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Linda Chavez-Thompson

Born August 3, 1944 (1944-08-03) (age 63)
Occupation Executive Vice-President,
AFL-CIO
Spouse Robert Thompson (deceased)
Children Two (son and daughter)
This article is about the current unionist. Events 8 - Roman Empire General Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL-CIO, is a National trade union center, the largest federation of For the former unionist, see Linda Chavez. Linda Chavez (born June 17, 1947 in Albuquerque New Mexico) is a prominent Hispanic -American conservative Author,

Linda Chavez-Thompson (August 3, 1944)[1] is a second-generation Mexican American[2] and union leader. Events 8 - Roman Empire General Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. See also History of Mexican-Americans Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican ancestry A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming She was elected the executive vice-president of the AFL-CIO in 1995 and served until September 21, 2007. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL-CIO, is a National trade union center, the largest federation of Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. She is also a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee[3] and a member of the board of trustees of United Way of America. The Democratic National Committee (DNC is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis United Way of America, based in Alexandria Virginia, is a Non-profit organization that works with nearly 1300 local United Way offices throughout the country in

Contents

Early life

Chavez-Thompson was born in 1944. [4] Her place of birth is not clear. Some sources indicate she was born in Mexico and brought without papers to the United States by her father, making her an undocumented immigrant. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Illegal immigration refers to Immigration across National Borders in a way that violates the Immigration laws of the destination Country [5] Other sources say she was born as well as raised in either Lorenzo, Texas, or Lubbock, Texas. Lorenzo is a city in Crosby County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1372 [6][7] Still other sources say she was born in San Antonio. [1][4][8] Her father was a sharecropper, and she was one of nine (possibly only eight or seven; sources vary) children. At the age of 10, she took a job hoeing her father's cotton fields for the summer. It was a job she worked at for the next nine years. She also picked cotton for several years for 30 cents an hour. She dropped out of high school at age 16 to help support her family, and married at the age of 20. She gave birth to a daughter in 1964 and a son in 1976. She divorced her first husband in 1985 and married Robert Thompson, the long-time president of AFSCME's San Antonio local. He died in 1993. [1][4][8][6][9][10]

Early union activities

In 1967, Chavez-Thompson became a secretary on the staff of the Laborers' International Union of North America. Template talkInfobox Union for usage -->The Laborers' International Union of North America ( LIUNA, often shortened [8][2][11][12] When a tornado struck the Lubbock area that year, she volunteered to coordinate the AFL-CIO's relief efforts. She enjoyed the job so much, she became a staff organizer for the Laborers. Her first organizing campaign was to help city workers in Lubbock form a union. They were successful. [8][10][6]

Realizing that public sector organizing was what she enjoyed most, Chavez-Thompson joined the staff of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in San Antonio in 1971 as an assistant business agent. The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees ( AFSCME) is the second- or third-largest labor union in the United States and one She was promoted to business agent, then was appointed executive director of Local 2399, AFSCME's San Antonio afiliate. She became a fixture on local TV and in local newspapers. In 1978, she opposed a wildcat strike by members of her local, knowing they would be fired for striking. A wildcat strike action, often referred to as wildcat strike, is an illegal Strike action taken by labor not authorized by their union officials [8][10][11][6]

She was subsequently elected to the executive boards of the San Antonio Central Labor Council and the Texas AFL-CIO. She was elected a vice president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement in 1986. The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA is a nonprofit, Nonpartisan Latino She was first elected an international vice president of AFSCME in 1988. [13] In 1993, Chavez-Thompson became the first Hispanic woman elected to the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO. [12][10][14] On March 1, 1995, she was elected executive director of AFSCME Texas Council 42, a statewide council of the union based in Austin with 12,000 members in 21 unions. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 [10][15]

AFL-CIO career

Election

Chavez-Thompson was elected executive vice-president of the AFL-CIO after John Sweeney ran for the presidency of the labor federation in 1995. John Sweeney (born May 5, 1934) is the president of the AFL-CIO. The Sweeney campaign initially recruited Chavez-Thompson in May 1995 to serve as the AFL-CIO's secretary-treasurer. [16] But a month later, Sweeney asked Richard Trumka to accept that position. Richard Trumka is a leader in the American labor movement. He currently serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, a post to which he was elected Sweeney subsequently offered to create the post of executive vice-president and asked Chavez-Thompson to be his running mate for that position. [17]

