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Printable Version  Dr. Martin Luther King, P. J. Ciampa and Jerry Wurf discuss the strike. Photo by Richard L. Copley |
As national president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Jerry Wurf stood out as the twentieth century’s most influential leader in organizing U.S. public employees.
Born in New York on May 18, 1919, the son of immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, Jerry Wurf developed polio at age 4. Later in life he lamented
that, when it comes to health, he suffered from more afflictions than
Job. Despite these many maladies, Jerry Wurf became a forceful communicator
known for a foghorn voice and a steely determination to reshape the labor
movement.
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for the entire short biography
The Jerry Wurf Memorial Fund was established in memory of Jerry Wurf, the late President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Its income is used to initiate programs and activities that "reflect Jerry Wurf's belief in the dignity of work, and his commitment to improving the quality of lives of working people, to free open thought and debate about public policy issues, to informed political action. ..and to reflect his interests in the quality of management in public service, especially as it assures the ability of workers to do their jobs with maximum effect and efficiency in environments sensitive to their needs and activities.
Click Here for more information about AFSCME and the Jerry Wurf Scholarship.
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1984 Wurf Memorial Lecture |
2001 Wurf Memorial Lecture |
2003 Wurf Memorial Lecture Bill Richardson Governor of New Mexico "The Future of the Democratic Party and the Latino Vote" |
2012 Wurf Memorial Lecture Brigid O’Farrell, Mills College “She Was One of Us: Eleanor Roosevelt and the American Worker” |
Coming Event: 2013 Wurf Memorial Lecture - Saket Soni - "ORGANIZING THE
FUTURE OF WORK"
Thursday, Feb 14, 2013
4:00 – 6:00 pm
Wasserstein Hall, Room 2036 B
Harvard Law School
1585 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
Soni is
Executive Director, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice & National Guestworkers Alliance
Opening Remarks by Elissa McBride,
Director of Education and
Leadership Training, AFSCME:
"Like Eleanor, [Brigid] knows that we can make real change if we link education and action. I hope you will listen, learn, and leave committed to honor the legacy of Jerry Wurf and Eleanor Roosevelt by passing on the knowledge you gain here to others, so that together, we can restore the right to organize and bargain for all workers – public and private."
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Opening Remarks by Paul Booth,
Executive Assistant to the President, AFSCME:
"Miles Rapoport is the president of Demos.
What is Demos? There is an awful lot of Demos
material out on the table there, and you really should
indulge freely in it. To me, Demos is simply the
leading voice in the United States for small d democracy.
Its mission, as I see it, is this cause which it so
ably advances.
Miles has a career that included personal involvement in Connecticut politics, to which he brought activism, organizational skills, and a set of real deep commitments."
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Opening Remarks by Elena Kagan, Dean, Harvard Law School:
" This is a great privilege for us. Actually,
before I say anything else I'd like to welcome Jerry Wurf's family:
Mildred Wurf and his children, Abigail and Nick Wurf. We are extremely
pleased that you could join us today.
For those of you who don't know, Jerry Wurf
was the seventh president of AFSCME, the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees, which is now one of the biggest unions
in America. Most of that union's great growth, really its coming into
being as a major force in the union movement, took place under Jerry
Wurf, who was really one of the great modern labor leaders."
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Opening Remarks by Lawrence H. Summers, President, Harvard University:
" Al Gore is going to speak to us about the strength
of America. In a moment, I want to say a few words about the strength of
Al Gore but, before I do, I want to say a few words about public service.
I want to recognize Jerry Wurf, someone I knew well as his family vacationed
near mine in Wellfleet, Massachusetts and someone who I admired for his
commitment to doing the right thing by the people he represented and doing
the right thing by this country. Jerry made what I think is a point that
none of us at the university can make often enough or strongly enough and
that is the importance of public service. There was only one group of people
who were going up the stairs in the World Trade Center on September 11 and
those were public servants. Public servants. People who are paid by taxes.
People who were workers in the government of New York City, workers in the
government of New York State and workers in the government of the United
States. Anyone who wants to say that government work is wrong or that government
is wrong or that government is bad should think about those people going
up those stairs at that moment."
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Opening Remarks by William Lucy:
"Organized labor is rarely associated with ivied walls and
olive groves, but Harvard's Trade Union program has taken
a major step towards correcting that.
Through the Jerry Wurf Memorial Fund, AFSCME has
been associated with Harvard since 1982. Our ties grew even
closer last year with the organizing campaign that brought
more than 3,000 of Harvard's clerical and technical workers
under the AFSCME flag. Some say this makes AFSCME part
of the Harvard Family, and someput it the otherway around,
but either way, both Harvard and AFSCME are the better for
it".
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"Some time ago in Vienna, I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Bruno Kreisky's speech when he retired as chancellor and leader of the Austrian Social Democratic Party. As we in the audience sat there listening, we expected to hear an account of his long and eventful life and of his wide-ranging and successful political experiences. But not at all! Bruno Kreisky talked only about the future. At his retirement from offi cial life, the whole of his thinking was looking forward..."
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