click link
overdue posting
snip
Jerry Tucker
Jerry Tucker, a nationally-known labor leader, died Friday, October 19, 20122012-10-24T00:05:00Z2012-10-24T08:28:23ZJerry Tucker dies; a legendary troublemaker and a hero of the labor movementstltoday.com
Jerry Tucker, who died last week, was a labor leader who helped defeat the 1978 anti-union “Right-to-Work” campaign in Missouri.
Polls showed it passing 2-1, with even union members favoring it by 51 percent. Industry groups were confident of a victory that they hoped they could repeat in other states.
Mr. Tucker helped put together a coalition of labor, civil rights, women's, religious and farm groups. They defeated the measure by a stunning 3-2 margin.
Mr. Tucker was elected regional director of the United Auto Workers here, an influential position. But his career within the union stalled when he took on the old guard national leaders with his New Directions reform movement.
By then Mr. Tucker was in demand. He traveled the country and the world training workers how to empower themselves. His goal was to spread democracy in unions and the workplace.
Mr. Tucker became a legendary troublemaker. He was a hero to those workers he helped win major contract victories. His foes at the top of the UAW labeled him a communist.
Polls showed it passing 2-1, with even union members favoring it by 51 percent. Industry groups were confident of a victory that they hoped they could repeat in other states.
Mr. Tucker helped put together a coalition of labor, civil rights, women's, religious and farm groups. They defeated the measure by a stunning 3-2 margin.
Mr. Tucker was elected regional director of the United Auto Workers here, an influential position. But his career within the union stalled when he took on the old guard national leaders with his New Directions reform movement.
By then Mr. Tucker was in demand. He traveled the country and the world training workers how to empower themselves. His goal was to spread democracy in unions and the workplace.
Mr. Tucker became a legendary troublemaker. He was a hero to those workers he helped win major contract victories. His foes at the top of the UAW labeled him a communist.
