Wurf, Jerry, 1919-

AFSCME Administration Department Records

jruss — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 16:02:10 -0400

The Administration Office existed for a number of years in the 1960s and 1970s. When it dissolved, its duties were transferred to other departments. Its convention planning duties were handled by the Office of the President for a time and are currently enacted by the Conference and Travel Services Department. Its other duties were assumed by the AFSCME Business Office. Records in this collection include subject files on areas of interest to AFSCME; correspondence from councils and locals; and information on President Jerry Wurf's public relations and special event activities. Also included are committee reports from the 1960-1970 conventions, with most of the focus on the 1965 Special Constitutional Convention, the 1968 convention, and the 1970 convention.

AFSCME Business Office Records

jruss — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 12:58:58 -0400

The AFSCME Business Office historically has handled financial matters for the union, and its activities are largely reported on by the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer. For a time, it was involved in the planning of the AFSCME biennial convention, as well as the numerous other, smaller meetings and conferences that AFSCME hosts throughout the year. Its name as of 2013 was the Financial Services Department, which includes Accounting, Auditing, and Benefits. This collection includes budgets for AFSCME International; information on the planning, scheduling, and programming of AFSCME conventions, conferences, and meetings; material related to various AFSCME departments; information on contracts and insurance programs; and a handful of other files about subjects and organizations of interest to AFSCME.

AFSCME Career Development Program Records

jruss — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:51:45 -0400

Seeing success in a program run by AFSCME District Council 37 in New York City that upgraded Nursing Aides to Licensed Practical Nurses, the International union wished to bring career development training to its members who were hospital employees. As such, in 1967, AFSCME began investigating how to develop hospital career development training programs. In 1969, AFSCME was awarded a grant from the Department of Labor and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) to work with hospitals in Boston, Cleveland, and Maryland. In 1971, AFSCME received a second grant to take the Hospital Career Development Program (HCDP) to three new cities, Memphis, Detroit, and St. Paul. At this point, language guaranteeing funding for continuing career development began to enter negotiated contracts. In 1973, AFSCME received its third grant, which brought HCDP to three more cities, Houston, Milwaukee, and the District of Columbia.

This collection documents the planning, execution, and evaluation of the AFSCME Career Development Program, 1966-1975, which primarily involved the Hospital Career Development Program (HCDP). HCDP developed and implemented career ladders and training curricula for hospital employees. The records are comprised of correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, curricula, job descriptions, organizational charts, contracts, press releases, news clippings, lesson plans, course schedules, graduation invitations and announcements, recruitment material, newsletters, and a small number of photographs.

AFSCME Central Files Department Records

jruss — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:09:27 -0400

The AFSCME Central Files Department was established in 1966 to which all departments within the international headquarters contributed correspondence and reports so all material related to a particular incident would be filed together. In 1974, Dr. Philip Mason of the Reuther Library at Wayne State completed a thorough records management survey of AFSCME and recommended that the Central Files Department be dissolved and that individual departments maintain their own records. His recommendation was enacted that same year.

The material in this collection reflects the broad range of operational activities undertaken by the AFSCME International Headquarters in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The records reveal information on most aspects of the union’s procedures, on councils and locals throughout North America, and on AFSCME’s dealings with organizations, government entities, and other unions. The records are primarily comprised of correspondence, but other types of records also appear including legal and policy memoranda, financial statements, legal decisions, transcripts from hearings and proceedings, meeting minutes, procedures, by-laws, grievance claims, membership lists, staff activity reports, press releases, and news clippings.

AFSCME Communications Department Records

jruss — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:06:22 -0400

AFSCME has produced a regularly published magazine since its inception. Publication duties for this organ and other materials were accomplished by the Education and Publications Department for the first twenty years of AFSCME’s existence. The 1954 Convention, however, passed Resolution 14, establishing a Publications and Public Relations Department. This new department would continue to publish the AFSCME magazine and other materials and would also take on new media public relations duties both at headquarters, and importantly, in the field. Recognizing that current field staff’s duties did not include crafting AFSCME’s message during organizing campaigns and strikes, it was hoped that the new department would provide skilled public relations professionals on the ground. The new department was created on April 1, 1956. The Publications and Public Relations Department existed until 1971 when the name was changed to the Public Affairs Department. This existed until 2011 when the name was changed again to the Communications Department.