During the ensuing campaign, Sweeney complained that Donahue supporters unfairly criticized Chavez-Thompson's qualifications for office. [18] Donahue admittedly opposed creation of the position,[19] but Donahue's supporters went further and claimed that "Sweeney's proposal to create a new leadership office for council member Linda Chavez-Thompson smacks of tokenism. "[20][21]

In June 1995, AFL-CIO incumbent president Lane Kirkland resigned. Joseph Lane Kirkland ( March 12 1922 &ndash August 14 1999) was a US labor union leader who served as President Secretary-Treasurer Thomas R. Donahue was elected by the AFL-CIO Executive Council as his interim replacement at the regularly scheduled Executive Council meeting in early August. Thomas Reilly Donahue (born September 4, 1928) was Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO from 1979 to 1995 and served briefly as its acting President during After his appointment, Donahue announced he would run for president of the labor federation in October 1995. In a gesture aimed at unionized women and clearly intended to defuse the excitement caused by Chavez-Thompson's candidacy, Donahue named Barbara Easterling, secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America, as his choice for AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer. Communications Workers of America (CWA is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States (the union also has locals in Canada [21] On August 1, 1995, Easterling was appointed by the AFL-CIO Executive Council to the position vacated by Donahue—making her the first woman to serve as an AFL-CIO officer (albeit an appointed officer). Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 [22]

The creation of the office of executive vice-president at the AFL-CIO convention in October nearly did not happen. Donahue's supporters claimed that the office was created only to ensure Chavez-Thompson's election after Sweeney passed her over in favor of Trumka. They also opposed the new position because it would allegedly cost $500,000 a year to run and staff it. [21] The charges proved effective with delegates at a time when the AFL-CIO could find few funds for organizing. A two-thirds vote of the delegates was needed to create the position, but the Sweeney camp's internal vote count showed that only about 57 percent of the delegates supported the proposal. In early October 1995, Sweeney began working to persuade delegates to delay a vote on the issue until after the AFL-CIO presidential election on October 24. Events 69 - Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus the commander of the Danube armies loyal to Vespasian, defeat His hope was that Donahue backers might support creating the position if Donahue had already been defeated. [23] At the AFL-CIO Convention in Chicago, Sweeney's delegates submitted a motion on October 23 to postpone debate on the new position until after the presidential balloting. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Events 4004 BC - Creation of the world begins according to the calculations of Archbishop James Ussher 42 BC - A voice vote was held, and Donahue (the convention chair) ruled that the motion was defeated. Sweeney's forces asked for a division of the house, which showed the motion passing. Division of the house is a parliamentary mechanism which calls for a rising vote wherein the members of the house literally divide into groups indicating a vote in favour of or in opposition [24]

On October 25, 1995, 34 unions representing roughly 7. Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 2 million AFL-CIO members voted to create the office of executive vice-president. The measure passed by a mere 700,000 votes out of more than 13 million cast. [24] Chavez-Thompson was elected to fill the position on a voice vote, and Sweeney (now chair of the convention) declared her elected by acclamation. Her election was a "first" in many ways: She became the first woman elected (rather than appointed) an AFL-CIO officer, the first person of color of either sex elected an AFL-CIO officer, and the first Hispanic elected an AFL-CIO officer. [17][25]

Activities as executive vice-president

During her tenure as executive vice-president, Chavez-Thompson provided leadership in a number of areas. She spent most of 1996 on the road, acting as the public face of the AFL-CIO and the Sweeney administration's primary shock trooper. Shock troops or assault troops are Infantry formations and their supporting units intended to lead an attack [26] She helped oversee the AFL-CIO's electoral efforts in the 1996 federal elections,[10] and led the federation's 1996 push to increase the minimum wage (a program called "America Needs a Raise"). A minimum wage is the lowest hourly daily or monthly Wage that employers may legally pay to employees or workers [27]

