- Richard Cordtz
Infobox Person
name = Richard W. Cordtz
image_size =
caption =
birth_date =December 20 ,1921
birth_place = Chicago,Illinois , USA
death_date =November 20 ,2006
death_place = Dearborn,Michigan , USA
occupation = Brass worker,union organizer , labor leader
spouse = Tina Cordtz
parents =
children =Richard Webster Cordtz (
December 20 ,1921 –November 20 ,2006 ) [http://www.seiu.org/about/cordtz.cfm "SEIU Mourns the Loss of President Emeritus Richard Cordtz." SEIU.org. No date.] Accessed August 13, 2008.] was an American labor leader. From 1980 to 1995, he was the International Secretary-Treasurer of theService Employees International Union under John Sweeney, and was president of the union himself from October 1995 to May 1996.Early life
Richard Cordtz was born in
Chicago, Illinois , in December 1921. He graduated from high school, but rather than attending college he worked in abrass manufacturing plant inKenosha, Wisconsin , and joined his first union.During
World War II , he served in theUnited States Army in the South Pacific. After the war, he attended college inSan Diego, California . He worked part-time atDel Mar Racetrack , where he joined SEIU Local 102.Cordtz and his wife, Tina, had three children.
EIU career
Cordtz began working as a
union organizer for Local 102 in 1947. He was assigned to organizing campaigns inColorado in 1950,"John Sweeney Steps Down From Top SEIU Post." Press release. Service Employees International Union. December 12, 1995.] Moore, J. Duncan. "Cordtz Elected New SEIU Chief." "Modern Healthcare." December 18, 1995.] and was elected vice-president of theColorado Federation of Labor at the age of 30.Cordtz was assigned to SEIU Local 79, a union representing healthcare workers in
Hazel Park, Michigan , in 1953. He was elected the local's president in 1956, and over the next 27 years expanded the union's membership from 1,000 to 20,000 and branched out to include custodial workers, fire fighters, security guards and non-salaried hospital workers. ["Leader Denies Inside Arson Job." "Associated Press." August 28, 1980.] Cordtz was also elected president of SEIU Joint Council 35 (a coalition of Detroit-area SEIU locals), and president of Service Employees Central States Conference (a coalition of SEIU councils and state, regional and local bodies in the Midwest). [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8425/AFLCIO-B.HTM#Richard%20W.%20Cordtz "AFL-CIO Leaders' Biographies." AFL-CIO. c. 1996.] Archived at the "Labor versus Capital in the New World Order" Web site at GeoCities.com.] Cordtz also served as vice-president of Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO and on the board of directors of the Michigan State AFL-CIO.Cordtz rose within the SEIU international hierarchy as well. He was elected a member of the SEIU Executive Board in 1968, an International Vice President in 1972, and International Secretary-Treasurer in 1980. While he served as SEIU Secretary-Treasurer, Cordtz also was elected secretary-treasurer of the Conference of Secretary-Treasurers of the AFL-CIO, vice-president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, a director of the
A. Philip Randolph Institute , an international board member of theInternational Federation of Commercial, Clerical and Technical Employees , and was a member of the Industrial Relations Research Association.Cordtz played a prominent role in national union affairs as Secretary-Treasurer. For example, he stood in for SEIU President John Sweeney and publicly opposed a proposed federal takeover of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 1986 and again in 1987, even though federal control was designed to eliminate the influence of
organized crime in the union. ["AFL-CIO, UAW Join Teamsters In Opposing Proposed Government Takeover." "Associated Press." November 8, 1987; Noble, Kenneth B. "Unionists Scorn Biller for Praise of Presser." "New York Times." June 28, 1986; Ostrow, Ronald J. and Jackson, Robert L. "U.S. Plans Suit to Get Control of Teamsters." "Los Angeles Times." June 10, 1987; Yancey, Matt. "Teamsters Leaders, Dissidents Alike Decry Possible Government Takeover Move." "Associated Press." June 11, 1987.] He also often represented SEIU when existing independent locals affiliated with the larger union. [Mclaren, John. "County Group Joining Forces With Local 102." "San Diego Union-Tribune." June 5, 1990.]Cordtz retired from his position at the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO in 1991 ["Metro Detroit AFL-CIO Holds 14th Constitutional Convention." Press release. Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO. May 17, 1991.] but his departure from these and other posts — many of which provided him with an income — angered his critics, who accused him of . [http://labornotes.org/node/1807 Samuel, Leah. "High Official of Service Employees Runs a Problem-Plagued Local." "Labor Notes." August 1999.] ]
EIU presidency and later life
SEIU President John Sweeney won election as President of the AFL-CIO on
October 25 ,1995 . [Swoboda, Frank. "AFL-CIO Elects New Leadership." "Washington Post." October 26, 1995.] Sweeney resigned as SEIU president onDecember 12 ,1995 , and the 74-year-old Cordtz was elected president the same day to serve out his unexpired term (which ended in April 1996). ["1996 AD." "Monthly Labor Review."January-February 1996.]Cordtz immediately announced that he would run in April 1996 for a full four-year term as SEIU president, but he ran into significant opposition from reformers in the union who felt he was too close to the "old guard" — white, male, highly-paid, double-dipping officials who ran the union in an autocratic fashion. [http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1996/04/21/1996-04-21_union_king_faces_civil_war_s.html Saltonstall, Dave. "Union King Faces Civil War Showdown Set for Confab in Chicago." "New York Daily News." April 21, 1996.] ] John Sweeney, who had once said he would not support electing anyone over the age of 70 to the SEIU presidency, reversed his position and announced his support for Cordtz's candidacy. [Nelson, Robert L. and Nelson, Emily. "Work Week." "Wall Street Journal." January 9, 1996.]