The AFSCME Communications Department Records document the public activities of the Department, AFSCME International, and AFSCME officials. Records include speech transcripts; press releases; surveys and polls; documents related to AFSCME biennial conventions such as transcripts of proceedings, correspondence, and planning documents; correspondence; publications; meeting minutes; clippings; photographs, slides, and negatives; audio and video recordings; and posters.

AFSCME Education and Leadership Training Department Records

mcourtney — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 15:11:27 -0400

The 1960s began a period of significant growth for AFSCME, which meant an increased need for knowledgeable members and staff. AFSCME began an education program around 1962, and by 1966 the International Union had established the Education and Leadership Training Department, later known simply as the Education Department.

Part one of this collection contains materials produced during the union's efforts to organize local organizations into AFSCME, including member education on matters of negotiating and enforcing a contract. Records were created between 1970 and 1973, and illustrate the functions of the Education and Leadership Training Department as an entity that worked closely with the Organizing Department and the Office of the President. Much of the material in part one of this collection makes the case for organizations to affiliate with AFSCME, both through policy and legislation as well as training for individual workers on matters of organizing, contract negotiations, and contract enforcement. A majority of the material in part one was produced in relation to the organizing work of Al Bilik, who served as AFSCME Assistant to the President.

Part two relates to the operation of the education department as well as specific programs, such as the AFSCME Staff Intern Program, which recruited members of AFSCME locals for staff training. Participants attended classes in Washington, DC, and then worked in the field. Some successful participants were offered staff positions at headquarters, councils, or locals at the conclusion of the internship. Materials include field education staff reports, correspondence, staff and member training materials, and meeting notes.

AFSCME International Executive Board (I.E.B.) Records

jruss — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:46:46 -0400

The International Executive Board (IEB) is the top level legislative and policy-making body within AFSCME, except when the convention is in session. The IEB is responsible for interpreting the union’s constitution. The records of the IEB are maintained by the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer. Materials in this collection were pulled together from various shipments from the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer to make a comprehensive record of the proceedings of the AFSCME IEB. Some IEB-related information can still be found in the Secretary-Treasurer’s records.

This collection includes minutes, agendas, and transcripts of the meetings of the International Executive Board of AFSCME from 1935 to 1993. Reports presented to the IEB from various entities and offices like the Office of the President and the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer also appear in the collection. Correspondence on planning the meetings and on various issues that Locals and Councils brought before the IEB appears as well. Resolutions, budgets, judicial panel hearing reports, and other miscellaneous material related to individual IEB meetings also appear in the collection. Materials are arranged chronologically, and are grouped by convention location and date.

AFSCME Local 1733: Memphis, Tennessee Records

jruss — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:40:48 -0400

Sanitation workers in AFSCME Local 1733 in Memphis, Tennessee led a strike in 1968 to gain union recognition. The strike lasted for 65 days and garnered national attention as Local 1733's campaign for labor rights became fused with the struggle for civil rights. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lent his support to the strikers by visiting Memphis and leading marches. While there, on April 4, 1968, King was assassinated. The strike was settled soon after King's death. Local 1733 went on to wage other campaigns for workers' rights, including a push to raise wages for public employees in the summer of 1969, a school boycott in the fall of 1969 that corresponded to the NAACP's drive for more racially diverse representation on the Memphis City Council, and a push to unionize workers at St. Joseph Hospital in the fall of 1969.

The vast majority of this collection consists of newspaper clippings that follow these campaigns in both local and national publications. Some additional material relating to the strikers' strategies and the organizations formed to support the strikers such as Community on the Move for Equality (C.O.M.E.) and Memphis U.S.A. also appears.

