George Meany

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George Meany (1894 -1980) was one of America's most powerful labor leaders during the 20th century. He was president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) from 1955 to 1979.

George Meany was born on Aug. 16, 1894, in New York City. He inherited his dedication to the trade union movement from his father, who was president of a local plumbers' union. When George had to leave high school because of difficult family circumstances, he chose his father's trade. After a 5-year apprenticeship, he received his journeyman plumber's certificate in 1915.

In 1922 Meany was elected business agent of his union local. Although unionism did not thrive during the 1920s, Meany steadily broadened his activities within the building trades. President of the New York State Federation of Labor (1934-1939), he took advantage of the progressive mood of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal by helping enact more pro-labor bills and social reform measures than had previously been passed in the entire history of the New York Legislature. In 1939 Meany was elected secretary treasurer of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

During World War II Meany served on the War Labor Board and represented the AFL on Roosevelt's committee to draw up wartime labor policy. He also served on a special committee that the president regularly consulted on labor-management problems. After the war Meany helped establish the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which contributed to the success of the Marshall Plan for the rehabilitation of war-torn Europe.

In November 1952 Meany was chosen president of the AFL. Three years later he was unanimously elected president of the newly combined AFL-CIO at its first convention. He was consistently reelected without opposition.

Throughout his career Meany was interested in reform, both within the labor movement and society at large. He initiated the first major attacks on corruption in the unions and was responsible for establishing a code of ethical practices for all union affiliates. He also took important steps toward eliminating racial discrimination in the labor movement. Under Meany's leadership, the AFL-CIO vigorously supported the Occupational Safety and Health Act, designed to protect employees from dangerous work conditions. The act became law in 1970.

Meany put the full political force of the labor movement behind efforts to enact civil rights legislation. Without the trade union movement's support, none of the civil rights bills passed during the 1960s would have gone through Congress. The results of these bills testify to the persisting relevance of the labor movement and to Meany's social vision.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower twice appointed Meany a U.S. delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, and Meany received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963). George Meany died on January 10, 1980, at the age of 86.

Further Reading

A chapter on Meany is included in Jack Barbash, ed., Unions and Union Leadership (1959), and some biographical information is in Thomas R. Brooks, Toil and Trouble: A History of American Labor (1964; rev. ed. 1971). See also Philip Taft, Organized Labor in American History (1964). Finke, Blythe F. George Meany: Modern Leader of the American Federation of Labor (1972)

George Meany
Born	August 16, 1894(1894-08-16)
Died	January 10, 1980 (aged 85)
Occupation	Labor leader

George Meany (August 16, 1894 – January 10, 1980) was an American labor leader, who served as President of the American Federation of Labor from 1952 to 1955, and then, following its merger with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in the latter year, as president of the united AFL-CIO from 1955 to 1979. He was born and raised on City Island, Bronx and used to own a house there.^[1]

Contents 1 Early career 2 Tenure 3 References in popular culture 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

Early career

Meany got his start as a plumber as an apprentice under Francis A. Taylor and eventually joined the New York City's Plumber's Union and served as a business agent for Local 463. After that, he was elected president of the New York State Federation of Labor and served until 1939. He served on the National Labor Relations Board during World War II.^[2][3][4][5]

Tenure

Meany was a great believer in the cooperation of labor and capital. Under his leadership, the AFL and then the AFL-CIO supported anticommunist policies. Unions deemed leftist, including the United Electrical Workers and the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Employees of America, were expelled from the CIO by the early 1950s. AFL-CIO unions then cooperated with employers to raid and decertify leftist unions. He was a steadfast supporter of the Vietnam War.

Meany was close to Jay Lovestone, the former Communist Party USA leader turned anti-communist. Lovestone established the Free Trade Union Committee (now known as the American Center for International Labor Solidarity) as the overseas organizing tool of the AFL. Throughout Meany's tenure, Lovestone worked to establish non-communist and pro-American unions around the world. In the course of this work, the AFL collaborated with Latin American dictatorships against communist, radical, or opposition trade unions.^[6]

He is famous for having said toward the end of his tenure that he had "never walked a picket line in his life." He was succeeded by Lane Kirkland.

On December 6, 1963, he was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon Johnson.

References in popular culture

George Meany appears on the sixth season of The Simpsons in the episode “Bart of Darkness.” He was interviewed by Krusty the Klown on an episode of "Klassic Krusty".

See also

Organized Labour portal

• George Meany AFL-CIO Award

External links

• "George Meany." AFL-CIO. No date. Biography on the AFL-CIO Web site.
• George Meany Memorial Archives. Located at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland.
• Kelber, Harry. "Meany Hired a Former Top Communist To Run AFL-CIO’s International Affairs." Labor Educator. No date. Accessed April 2, 2005.
• Kim Scipes, 2000, "It's Time to Come Clean: Open the AFL-CIO Archives on International Labor Operations." Labor Studies Journal, Vol. 25, No. 2, Summer: 4-25. Posted on-line in English by LabourNet Germany.
• John F. Kennedy Library & Museum

References

1. ^ Today in Labor History Archives, BigLabor.com. Accessed October 16, 2009. "August 16: George Meany, plumber, founding AFL-CIO president, born in City Island, Bronx - 1894"
2. ^ Buhle, Paul. Taking Care of Business: Samuel Gompers, George Meany, Lane Kirkland, and the Tragedy of American Labor. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1999. ISBN 1-58367-003-3
3. ^ Finke, Blythe F. George Meany: Modern Leader of the American Federation of Labor. Charlotteville, N.Y.: SamHar Press, 1972. ISBN 0-87157-548-5
4. ^ Goulden, Joseph C. Meany. New York: Atheneum, 1972.
5. ^ Robinson, Archie. George Meany and His Times. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1981. ISBN 9780671421632
6. ^ http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/laborhall/1989_meany.htm

Business positions
Preceded by William Green	AFL President 1952–1955	Merged into AFL-CIO
New title AFL-CIO founded	AFL-CIO President 1955–1979	Succeeded by Lane Kirkland

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