H2301

George Meany

Labor Leader

Collins Cover Announcement 

GEORGE MEANY

Born in New York City in 1894, George Meany became a plumber's apprentice at age 16. At 22 he became a journeyman with Local 463. When he was chosen as business agent for his Local in 1922, his career as a Union leader began. A year later he was elected Secretary/Treasurer of the New York State Building Trades Council.

Early in the Franklin Roosevelt Administration, Meany was elected president of New York State Federation of Labor. He was chosen as Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Labor in 1939. He served there until, in 1952, he ascended to the presidency of the AFL. In 1955 the American Federation of Labor which he headed merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. (AFL-CIO). He became the first president of this giant union and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1979.

My hand-painted cachet is a composite of several labor scenes. A utility lineman high on a pole. A steel worker putting up a building. A production line in a factory. A laborer on strike with a picket sign. And, most notably, a large portrait of George Meany himself -- one of the most powerful union leaders in United States history. Item No. H2301. $10.75.