(Editor’s note: The following is an except from a column on Bill Lucy. For the full column, go here).
On September 25, the labor movement and the nation lost a giant when AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus Bill Lucy passed away at the age of 90.
He was one of the most accomplished and influential labor leaders in U.S. history. He first made his mark as a young AFSCME staffer, when our union's president, Jerry Wurf, sent him to Memphis in the winter of 1968 to provide support for 1,300 Black sanitation workers who had gone on strike to protest poverty wages and the most degrading working conditions.
… Even in his final months, Bill understood the urgency and high stakes of the 2024 elections. And if he were still with us, he would encourage us to make our involvement the highest priority.