To improve his standing in the union, Cordtz adopted many of the militant tactics pioneered by Sweeney and other SEIU leaders. For example, he blocked traffic on a busy
San Francisco, California , street in mid-February 1996 to protest the anti-union activities of Vencor Corp., then the nation's second-largest nursing home chain and a target of a major SEIU organizing drive. [Robertson, Kathy. "Union Ups Ante in Battle With Nursing Home." "Business Journal-Sacramento." February 12, 1996.]As the SEIU convention neared, Cordtz chose
Gus Bevona , President of SEIU Local 32B-32J, as his running mate instead of the incumbent (and Sweeney protegé), Betty Bednarczyk. [Cordtz had alienated Bednarczyk in his first two months in office, and at least one source says she refused to be his running mate. Grow, Doug. "A Woman of Substance Reelected to Union Post." "Minneapolis Star Tribune." April 17, 1996.] Bevona had succeeded Sweeney as president of the giant janitorial and elevator operators union inNew York City in 1980.Greenhouse, Steven. "Leadership Battle Divides Prominent Union." "New York Times." March 7, 1996.] Fitch, Robert. "Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America's Promise." New York: Public Affairs, 2006. ISBN 189162072X] Bevona suppressed opposition within the union, centralized authority and reduced democratic processes, engaged in a large number of legally- and ethically-questionable side-deals, and associated with known organized crime figures. In 1991, the highly reclusive union leader was earning $412,000 a year while most of his members made a paltry $29,800 a year. [Finder, Alan. "Reclusive Building Union Chief Earned $412,000 in 1989." "New York Times." May 8, 1991.] By 1996, his salary had ballooned to nearly $450,000 a year, and the New York City press had revealed that he had built himself a palatial office and lived in a union-owned penthouse rent-free. [Greenhouse, Steven. "A Tough General For Janitors: He Delivers, and Gets Back Top Compensation." "New York Times." January 22, 1996; Greenhouse, Steven. "Ex-Union Chief's Private Palace." "New York Times." February 9, 1999; Greenhouse, Steven. "Chief of Building Workers' Union Leaves With $1.5 Million." "New York Times." February 3, 1999; Greenhouse, Steven. "Union Official Retires Under Pressure." "New York Times." February 2, 1999; "Labor Leader Quits Amid Furor on Pay." "New York Times." February 2, 1999.] The announcement of the powerful but ethically-questionable Bevona as Cordtz's running mate cost Cordtz the support of John Sweeney.Crowe, Kenneth C. "Battle Looms For Service Employees Leadership." "Newsday." February 28, 1996.]On
February 27 ,1996 ,Andy Stern , SEIU's 45-year-old Organizing Director, announced he would run for the presidency of the union. His announcement created the first contested presidential election in the union's history. Cordtz fired Stern for insubordination onMarch 1 , and asked that Stern's supporters resign from the union's executive board.SEIU's executive board met on
March 11 ,1996 . By that time, however, it was clear that Stern had the support of Locals representing nearly two-thirds of the union's membership.Greenhouse, Steven. "Union President Yields Race to Challenger." "New York Times." March 12, 1996; Swoboda, Frank. "Services Union Chief Won't Seek Reelection." "Washington Post." March 12, 1996.] The same day, Cordtz withdrew from the race and endorsed Stern. ["Union President Won't Run." "Chicago Tribune." March 12, 1996; "Service Employees Union President Ends Reelection Bid." "Los Angeles Times." March 12, 1996.] Bevona quietly withdrew his candidacy for secretary-treasurer a few weeks later. [Crowe, Kenneth C. "Union Chief's Rough Road." "Newsday." April 19, 1996.]Richard Cordtz retired as president of SEIU when delegates to the union's convention in Chicago elected Andy Stern the new president on
April 23 ,1996 . [Franklin, Stephen. "New Generation Secures Place in Union Leadership." "Chicago Tribune." April 24, 1996.]In retirement, Cordtz continued to serve as chairman of
Labor's International Hall of Fame , which he had helped co-found in 1988. [ [http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/thisistheaflcio/publications/wip/wip11142000.cfm "Hall of Famers." "Work In Progress." November 14, 2000.] ]Richard Cordtz died on November 20, 2006, at his home in
Dearborn, Michigan . His wife and three children survived him.Notes
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