AFSCME Office of the President: Jerry Wurf Records

jruss — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:29:17 -0400

This collection focuses on Jerry Wurf's tenure as AFSCME International President from 1964 until his death in 1981. Some information appears on an AFSCME affordable housing project that began prior to Wurf's election to the presidency. This housing project was one of the issues that led to a rift among AFSCME members and to Wurf's winning the presidency from incumbent president Arnold Zander. The bulk of the collection, though, represents the Office of the President's records during Wurf's tenure.

Information appears on International Executive Board (IEB) meetings; AFSCME councils and locals; the Committee on Public Education (COPE); the Coalition of American Public Employees (CAPE); Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality (PEOPLE); public employee legislation; international public employee unions; the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike; the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination; Wurf speeches; the Vietnam War; Wurf and AFSCME's relations to larger AFL-CIO issues; AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy; AFL-CIO President George Meany; and Communication Workers President Joseph Beirne.

AFSCME Office of the Secretary-Treasurer: Gordon Chapman Records

jruss — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:29:03 -0400

The records in this collection were created during the tenure of AFSCME's first and founding president Arnold S. Zander. The Secretary-Treasurer for most of Zander's presidency was Gordon Chapman. The Office of the Secretary-Treasurer during this time period oversaw the general financial health of the international union and kept records for its locals, councils, and the headquarters staff. The Office also maintained the records on dues payments.

The records in this collection relate to the chartering, organizing, placement under trusteeship, and disbanding of thousands of locals and councils in all the United States, Puerto Rico, Panama, and Canada. There is also historical information on some locals and councils, and a small amount of documentation on the financial operations of the Office, with data on salaries and payroll matters.

AFSCME Office of the Secretary-Treasurer: Gordon Chapman/Joseph Ames Records

jruss — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:47:43 -0500

This collection primarily covers the end of Gordon Chapman’s tenure as Secretary-Treasurer, and all of Joseph Ames’s tenure. These years saw turbulence in the International Union’s politics where founding incumbent president Arnold Zander faced challenges from an opposing faction called the Committee on Union Responsibility (COUR). COUR candidate Jerry Wurf won the presidency at the 1964 convention. Gordon Chapman held the office of Secretary-Treasurer. In 1966, Chapman retired due to poor health. He was replaced by Joseph Ames who had been President Wurf's assistant. Ames served as Secretary-Treasurer until 1972 when he became Judicial Panel Chairman, and William Lucy, then President Wurf's assistant, became Secretary-Treasurer.

The early records in this collection document the activities of President Zander's assistant Leo Kramer and COUR, illustrating their rival campaigns. The later records in this collection document the activities of the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer, including finances, conventions, International Executive Board meetings, correspondence and speeches, political activities, legislation, files on councils and locals, and files on various associations with which AFSCME had relationships.

AFSCME Office of the Secretary-Treasurer: Government and Civic Employees Organizing Committee Records

jruss — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:41:02 -0400

In early 1950, the United Public Workers union was expelled from the CIO for alleged communist activities, leaving behind an anti-communist group called the Government Workers Union. In February of 1950, the CIO chartered the Government Workers Union as the Government and Civic Employees Organizing Committee (GCEOC) and gave the new committee jurisdiction over federal, state, and local employees. In the next five years, GCEOC aggressively attempted to reach full union status within the CIO but failed to do so before the AFL-CIO merger in December 1955. After the merger, GCEOC was absorbed by the AFL's AFSCME. Some of the GCEOC personnel and many of its locals transferred into AFSCME, but by the late 1950s almost all traces of the old GCEOC had disappeared.

These records detail the breakup of the United Public Workers and the formation of the Government Workers Union and the GCEOC. There is considerable documentation on GCEOC Local 1 in Washington, D.C., which became AFSCME Local 1, and of GCEOC organizing efforts in the 1950s in the United States, Canada, and Panama.

NOTE: A non-searchable subject and correspondents index is appended to the end of the guide.

