IOP Fellow Sweeney Brings Personal Touch

In the middle of a field in the heart of coal country in the summer of 1989, John J. Sweeney—who only six years later would become the president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations—was missing in action.

Sweeney, then the president of the Service Employees International Union, was scheduled to give a speech to the crowds gathered to protest the lack of health insurance for retired mine workers. But, according to United Mine Workers’ then-President Richard L. Trumka, Sweeney was nowhere to be found.

Trumka, now Sweeney’s successor at the AFL-CIO, eventually discovered the lost labor leader amidst a group of displaced mine workers and had to “drag” Sweeney away from the workers and up to the stage to give his speech.

After demonstrations that led to Sweeney’s and Trumka’s arrests, the two union presidents and their fellow protesters could call this strike a success—the mine retirees eventually obtained health care coverage.

After years of fighting for workers’ rights, Sweeney ended his four-term tenure as president of the AFL-CIO in September and is now a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.

Although he no longer leads America’s largest federation of unions, Sweeney has continued to feel pulled towards the plight of everyday workers, even during his semester at Harvard.

On a recent Wednesday, in between meeting with students at the Kennedy School and running his 4 p.m. study group, Sweeney briefly stepped out of the office to join a group of workers protesting for jobs outside of the Bank of America in Boston.

Although he could only stay at the rally for an hour, he smiles remembering the opportunity he had to speak individually with 20 of the workers.

“If I was to talk about where I would like to be, I would say that I would like to be back in the local union in New York City, representing workers and really interacting,” Sweeney says.

From his experience negotiating with international leaders to his time spent at the IOP this semester, Sweeney has maintained this emphasis on the power of individual, personal connections to make meaningful change.

LABOR LEADER

Years before Sweeney held his first job, he already knew the power of labor unions.

Growing up among a family of Irish immigrants in the Bronx, Sweeney saw firsthand the power of organized labor. His father, a unionized New York City bus driver, received salary and vacation benefits unavailable to his mother, a domestic worker.

Sweeney’s experiences growing up, including working unionized jobs in college—such as a grocer and a gravedigger—inspired his decision to pursue a career in the labor movement.

His first union job was with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, where he worked in the research department. Three years later he moved to the Building Services Employees Union (now the Service Employees International Union), where he quickly rose through the ranks, ultimately becoming the union’s president in 1980.

Sweeney took over the AFL-CIO in 1995, where his main legacy was restoring progressivism to the labor movement through reaching out to groups such as youth, the elderly, and minorities. Trumka said he aims to continue this focus on bringing more workers into the movement during his tenure at the AFL-CIO.

“I’m going to take credit for everything Rich Trumka does,” Sweeney says with a small laugh.

A MAN OF THE PEOPLE

While Sweeney jokes about taking credit for Trumka’s work, he is quick to give credit to others for making his union accomplishments possible.

IOP Director Bill Purcell says Sweeney is best described as “a mentor,” who is invested in the helping those around him.

“He’s always exhibited an interest in each of us here—our families, where we’re from, and where we’re going,” Purcell says. “Not just an interest, but an interest in helping if he can.”

And over the past few months, Purcell says, Sweeney has jumped into all aspects of life at Harvard. He is constantly meeting with students, attending events, and sitting in on classes.

“It seems like every time I look up, he’s headed off to another meeting with another group of students, usually to eat a large pizza dinner,” Purcell says. “He has simply been game for anything that our students want to do.”

IOP President P. Kenzie Bok ’11 said the advisory group of students and staff that selects the IOP fellows was in “complete agreement” over Sweeny’s selection.

“It was clear that he wasn’t just looking to be in residence at Harvard, but that he was looking to engage with young people,” Bok says.

Sweeney says that one of his favorite parts about his time at the IOP has been the connections he has made with students from across the University.

“I leave it up to them what I talk about, I’m not pushing my agenda,” Sweeney says. “It’s up to them what they want to get out of Sweeney,” he adds with a smile.

Harvard Kennedy School student Jesse W. Lava, a regularly participant in Sweeney’s study group, says Sweeney’s attendance at a recent event Lava organized for the Kennedy School’s Progressive Caucus exemplifies how committed he is to engaging with the Harvard community.

“Most big shots will pop into the room and leave,” Lava says. “He got there early, he stayed through the whole thing, and he talked to people afterwards. He’s not just phoning it in.”

According to Lava, Sweeney’s interactions with students have made it clear that, “he’s not just using it as a way to take a few months off.”

Sweeney has not “taken a few months off” in years, and came to the IOP only months after stepping down from the AFL-CIO. He says his wife Maureen, a retired school teacher who has shuttled back and forth from their D.C. area home and Cambridge many times this semester, sometimes says, “‘When are you going to retire?’ and I say, ‘the pension checks come.’”

—Staff writer Stephanie B. Garlock can be reached at sgarlock@college.harvard.edu.