Lane Kirkland
Joseph Lane Kirkland (born March 12, 1922 in Camden , South Carolina , † August 14, 1999 in Washington, DC ) was an American union official .
biography
Kirkland joined the American Federation of Labor (AFL) headquarters in 1948 as a research fellow . As a trade union official from the start, in 1960 he became administrative assistant to the then President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), George Meany, which was reunified in 1955 . In 1969 he was promoted to executive treasurer (Secretary-Treasurer) and thus took on the second highest position within the AFL-CIO alongside Meany.
Because of his high standing both among union members and in the ranks of business managers, he was elected President of the AFL-CIO after Meany resigned on November 19, 1979 .
As an avowed anti-communist , he spent much of his time supporting democracy and the trade unions in Poland , especially Solidarność in the 1980s, but also in the People's Republic of China , Cuba , South Africa and Chile . However, these efforts resulted in a decline in membership and in the unions' influence during President Ronald Reagan's tenure . Ultimately, the proportion of unionized workers fell from 25 to only 15 percent during this period.
One of the main tasks during his tenure was the reunification of the American trade union organizations under the umbrella organization of the AFL-CIO. In fact, in 1990 the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , the United Mine Workers , the United Auto Workers, and the International Longshore Union of Port and Warehouse Workers on the west coast of the United States returned and Warehousemen's Union of the West Coast) into the union federation.
When it came to a confrontation with other union leaders at the beginning of 1995 because of the decreasing influence of the unions during his tenure, he first tried to maintain his re-election as president of the AFL-CIO. However, a few months later he stated that he would not run again and resigned in August 1995. Successor as President of the AFL-CIO was John J. Sweeney .
In 1994 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton for his services to trade union work and democracy , which, together with the equal gold medal of honor of the Congress, is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States. In 1995 he also received the Freedom Award in the "Freedom from Want" category.
As part of the Fulbright program , a Lane-Kirkland scholarship was launched after his death , which enables Polish students to exchange.
Web links
- Homepage of the AFL-CIO ( Memento of February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (archive version)
- rulers.org
- Encyclopedia Britannica
Individual evidence
- ↑ THE LANE KIRKLAND SCHOLARSHIPS PROGRAM ( Memento from October 25, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (archive version)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kirkland, Lane |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kirkland, Joseph Lane (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American trade unionist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 12, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Camden , South Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 14, 1999 |
| Place of death | Washington, DC |