AFSCME Office of the Secretary-Treasurer: William Lucy Records

jruss — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:21:25 -0400

The AFSCME Office of the Secretary-Treasurer oversees the general financial health of the international union, keeping records for its locals, councils, and the headquarters staff. The Office keeps files on council and local trusteeships, maintains per capita dues payments by locals and councils, issues charters to new locals, and suspends and disbands locals or councils when problems arise. William Lucy held this position for 38 years, 1972-2010.

Lucy joined AFSCME as a civil engineer in Contra Costa, CA in 1956. A decade later, he was working for the International in Washington, D.C. Proving his leadership abilities during the 1968 sanitation workers strike in Memphis, during which Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, Lucy became AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer in 1972. Alongside his work with AFSCME, Lucy also served with countless labor, civil rights, and civic organizations to advance causes for blacks, women, and workers locally in Washington, D.C., nationally, and internationally. Lucy helped found the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) in 1972 to represent African Americans in the labor movement. He was instrumental in the Free South Africa Movement's efforts to end apartheid in South Africa. He served as president of Public Services International (PSI) and as a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council. These activities are reflected in the Records. Lucy retired from the position of Secretary-Treasurer in July 2010 at the AFSCME biennial convention.

The AFSCME Office of the Secretary-Treasurer: William Lucy Records document the activities and operations of AFSCME International, the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer, and AFSCME’s state and local councils. The Records also convey the actions of William Lucy in a number of labor and civil rights organizations, including TransAfrica, the NAACP, CBTU, PSI, and the AFL-CIO. The Records include correspondence, reports, speeches, financial information, legal documents, convention transcripts and proceedings, publications, and meeting minutes. Several boxes of audio recordings of International Executive Board meetings are included, and a very small number of photographs appear in the collection.

AFSCME Organizing Department Records

jruss — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:27:42 -0400

This collection reflects the work done by and through the AFSCME Organizing Department, 1967-1972. Important subjects and people that appear in the collection include public employee organizing; recruitment; organizations; elections; strikes; Chairman of the AFSCME Judicial Panel Joseph L. Ames; International Field Director P.J. Ciampa; and International President Jerry Wurf.

AFSCME Program Development Department Records, Part 1 & 2

jruss — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:05:55 -0400

The AFSCME Program Development Department was created in January of 1973 to deal with matters such as health care, the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, employee protections, career development, and sex discrimination. It was funded by federal grant money until 1975 when the funds ran out, the department was disbanded, and its several functions were taken over by other AFSCME departments.

The records in Part I reflect the Department's concerns with women's issues, sex discrimination, the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), and other groups. Important figures represented are Linda Tarr-Whelan, deputy director, 1973-1975; her successor, Nancy Perlman; and International President Jerry Wurf. Important topics appearing in the records include affirmative action, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, International Women's Year, Title IX, and commissions on the status of women.

The records in Part II of this collection contain the administrative records of the Program
Development Department head and staff. A large portion of Part II is devoted to subject
files, which illustrate the broad scope of the Department’s focus. Part II also contains
records pertaining to the Department’s efforts to prevent the decentralization of mental
health institutions and to protect the employees that worked in those facilities. Files on
other health care related issues are also included in Part II. A few files related to
Women’s Issues that were missed when processing Part I also appear.

AFSCME Publications

mcourtney — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 11:10:47 -0400

AFSCME Publications is a collection comprised of serials created and collected by AFSCME International, District Councils, and Locals. The collection also contains material produced as part of AFSCME’s biannual international conventions and articles published about AFSCME from an academic standpoint. The publications in this collection arrived at the Reuther Library over time and came from multiple sources.

The collection features AFSCME’s official publication, which was first known as The Journal of State and Local Government Employees (1937-1947), then Public Employee (1947-2007), and later, AFSCME WORKS (2007-2017). Much of the collection is made up of newsletters produced at the Council or Local level between 1968 and 1974, illustrating the issues relevant to different types of AFSCME workers during a formative time for the Union.

Note that this collection was updated in September 2019 with the final issues of AFSCME Works and issues of Council 5's Stepping Up.

