Executive Council Statement
On the Passing of Tom Donahue
… six decades, starting as a part-time organizer with the Retail Clerks International Union in New York City and rising to secretary-treasurer and president of the AFL-CIO. Throughout his legendary career, Donahue never forgot his Bronx roots. … B. Johnson appointed Donahue as assistant secretary of labor for labor-management relations. In 1969, Donahue returned to his post at the renamed Service Employees International Union (SEIU). He was elected first vice president of SEIU in 1971. In 1973, AFL-CIO President George Meany tapped Donahue to be his executive assistant and, after Meany’s retirement in 1979, he was elected secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO under …