Series 1, Subseries 1, Sub-subseries 2. Moe Foner interview
Title:
Series 1, Subseries 1, Sub-subseries 2. Moe Foner interview
Foner discusses the history of 1199, its policies and politics; its organizing activities; relations with other unions and public figures; hospital working conditions and labor relations in the health care industry; union leadership and administration; and 1199 strikes of hospitals in New York City and Charleston, S.C. Moe Foner discusses the history of 1199, its policies and politics; its organizing activities; relations with other unions and public figures; hospital working conditions and labor relations in the health care industry; union leadership and administration; and 1199 strikes of hospitals in New York City and Charleston, S.C. Interview with Moe Foner regards his personal background; the social and political history of 1199 (1932-1976); the founding of the Pharmacists' Union of Greater New York; affiliations and disaffiliations of AFL-CIO unions; the racial composition and ethnic composition of the Drug Division; the organizing of 2,000 drugstores and the administration of resultant collective bargaining agreements; Elliott Godoff's personality, his experience in organizing hospital workers, his background in the United Public Workers of America (UPWA) and the Teamsters, and his decision to join 1199 (1958). Foner also discusses the radical element in the CIO and in District 65 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU); the relationship of UPWA and RWDSU; 1199's historical role in social politics, cultural and social programs; union militancy and goal setting; the red-baiting of union leaders; and George Meany's and Ray Corbett's (AFL-CIO) stand on collective bargaining legislation, compulsory arbitration and the no-strike pledge. Also discussed are Bayard Rustin's and Harry Van Arsdale's participation in hospital organizing; the relationship between Van Arsdale and Leon Davis; Van Arsdale's role in acquiring Mayor Wagner's pledge of financial support for a strike settlement; Van Arsdale's role in the AFL-CIO merger; A. Philip Randolph's and Rustin's role in the alliance between 1199 and civil rights organizations; RWDSU's participation in 1199's organizing campaign, including the activities of Bob Burke, David Livingston, Aberdeen David, Armando Ramirez, Max Greenberg, Max Steinbach, Bernie Stevens, Bill Michaelson and Joella Thomas; District 65 reaction to the growth of 1199 and challenges to the International board; and Van Arsdale's contacts with Mayor Wagner and New York City judges regarding strike settlement. Included also are discussions of the participation and opinions of various public figures and politicians on hospital unionization, passage of collective bargaining legislation and relations with Moe Foner. These individuals include: Eleanor Roosevelt, Herbert Lehman, Jimmy Wechsler, the Sulzbergers, Evans Clark (professor of economics, Princeton University), Frieda Kirchway (editor, THE NATION), Victor Riesel, Alfred Rose (Mount Sinai Hospital), Arnold Beichmans (professor, University of Massachusetts), Doris Schiff, Mayor Wagner, John Connorton, Paul Screvane, Saul Corbin, Anthony Carlino, Governor Rockefeller, Hank Paley, Murray Kempton, Benjamin Buttenwieser, Helen Buttenwieser, James Healey, and Cardinal Spellman. Organizations discussed in this context include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Congress of Racial Equality. Foner also discusses working conditions in hospitals; grievances relating to unionization and the conduct of organizing campaigns and strikes; wages; hours of work; working conditions; turnover rates; arbitrary supervisory policies; the hierarchy of unskilled vs. skilled hospital jobs; patient care; Foner's role in public relations, Davis' position as overall leader, and the assignment of Godoff and Ted Mitchell as leaders of the hospital organizing campaign; the allocation of Drug Division funds for the hospital organizing campaign; the participation of Drug Division members in hospital organizing activities; raising workers' consciousness; mobilizing the Crack of Dawn Brigade; donations and contributions by the public and the labor movement to the strike fund; strike benefits; the morale of strikers; and the operation of hospitals with volunteer and scab labor. Other topics discussed include the strategy employed in organizing professional and technical workers and the viewpoints of such workers on social politics; service workers' consciousness of changing working conditions; raising rank and file to leadership positions; Mitchell's role as a black organizer; the strategy of assigning organizers by geographic areas and ethnic background; solidarity among black and Puerto Rican workers; patient care and safety; 1199 policies and contacts in public relations; the preparation and distribution of leaflets; 1199 support for Governor Rockefeller's re-election; 1199 lobbying activities for passage of collective bargaining legislation for hospital workers; ethical questions concerning unions and strikes in hospitals and the denial of protective collective bargaining legislation; strike conduct and pickets; the decision to organize six Jewish hospitals; the signing of membership cards; mobilizing workers' committees through hospital departments; the reinstatement of strikers; the jailing of Leon Davis; the creation of crisis strike conditions in order to gain collective bargaining rights; strike settlements; 1199's position on national health issues; training and upgrading funds; union democracy; leader self-evaluation; record retention and research on union administration; union finances; and evolutionary changes in the union organizational structure. Issues pertaining to the nature of hospitals and the health care industry include the organizational structure, administration and locus of ownership and financing of religious, public, voluntary and proprietary hospitals; the influence of philanthropists on the administration of voluntary hospitals; protective coverage of hospital workers by the Wagner Act (1935) and the Taft Hartley Act (1947); the influence of third party payers, philanthropists, public opinion, clergymen and politicians on unionization of the health care industry; the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) position on unionization; opposition to unionization by Jewish philanthropic elites and the Catholic Archdiocese; Catholic and Protestant philanthropic interests; the politics of municipal health care delivery systems; Catholic hospitals and the Archdiocese; the ethnic composition of hospital boards; a comparison of Russian and Jewish hospitals; and the role of boards of trustees in hospital administration. Other topics discussed include hospital strategies to avoid unionization; a comparison of New York City and upstate health care systems; GNYHA's opposition to unions; industry-wide collective bargaining in the health care industry; the establishment of the Permanent Administrative Committee (PAC); the William H. Davies Committee; union administration under the PAC; communication between union administration and workers through newsletters, dues collection and grievance handling; 1199's strategy to block Beth-El Hospital membership on the PAC; and reorganization of the PAC with labor representatives. Issues pertaining to the organization of Montefiore Hospital (1958) include establishment of organizing committees and contacts by departments; organizing meetings; shift scheduling and organizing meetings; supervisors' interference with organizing activities; community support for hospital workers; media publicity; mobilization of civil rights and community leaders; Foner's interpretation of Martin Cherkasky's politics and views on the labor movement; the role of the labor movement in the Montefiore settlement; the key role of service workers; and activities of various organizers and mediators in the dispute. Topics relating to the Charleston, S.C. hospital workers' strike (1969) include contacts with Isaiah Bennett (RWDSU); participation of 1199 members Henry Nicholas, Godoff, Turner and Davis; meetings between SCLC, 1199 and hospital workers; the racial composition of hospital workers and strikers; the development of the strike into a national civil rights issue; contacts between Stanley Levitson, 1199 and the SCLC; the training of SCLC members as 1199 organizers; the decline of SCLC after the death of Martin Luther King; Andrew Young's role as SCLC representative; the organization of boycotts and demonstrations; and media coverage of the strike. Also mentioned is the intervention of Strom Thurmond, U.S. Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare, U.S. Dept. of Labor, U.S. Office of Civil Rights Compliance, James Farmer, Ted, Bob, and Ethel Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Daniel Moynihan, John Ehrlichman and Charles Shultz; Federal government pressure on Charleston Medical College to comply with the Civil Rights Act; jailing of Ralph Abernathy and the strike settlement; violence; and SCLC connections with Mary Moultries.
ArchivalResource:
4 transcripts (247 p.)
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