Al Bilik Papers

drice — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:00:39 -0400

Al Bilik served on the District Council 51, Cincinnati, Ohio and was an active labor member within the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Sensitive to the relationship of the larger international union working with and depending on the strength of locals and councils, he helped American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Union members Victor Gotbaum, Rob Hastings, Jerry Wurf, Joseph Ames, Norm Schut and Father Albert Blatz, form the Committee on Union Responsibility (COUR).

Formed in the early 1960’s, COUR worked on AFSCME constitutional reforms to broaden the powers of the Secretary-Treasurer and International Executive Board, giving affiliated unions more authority in determining local policies and programs. COUR supported Jerry Wurf to become the new AFSCME President and opposed the candidacy of AFSCME President Arnold Zander in the international convention held May 1962 in Kansas City. At the 1964 Denver convention COUR campaigning eventually worked to oust Zander and establish Wurf as the new AFSCME President. Al Bilik later became the assistant to AFSCME President Jerry Wurf.

Al Bilik’s papers contain correspondence from active COUR members, but does not contain correspondence written by Al Bilik.

Joseph Goulden Papers

scaloia — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 11:30:58 -0500

Joseph C. Goulden’s biography of AFSCME president Jerry Wurf was published in 1982. Wurf, a controversial figure in the labor movement, served as president from 1964 until his death in 1981. He gave Goulden permission to write about him, “warts and all,” and facilitated access to AFSCME records and employees. In addition to Wurf himself, Goulden interviewed AFSCME staff including Al Bilik, Victor Gotbaum, Joseph Ames, William Hamilton, Leamon Hood, Donovan McClure, Gerald McEntee, and Ernest Rewolinski, as well as United States Senator George McGovern, Jerry Wurf’s wife, Mildred Keifer Wurf, and brother, Al Wurf. Goulden also conducted significant research using the AFSCME collections at the Reuther Library. Jerry Wurf passed away in 1981, shortly before the book was published.

The Joseph Goulden Papers contain an annotated manuscript and master proof of Goulden’s book, Jerry Wurf: Labor’s Last Angry Man.

Researchers interested in Goulden's interviews should see the Jerry Wurf: Labor's Last Angry Man Oral Histories.

Jerry and Mildred Wurf Papers

jruss — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:42:33 -0400

Jerry Wurf started his work in AFSCME in New York's Council 37, becoming executive director by 1959. He went on to serve as AFSCME International president from 1964 until his death in 1981. He also served as a vice-president of the AFL-CIO. Throughout his career, Wurf was actively involved in campaigns for civil liberties; anti-nuclear and peace movements; workers' education, health, and rights; Jewish concerns; and domestic politics, especially related to the Democratic Party.

Mildred Kiefer Wurf began work at AFSCME Council 37 in New York in 1951 as a researcher and writer. She was heavily involved with worker education programs and training union stewards. Mildred and Jerry married in 1960.

Jerry Wurf's papers relate both to his professional work with Council 37 and as AFSCME president, and to his efforts for civil and workers' rights. His papers also contain correspondence with a great number of prominent union, political, and civil rights leaders of his era. Mildred Wurf's papers, which constitute the last series of this collection, reflect her interest in labor education.

1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

scaloia — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 15:57:03 -0400

Thomas Oliver “T.O.” Jones believed a union for sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee was a necessity. A sanitation worker himself, he experienced the unfair working conditions and accompanying low pay. It was the 1960s and forty percent of full-time Memphis sanitation workers qualified for welfare assistance. The men had to carry heavy trash bins, often leaking waste, from residents’ yards to the trucks in sweltering Memphis heat. Black workers did not read more »

AFSCME's History-Making 1964 Convention

scaloia — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 13:04:06 -0400

Fifty-five years ago, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees elected a new president who would dramatically change the trajectory of the union.

