Twenty-second Annual John Commerford Labor Education Awards
honoring Raglan George, Jr. AFSCME, District Council 1707 and Henry J. Foner, Labor Activist, Teacher, Editor

Raglan George, Jr. Executive Director of AFSCME District Council 1707, has dedicated his working life to improving working conditions for often-exploited workers in home care, child care, foster care, Head Start, social services and related fields in the private and non-profit sectors. A New York City-born Marine Corps veteran, "Rags," as he is affectionately known, first worked in the fur industry in Newark, NJ and became active in the Fur Workers union, rising to vice-president of the union's Joint Board. While working he returned to school and earned an AA degree from John Jay College, and AA and BA degrees in labor studies from SUNY/Empire State College. In 1988 he became Director of Day Care/Head Start at District Council 1707; in that position he became a strong advocate for ex¬panded and improved child care in New York. In 2002 he was elected as one of AFSCME's 32 international vice-presidents. He is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences on labor relations and child care issues. He is a member of CBTU, CLUW and the Rainbow Coalition, a member of the Mayor's Oversight Committee on Child Care Funding, and a member of the Governor's Advisory Committee to the Permanent Inter-Agency Committee on Early Childhood Education Programs.

Henry J. Foner, activist leader of the Joint Board, Fur, Leather and Machine Workers Union (FLM), grew up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. By the late 1930s, Foner had acquired an interest in history and politics from his older brothers, Moe, Philip and Jack, and began developing the commitment to progressive activism that would shape his life. He graduated from City College in 1939, but was barred from high school teaching after being questioned by NY State's notorious "anti-subversive" Rapp-Coudert Committee. After military service in World War II, he became Educational and Welfare Director of the Fur Workers union; in that capacity he established and edited the union's newspaper, FLM Joint Board TEMPO. As president, from 1961 to 1988, he helped involve the union in a wide range of social issues, including the struggle for civil rights, opposition to the war in Vietnam and early efforts to achieve universal healthcare coverage. An award-winning teacher, editor and composer, Foner served as a vice-chairman of the New York State Liberal Party, as chair of the party's Labor Committee, as a member of governor Mario Cuomo's Committee on Labor Practices and of New York City Mayor John Lindsay's Committee of the Judiciary. He is a long-time member of the NYLHA Executive Board and a founder and guiding spirit of the LaborArts web site project: www.laborarts.org

Copyright © 2008 New York Labor History Association, Inc.

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