Legendary Former AFSCME President Jerry McEntee Dies

AFSCME, the labor movement and the nation have lost a legend with ‘the heart of a lion,’ as President Bill Clinton described him.

Jerry McEntee was a visionary leader and one of the most fearless, ferocious advocates working people have ever had. Standing up for people who strengthen their communities through public service was his passion and his life’s work. From the moment he became an AFSCME member 66 years ago, he has never let up in the fight.

He cut his teeth in Pennsylvania, organizing public sector workers in his native Philadelphia and at the state level. As Executive Director of AFSCME Council 13, he was the driving force behind a historic victory securing collective bargaining rights for state employees in 1970.

As president for 31 years, he led AFSCME to historic growth, putting in place one of the labor movement’s strongest and most aggressive organizing programs. He made AFSCME a political powerhouse, with his innate understanding that political action was essential to giving working people a voice, from the White House down to every city council across the country.

With Jerry at the helm, AFSCME played a difference-making role in the passage of countless landmark federal laws empowering working people – from the Americans with Disabilities Act to the Family and Medical Leave Act to the Affordable Care Act and many more. And Jerry led the fight against privatization and the outsourcing of vital public services. He mobilized an army of AFSCME retirees and working members to defeat then-President George W. Bush’s reckless scheme to privatize Social Security.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to brother McEntee’s loved ones and the AFSCME family.   Rest in peace brother McEntee.