
711:.
701:.
699:71
693:.
664:.
647:.
630:84
628:.
624:.
606:.
595:.
566:.
532:^
522:.
511:.
485:.
471:^
427:^
338:.
304:.
143:.
45:,
676:.
636::
577:.
496:.
465:.
421:.
37:)
33:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.