A founding member of the Wisconsin Service Employees Association in 1932, Arnold Zander took the lead in forming the national public employee union that would become AFSCME. read more »

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

jruss — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:25:59 -0400

“It is a crime to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages.”–Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the beginning of 1968, working conditions for sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, especially African Americans, were atrocious. Employees were given no benefits, no vacation pay, no pensions; forty percent qualified for welfare, and many worked second jobs. During bad weather, black workers were sent home without pay, while white workers collected a full day’s wages. The Memphis Sanitation Department refused to modernize the equipment used by black workers. read more »

The Creation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

mcourtney — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 16:21:19 -0500

The Reuther Library and Wayne State University will be closed in observation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

While we’re out, we wanted to tell you a bit more about the way this became a national holiday and the people who worked to make sure it happened.

Dr. King was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee read more »

Web Exhibit Announcement: I AM a Man

jruss — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:00:57 -0400

April 4, 2012 marks the 44th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King had traveled to Memphis in the spring of 1968 to lend his support to striking sanitation workers, members of AFSCME Local 1733. We're pleased to announce the launch of a new web exhibit, created in conjunction with the Wayne State University Library System, explaining the events of that spring. Please visit the exhibit and share widely: (http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/iamaman/).

Johanna Russ was the Archivist for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) from 2008 until 2013.

AFSCME Coloring Pages

scaloia — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 15:22:14 -0400

Decompress and have some fun with these coloring pages!

Click the links at the bottom of the page to download and print PDF images that you can color.

34352-1978Convention: Interior view of the Las Vegas Convention Center, featuring the “AFSCME in the Public Service” theme, at the AFSCME International Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 1978. See the original image here.

38272-Wurf: AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf in Michigan during AFSCME Local 1390, Ingham County, strike. See the original image here.

AFL1958-Zander: AFSCME President Arnold S. Zander reports to the 1958 AFL-CIO Convention in Washington, D.C. See the original image here.

AFSCME News Release, Leaders found in contempt

scaloia — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 11:42:57 -0500

A news release from AFSCME describers contempt charges against AFSCME President Jerry Wurf and other leaders, including P.J. Ciampa and Bill Lucy, during the Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike.

Termination form for Gerald McEntee

scaloia — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:03:01 -0400

In 1967, Gerald McEntee left his job as an International Representative to lead Council 33 in Pennsylvania. While there, he lead unprecedented organizing efforts and successfully campaigned for state-wide public employee collective bargaining rights. He lead AFSCME International as President from 1981-2012.

(3712) Wurf and King, Memphis

jruss — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:48:03 -0400

AFSCME President Jerry Wurf consults with Martin Luther King, Jr. who traveled to Memphis to lend support to the striking sanitation workers of Memphis Local 1733 in 1968. King was assassinated while in Memphis campaigning for the AFSCME Local.

(7470) Roberts speaks, Wurf watches

jruss — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:17:45 -0400

Lillian Roberts, a leader of AFSCME Council 37 in New York City speaks as AFSCME President Jerry Wurf looks on in 1968.

(7477) Lillian Roberts honored

jruss — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:20:39 -0400

AFSCME President Jerry Wurf and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin look on as Lillian Roberts receives the A. Philip Randolph Institute Award.

(7480) Wurf and McEntee shake hands

jruss — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:28:06 -0400

Jerry Wurf (right), AFSCME President 1954-1981, shakes hands with his future successor, Gerald McEntee, at the 1974 annual convention in California.

(7482) Wurf and Reuther march for King

jruss — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:57:04 -0400

AFSCME President Jerry Wurf and UAW President Walter Reuther (lower right, front row) march in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. on 8 April 1968, shortly after his assassination.

(7485) AFSCME leaders in contempt of court, Memphis

jruss — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:42:59 -0400

AFSCME International Field Staff Director P.J. Ciampa (left), AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf (middle, with back turned), and then executive assistant to Wurf, William (Bill) Lucy (far right with pipe), receive contempt of court charges on March 6, 1968, during the Memphis Local 1733 sanitation workers’ strike.

(7594) Lansing, Michigan strike negotiations

jruss — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:44:44 -0400

Negotiators representing AFSCME Local 1390 Ingham County, Michigan Public Employees, (right to left) Council 55 President Bob Chittendon, Area Director Tom Fitzpatrick, AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf, International Representative Walter Oliver, and Local 1390 President Glenn Miller, address Lansing Personnel Director Daniel Bodwin and Mayor Max Murninghan (backs to camera) in July 1968.

