Vince Sombrotto passes away.

[hay rick]

http://www.nalc.org/news/latest/2013_01_10-sombrotto.html

Jan 10, 2013 --Vincent R. Sombrotto, 89, a towering figure in the history of the National Association of Letter Carriers and one of the most significant U.S. labor leaders of recent decades, died Jan. 10.

As a rank-and-file letter carrier at Grand Central Station in New York City, Sombrotto assumed leadership of the pivotal 1970 wildcat postal strike that led directly to the creation of the modern United States Postal Service.

The following year, he was elected president of NALC Branch 36 in New York City. Seven years later, he was elected as NALC's 16th national president, a position he would hold from 1978 to 2002.

His seven-term tenure atop the union was marked by extraordinary changes in the letter carrier craft and by remarkable progress for letter carriers. He also served as a vice president of the AFL-CIO.

Vinnie was a great leader. He is missed.

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. K and R. I remember talking to a HS friend in, I guess, 1972.

His dad worked at the post office.

Me: "Your father is a *postal worker* and you like NIXON ??!?"


>>In 1970, New York City letter carriers walked off their federal job—risking arrest in what was effectively a strike against the U.S. government—to protest dismal working conditions and poverty-level wages that entitled some to federal assistance programs. Within hours, carriers and other postal employees in one city after another across the country joined the strike. President Richard Nixon called in the troops to deliver the mail, but they proved unable to carry out the task in an effective manner. The walkout eventually resulted in the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 with full collective-bargaining rights for all postal employees.>>>






http://www.nalc.org/news/latest/2013_01_10-sombrotto.html