Los Angeles, CA
Working families in America and around the world lost a tenacious warrior for their cause when AFL-CIO President Emeritus Lane Kirkland died on August 14, 1999. For more than a half-century, Lane Kirkland fought for economic justice and freedom for working people around the world.
Early in his tenure as president of the AFL-CIO, the federation created the George Meany Human Rights Award—an award that not only reflected the contributions to human rights of Kirkland's mentor George Meany, but also uniquely mirrored his own vision and values. Every year, the award is given to a union activist who has shown both extraordinary courage and commitment to human rights for working people. Its recipients have included such heroic figures as imprisoned Nigerian trade union leader Frank Kokori, Branislav Canak of Serbia, China's independent worker-leader Han Dongfang, and, most recently, Muchtar Pakpahan, who gave up his freedom and his health and separated from his family to fight to organize free and independent unions in Indonesia.
In recognition of Lane Kirkland's staunch and celebrated defense of human rights here and around the world, the AFL-CIO hereby changes the name of the George Meany Human Rights Award to the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award and makes Lane Kirkland its first recipient.
Lane Kirkland gave his life to the union movement. He joined it as a young man, serving his country during World War II in the Merchant Marine, when he signed up with the Masters, Mates & Pilots. He was proud to carry their card for the rest of his life.
Soon after the war, he started work for the AFL and then the AFL-CIO. After serving as executive assistant to President Meany in the 1960s, he was elected AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer in 1969. He succeeded Meany as president of the federation in 1979.
Kirkland led the union movement during 16 of its most difficult years, and his accomplishments were large. He brought labor's family back together—unifying the union movement by welcoming back into the AFL-CIO the United Auto Workers, the Teamsters, the Mine Workers, and the Longshore and Warehouse Workers. He spoke, marched and went to jail for coal miners in Virginia, janitors in Los Angeles and airline workers in New York.
Kirkland, along with Tom Donahue, planted seeds of innovation in the AFL-CIO—
substantially expanding the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, the union movement's college, diversifying the AFL-CIO Executive Council with the addition of women and more people of color and pioneering programs to resolve disagreements between unions in organizing campaigns.
Kirkland's vision extended beyond national borders. Indeed, his struggles against totalitarianism abroad and social injustice at home were closely linked. He was widely known for his support of Solidarity in Poland. But wherever workers struggled to build free unions—whether in China, South Africa or Chile—they had an ally in Lane Kirkland.
He brought honor to our movement. Today, the AFL-CIO honors and celebrates the life of President Emeritus Lane Kirkland, and cherishes the memory of all that he achieved.