(7596) Lansing, Michigan strike

jruss — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:42:55 -0400

AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf addresses members of Local 1390 Ingham County, Michigan Public Employees to discuss the terms of the negotiated contract. Members soon voted to ratify the contract.

(7597) Lansing, Michigan strike

jruss — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:41:26 -0400

A member of Local 1390 Ingham County, Michigan Public Employees shakes hands with AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf who came to Lansing to negotiate a new contract for the strikers in July 1968.

(7637) AFSCME negotiates Atlanta strike

jruss — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:29:47 -0400

AFSCME leaders William Lucy (left) and President Jerry Wurf (middle) negotiate with Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell (far right) during the 1970 sanitation workers’ strike of Local 1644.

(7640) Jerry Wurf addresses Atlanta Local 1644

jruss — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:32:13 -0400

Striking members of Atlanta Local 1644 listen to AFSCME President Jerry Wurf during the 1970 sanitation workers’ strike.

(7678) Lillian Roberts arrives at New York City jail to serve time, 1968

jruss — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:45:33 -0400

Lillian Roberts stands with her family, AFSCME President Jerry Wurf (left) and AFSCME District Council Director Victor Gotbaum (right) before serving a jail sentence for leading a New York state employees strike.

(8875) Gordon Chapman and Arnold Zander

jruss — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:06:27 -0500

AFSCME President Arnold Zander (right) and Secretary-Treasurer Gordon Chapman at the 1954 International Convention.

(8876) Gordon Chapman and Jerry Wurf

jruss — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:20:17 -0500

Gordon Chapman (left) and Jerry Wurf are pictured here at a 1963 conference in Milwaukee for the Committee on Union Responsibility (COUR). The next year, running on reform, Wurf beat founding president Arnold Zander to lead the union, with Chapman as his running mate.

(8891) King in Memphis

jruss — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:22:35 -0500

AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf (right) and International Representative P.J. Ciampa (standing) with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis during Local 1733’s sanitation workers’ strike.

(8892) Victory in Memphis

jruss — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:11:45 -0500

AFSCME President Jerry Wurf (left) and other union and community leaders celebrate the agreement reached with the city of Memphis after a 65 day sanitation workers’ strike, a campaign that saw violence and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

(8897) AFSCME marches for King

jruss — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:23:40 -0500

AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf (left), International Organizer James Howard (middle), and International Secretary-Treasurer Joseph Ames participate in the memorial march for Martin Luther King, Jr. King was assassinated while supporting Memphis Local 1733’s sanitation workers’ strike.

(8898) Wurf, Reuther mourn King

jruss — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:31:44 -0500

Seated on the speakers’ platform in front of Memphis City Hall at the rally following the memorial march for Martin Luther King, Jr. are from left: Bishop B. Julian Smith of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf, UAW President Walter P. Reuther, and AFL-CIO Civil Rights Director Don Slaiman. King was assassinated while supporting striking sanitation workers from Local 1733.

(10315) 1965 Consitutional Convention

jruss — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:18:50 -0400

Jerry Wurf won the AFSCME presidency in 1964. Here, he stands at the podium while delegates look at the camera during the 1965 Constitutional Convention held in Minneapolis, MN.

(10316) 1965 Consitutional Convention

jruss — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:46:43 -0400

The International Executive Board (IEB) of AFSCME meets to discuss the proposed constitution just before the June 1965 Constitutional Convention in Minneapolis at which Jerry Wurf and his new administration led the union to reform the constitution.

(10317) 1965 Constitutional Convention

jruss — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:51:34 -0400

(10318) 1965 Constitutional Convention

jruss — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:57:49 -0400

Newly elected international President Jerry Wurf (right) and Secretary-Treasurer Gordon Chapman lead the International Executive Board (IEB) in discussion about the proposed constitution just before the June 1965 Constitutional Convention in Minneapolis at which the union reformed its constitution.

(10319) Constitutional Convention

jruss — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:01:20 -0400