Beginning in 1996, Chavez-Thompson headed up the AFL-CIO's policy-making group on immigration reform. She led the federation's push for reform in 1996 and 1997, and helped forge a new majority on the AFL-CIO Executive Council which later adopted a radical change in the federation's immigrant policy in 2004. [6][28]

In 2003, President Sweeney appointed her to an AFL-CIO task force on organizing. [29] She also headed up the AFL-CIO's federal electoral efforts in 2004. [30]

Political work

Chavez-Thompson has been a lifelong Democrat. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. In 1988, she was elected a delegate from San Antonio pledged to Dukakis. Michael Stanley Dukakis (born November 3, 1933) is an American Democratic politician former Governor of Massachusetts, and was the Democratic [31] In 1992 and 1996, she was elected as a Democratic delegate pledged to Bill Clinton, and in 1996 was named an honorary co-chair of his re-election campaign. William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States [32]

In January 1997, she was elected a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and appointed a vice chair of the 52nd Presidential Inaugural Committee. [33] The same year, she was also appointed a member of Advisory Board to President Clinton's One America Initiative. On June 14 1997 US President William Jefferson Clinton announced One America in the 21st Century The President's Initiative on Race [34] Chavez-Thompson has been re-elected a vice chair of the DNC since her original election in 1997, and was last re-elected in 2005 for a four-year term. [3]

