Hirsch, Fred

Fred Hirsch (1933-), a retired plumber is well known to the national leadership of the AFL-CIO and very widely in San Jose. As vice president of Plumbers and Fitters, Local 393, Hirsch worked as a plumber and rank and file worker in construction as well as a union activist and organizer. Hirsch helped transform his union into a dynamic force on issues of AFL-CIO intervention in the political and trade union life of sovereign nations and specifically the organizations in Latin America. Hirsch is particularly known in the Chicano community, where he founded and served as Secretary of the Law and Police Committee Model Cities Program. He has been involved in political, labor and community activism in San Jose and he served as Co-Chairman of the Santa Clara Valley Friends of the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Hirsch also wrote the first pamphlet exposing CIA machinations in the Latin American labor movement. Committed to civil rights, Hirsch participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer project to help register African American voters in Mississippi. In addition, he worked with Cesar Chavez and the National Farmworkers Association. He played a part in the Angela Davis trial by helping with the research of over 2000 potential jurors to guarantee a fair trial. Hirsch is currently on the Executive Board of Plumbers and Fitters Local 393 in San Jose, a delegate to the South Bay Labor Council and a longtime activist in the Latin America Solidarity Coalition.

From the description of Fred Hirsch ephemera collection, 1955-1973. (San Jose Public Library). WorldCat record id: 230749241

Biographical Information

Fred Hirsch (1933-), a retired plumber is well known to the national leadership of the AFL-CIO and very widely in San Jose. As vice president of Plumbers and Fitter, Local 393, Hirsch worked as a plumber and rank and file worker in construction as well as a union activist and organizer. Hirsch helped transform his union into a dynamic force on issues of AFL-CIO intervention in the political and trade union life of sovereign nations and specifically the organizations in Latin America. Hirsch is particularly known in the Chicano community, where he founded and served as Secretary of the Law and Police Committee Model Cities Program. He has been involved in political, labor and community activism in San Jose and he served as Co-Chairman of the Santa Clara Valley Friends of the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Hirsch also wrote the first pamphlet exposing CIA machinations in the Latin American labor movement. Committed to civil rights, Hirsch participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer project to help register African American voters in Mississippi. In addition, he worked with Cesar Chavez and the National Farmworkers Association. He played a part in the Angela Davis’ trial by helping with the research of over 2000 potential jurors to guarantee a fair trial. Hirsch is currently on the Executive Board of Plumbers and Fitters Local 393 in San Jose, a delegate to the South Bay Labor Council and a longtime activist in the Latin America Solidarity Coalition.

From the guide to the Fred Hirsch Ephemera collection, 1955-1973, (San Jose State University Library.)