Posner, Seymour, 1925-1988.

Assemblyman and labor legislator Seymour Posner was born on May 21, 1925 to Nathan Posner and Fannie Gittleman. He was raised in the Bronx, New York, and in 1942 he enlisted and served in the 3rd Infantry Regiment in France and Germany during World War II, during which he lost hearing in one ear. Upon his return to New York, he enrolled at the City College of New York, earning a B.S. in Social Science in 1948. He began his active involvement in Democratic politics during this time, as a supporter and officer in the Young Democrats. His involvement with the labor movement also began about this time, as he chaired the organizing committee of Local 371 of the Government and Civic Employees Organizing Committee from 1949 to 1951 and was a member of the CIO Central Labor Council of the AFL-CIO from 1949 to 1954. In 1958 Posner completed the master's degree program at New York University's School of Public Administration.

Posner became the public relations director for the Urban League of Greater New York in 1958 and served as director of Public Relations for several Marches on Washington in 1958, 1959 and 1963 with Dr. Martin Luther King. He spent several days in a Maryland jail as a Freedom Rider in 1963. Posner served as the community relations director to the Manhattan Borough President for one year, from 1961-1962. He then served as the Bronx director for the American Jewish Congress (circa 1962-64) and during the whole period he worked in public relations and direct-mail marketing of services primarily aimed at the housing market.

In 1964 Posner sought and won the 76th A.D. Assembly spot, representing the South Bronx. Despite two consecutive reapportionments of the 76th district in 1965 and 1966, Posner was able to win re-election and became a fixture in the Assembly. He used his public relations experience to communicate ideas on issues to his constituency, as in a newsletter "How To Organize A Rent Strike In Your Building". Most of the bills that Posner deemed important were labor-related: he worked for bills that permitted collective bargaining rights for domestic workers and for workers employed by non-profit, educational and charitable institutions, he guaranteed workers' compensation for farm workers and he sponsored bills on retirement benefits, insurance, and other workman's compensation issues.

In 1972, he began serving on the Assembly Labor Committee, rising to the position of Chairman (1974-1977). He failed in a 1973 bid for the position of Bronx City Councilman at Large, and in 1978, he retired from the Assembly to accept appointment from Governor Carey to the State Workers' Compensation Board (WCB), though his nomination was only narrowly confirmed by the Senate. Posner had some difficulties with two of the chairmen of the Board, Robert Steingut and Arthur Cooperman, but he did win appointment as the Vice-Chairman of the Board in 1984. Posner struck a decidedly pro-union position within the Board, which he held until June of 1988, when he retired. He acted as the legislative director for the New York City Central Labor Council until his death on November 1, 1988, a span of less than six months.

From the description of Papers, 1964-1988. (New York University). WorldCat record id: 477250181