Retirement

On September 11, 2007, Chavez-Thompson announced she would retire from her post as AFL-CIO executive vice-president on September 21, 2007. Events 9 - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. [35] President Sweeney nominated Arlene Holt Baker, an African American and Chavez-Thompson's long-time aide, to be the federation's next executive vice-president. Arlene Holt Baker (born 1951 is an African American Trade union activist and labor leader African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa [36]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Silverstein, "Working Within Two Cultures," Los Angeles Times, October 27, 1995.
  2. ^ a b Karsko, "Success of Unions, Middle Class Are Linked, Labor Advocate Says," Columbus Dispatch, July 22, 1995.
  3. ^ a b Kornblut, "Democrats Elect Dean As Committee Chairman," New York Times, February 13, 2005.
  4. ^ a b c Franklin, "Labor's Message Heard in Clear New Voice," Chicago Tribune, October 30, 1995.
  5. ^ Kilborn, "Delegates of Labor Gather, Battered but Now Buoyant," New York Times, October 22, 1995; "Labor Federation Convenes With a Sense of Renewal," Dallas Morning News, October 22, 1995; Minzesheimer, "New Union Chief Vows Turnaround," USA Today, October 26, 1995.
  6. ^ a b c d e Greenhouse, "Singing Labor's Song to Immigrants, Legal or Not," New York Times, February 17, 2001.
  7. ^ Jones, "Closing the Gap," Providence Journal-Bulletin, June 21, 1996.
  8. ^ a b c d e Kunde, "New Voices Trying to Revitalize Labor," Dallas Morning News, September 3, 1995.
  9. ^ Lewis, "Labor's Quiet Crusader," Boston Globe, September 3, 1995; Stouffer, "Union Leader Calls Congress Workers' Enemy," Buffalo News, September 21, 1995; Franklin, "Sweeney Captures AFL-CIO's Top Job," Chicago Tribune, October 26, 1995.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Martin, "Chavez-Thompson Vows to Help Boot Republicans," San Antonio Express-News, May 6, 1996.
  11. ^ a b McKay, "AFL-CIO: No Longer Too Pale, Too Stale, Too Male," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 29, 1995.
  12. ^ a b "AFL-CIO Executive Council Elects Two New Members," press release, AFL-CIO, August 3, 1993.
  13. ^ She served until she was elected executive vice-president of the AFL-CIO in October 1995.
  14. ^ Podgorski, "Striker Replacement Bill Top Labor Issue," Chicago Sun-Times, August 4, 1993; "Who's Running," The Oregonian, October 25, 1995.
  15. ^ Breyer, "San Antonio Woman Up for AFL-CIO Office," Austin American-Statesman, October 25, 1995.
  16. ^ Greer, "AFL-CIO Dissidents Pick Candidates to Oppose Kirkland," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 8, 1995.
  17. ^ a b Silverstein, "Kirkland to Quit in August in Bid to Block Opposition," Los Angeles Times, June 13, 1995; Swoboda, "Kirkland Will Leave AFL-CIO," Washington Post, June 13, 1995; Swoboda, "AFL-CIO Candidate Rejects Unity Ticket," Washington Post, June 29, 1995; Swoboda, "AFL-CIO Elects New Leadership," Washington Post, October 26, 1995.
  18. ^ Galvin, "Executive Council Begins Work on Donahue Plan," Associated Press, August 2, 1995.
  19. ^ Galvin, "AFL-CIO Election Will Decide Leader, Future," Chicago Sun-Times, October 22, 1995.
  20. ^ Quoted in Galvin, "Donahue May Find New Post Is Both Blessing and Curse," Associated Press, August 5, 1995.
  21. ^ a b c Crowe, "AFL-CIO Parley Opens As Most Divided Ever," Newsday, October 24, 1995.
  22. ^ Hershey, "Woman Makes Union History," Dayton Daily News, August 6, 1995; Pasternak, "Labor Plans New Focus As Kirkland Is Shown Door," Los Angeles Times, August 2, 1995.
  23. ^ Silverstein, "Hopes, Stakes Are High as the AFL-CIO Convention Begins," Los Angeles Times, October 23, 1995.
  24. ^ a b McKay, "Labor Embraces Clinton for Stand on Workers," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 24, 1995; Shorrock, "Sweeney Posed to Oust Donahue at AFL-CIO," Journal of Commerce, October 25, 1995.
  25. ^ "Sweeney, Trumka, Chavez-Thompson Win AFL-CIO Elections," press release, AFL-CIO, October 25, 1995.
  26. ^ Davidson, "Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros May Be the Texan," San Antonio Express-News, August 27, 1996.
  27. ^ Komen, "Bringing New Life Into Labor Group," Seattle Times, May 17, 1996; Shorrock, "For Sweeney, Unions, A New Call to Arms," Journal of Commerce, June 6, 1996.
  28. ^ Cleeland, "AFL-CIO Calls for Amnesty for Illegal U. S. Workers," Los Angeles Times, February 17, 2000; Puente and Franklin, "Labor Offers Support to Immigrant Amnesty," Chicago Tribune, June 5, 2000; Taylor, "Unions Set New Freedom Ride for Immigrant Workers," Chicago Tribune, February 27, 2003; Porter, "What Unions Can Gain From Immigration," New York Times, March 28, 2004.
  29. ^ Greenhouse, "Worried About Labor's Waning Strength, Union Presidents Form Advisory Committee," New York Times, March 9, 2003.
  30. ^ Martin, "Ex-S. A. Labor Leader Now Is Busy Hammering Away at Bush," San Antonio Express-News, July 28, 2004.
  31. ^ Schmich, "Eyes of These Texans Are All On Themselves," Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1988.
  32. ^ Martin, "Labor Set to Work on Behalf of Demos," San Antonio Express-News, August 24, 1996; "Clinton Campaign Names Honorary Chairs," United Press International, September 15, 1996.
  33. ^ Martin, "S. A. Leader Tapped for Demo Post," San Antonio Express-News, January 23, 1997.
  34. ^ Fletcher, "Clinton Names Advisory Panel to Address U. S. Racial Divide," Washington Post, June 13, 1997.
  35. ^ Martin, "AFL-CIO Leader to Leave Union to Come Home to S. A. ," San Antonio Express-Times, September 12, 2007.
  36. ^ Greenhouse, "A. F. L. -C. I. O. Official to Step Down," New York Times, September 12, 2007.

References

External links

Preceded by
First Officeholder		 Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO
1995 - 2007		 Succeeded by
Arlene Holt-Baker
Persondata
NAME Chavez-Thompson, Linda
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION American trade union leader
DATE OF BIRTH 1944-08-03
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL-CIO, is a National trade union center, the largest federation of Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Arlene Holt Baker (born 1951 is an African American Trade union activist and labor leader Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 8 - Roman Empire General Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus.
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