The People’s Tribune notes with great sadness the passing of a staunch defender of labor’s rights.
Edward Eugene Sadlowski died in June at the age of 79. For more than 50 years, he was the very embodiment of honest, militant trade unionism in the United States.
Sadlowski went to work at age 18 as an oiler at U.S. Steel Corporation’s giant South Works in Chicago. In the mid-1960s, at age 26, he became the youngest president of a local of the United Steel Workers of America (USWA), after the courts overturned a rigged vote. He later led the union’s largest district, which covered mills from Chicago to Gary, Indiana.
Nicknamed “Oil Can Eddie” on his first steel job, Sadlowski was born about a mile from the site of the Memorial Day Massacre of 1937, the tragedy in which 10 unarmed supporters of striking steelworkers were killed by police. A third-generation steelworker, Sadlowski was known for his deep knowledge of labor history and his determination to carry on the fighting spirit shown in labor’s massive organizing drives of the 1930s.
In 1977, Sadlowski ran for the top post in the steelworkers’ union. Sadlowski’s bold move galvanized steelworkers sick of the conservative policies of outgoing USWA president I.W. Abel. The campaign for USWA international president between Sadlowski and Lloyd McBride—Abel’s favorite—turned into one of the bitterest internal disputes in the history of American unions. (In one instance, a Sadlowski volunteer was shot and wounded while handing out leaflets in Houston.)
Much has changed since the courageous—but ultimately unsuccessful—Sadlowski campaign of 1977. The giant steel mills of Chicago are gone. As we ponder how to confront new challenges, we should all be grateful for the honest leaders of the working class who emerged during the second half of the 20th century—people like Ed Sadlowski. They have left us with an honorable legacy of lifelong resistance to injustice, an important inheritance to draw upon as we prepare for new battles.
