Long-term chairman of the AFSCME union, Gerald W. McEntee, 87, passed away, #LongTerm #President #AFSCME #labor #union #Gerald #McEntee #Passed Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
Gerald W. McEntee, the longtime president of one of the nation’s largest civil servant unions, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), died Sunday at his home in Naples, Florida† He was 87 when he died.
His death was confirmed by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which he headed from 1981 to 2012.
McEntee was born in Philadelphia, he attended private appointed parochial schools for education. He graduated from La Salle University in 1956 with a degree in political science.
McEntee began his career as a union leader by working as an organizer for his father’s union. He worked for a few years as a political strategist for the powerful municipal union. In 1973 he was elected Executive Director of AFSCME Council in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in 1974 he was elected International Vice President of AFSCME.
While chairman of the union, he helped the union grow from approximately 1 million active members to over 1.2 million at its peak, and led significant battles against the privatization of government programs during his tenure.
Hostile to unions
As Washington became increasingly hostile to unions during that period of largely Republican rule, he was perhaps best known for his efforts to increase the influence of the labor movement in electoral politics.
“He was a key figure in repositioning the union in politics,” said Joseph McCartin. “I think he’s mostly the calling card that he started using the political power of the union to demand things that the union might have turned into strikes in an earlier era to be exact.”
After Mr. McEntee became president, the union began spending a lot of money on state legislative contests, figuring that legislators were important to both the funding of public services and the realignment that takes control of Congress once a decade. determines.
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Then, during the 1992 presidential campaign, Mr. Gerald W. McEntee convinced the union’s international board to support Bill Clinton, who was then the governor of Arkansas, and who was considered less labor-friendly by many union officials. than rival Democratic candidates, such as Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa.