Wurf, Jerry 1919-1981

WURF, JERRY 1919-1981

Labor leader., president of the americanfederation of state, county, and municipalemployees (afscme)

Unionization of Public Employees

The spreading of public-sector unionism accounted for much of the labor movement's vitality in the 1960s. Public-employee union membership rose from less than 400,000 in 1955 to over 4 million by the early 1970s. This rapid in-crease can be explained in several ways. As the government assumed a larger social and economic role in post-World War II America, the number of public workers skyrocketed—by the mid 1960s one out of every eight Americans was employed by local, state, or federal government. This growth lured union leaders to mount major organizing efforts. Such unionization campaigns benefited from the steady inflation over the period that encouraged workers to worry about their salaries, but they were also aided by the federal government. In 1962 President John Kennedy signed executive order 10988, granting federal employees the right to join unions and bargain collectively. While all of these factors were important, one labor leader, Jerry Wurf, and his union, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), took center stage and led the organization effort.

Early Career

Jerry Wurf's union career began in 1940, soon after he took a job as a cashier and counterman at a Brooklyn cafeteria. Unhappy with the working conditions, Wurf led the other employees to organize Local No. 448 of the Food Checkers and Cashiers Union of the Hotel and Restaurant Workers. Impressed with his efforts, the union gave Wurf a job as a staff organizer, and by the mid 1940s he had recruited workers in surrounding cafeterias, diners, and restaurants. His achievements as an organizer caught the attention of veteran labor leader Arnold Zander, head of the AFL-affiliated American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, who hired Wurf in 1947 to build a union to compete with the CIO's Transport Workers Union. Unable to break the dominance of the CIO's union, Wurf was moved over to reorganize AFSCME's small New York City union. His first major success came in 1954 when Mayor Robert Wagner, Jr., issued an executive order recognizing city workers' right to organize. Four years later Wagner acknowledged the union as the exclusive bargaining agent when it had majority representation. By the end of the 1950s Wurf had rebuilt the local in New York, and his high visibility positioned him to win the presidency of the national organization in 1964.

President of AFSCME

Wurfs first years as president of AFSCME concentrated on changing Americans' attitudes toward the rights of public workers. Many still regarded such workers as public servants who did not have the right to bargain collectively. Making wide use of the strike (in 1967 alone some 250 public-workers' strikes broke out), Wurf was well on his way to accomplishing that goal. A major victory came in 1968 when members of the local in Memphis, Tennessee, largely African-American sanitation workers, went on strike protesting racial discrimination. Wurf and local union officials organized a boycott of white-owned businesses in the area, but they did not interfere with strikebreaking garbage collectors. Although the union received favorable media coverage, it was not until Martin Luther King, Jr., came to Memphis to support the strikers and was subsequently assassinated that the city finally capitulated. It agreed to recognize the union and increase wages, and base future promotions entirely on seniority. A considerable triumph for AFSCME, Wurf compared it to pivotal strikes of the past: "[It was] our Homestead, our Hart, Schaffner and Marx, our Flint sit-downs." In the early 1970s many municipal workers watched their purchasing power decline as cities faced serious financial troubles, and this led many public employees to join AFSCME. By mid-decade gaining one thousand members per week, it was the nation's fastest-growing union. By the end of the 1970s public employees' rights were recognized, their unions were well established, and AFSCME was one of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO.

Supporting Liberal Causes

Because of the growing numbers of minorities in the public sector, half of AFSCME's membership consisted of women and non-white minorities. This makeup, coupled with Wurf's liberal leanings, led the union to champion many progressive causes. Once called "a man with white skin but a black soul" by Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Wurf was active in supporting the cause of African-Americans. Besides civil rights, he was one of the first leaders of an AFL-CIO union to speak out against the union's support of the Vietnam War. In addition, when George Meany with-held an AFL-CIO endorsement from Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern in 1972, Wurf and AFSCME independently threw their support behind the antiwar candidate.

Sources:

Ronald Filippelli, Labor in the USA: A History (New York: Knopf, 1984);

Joseph Goulden, Jerry Wurf: Labor's Last Angry Man (New York: Atheneum, 1982).