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NALC mourns the death of former AFL-CIO President John Sweeney

Letter carriers lost a huge friend and champion this week with the death of John J. Sweeney, the former president of the AFL-CIO, our national labor federation.  Sweeney served in that position for 14 years from 1995 to 2009 after he built the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) into one of the most powerful and fastest growing unions in America.  He was a great reformer who worked to transform the AFL-CIO to be more welcoming to workers of all backgrounds, including immigrants, women and people of color.  

NALC president Fred Rolando issued the following statement:

“John Sweeney was a great trade unionist that helped modernize the labor movement. He fought for the NALC and its members whenever we called on the support and solidarity of the American labor movement. I especially recall John’s strong support for our campaign to defeat the Postal Service’s attempt to subcontract all new city carrier jobs in the mid-2000s. He was a frequent guest at NALC conventions, demonstrations, and other functions. NALC extends our condolences to John’s wife Maureen and his children, John Jr. and Patricia. May his memory be a blessing.”

 

Click here (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/us/john-j-sweeney-dead.html) to read Brother Sweeney’s obituary in The New York Times and here to read AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka’s statement (https://aflcio.org/john-j-sweeney-1934-2021-afl-cio-president-emeritus) on the death of his predecessor.