Labor History: Militant Action Credited for Gains

As President of Cook County College Teachers Union-American Federation of Teachers, Local 1600, Norman Swenson led six strikes between 1966 and 1978 and landed in jail for his efforts. Today, Swenson, now Retiree Chapter Chair for the local, credits its militancy with leading to organizing new members, solidifying collective bargaining rights and successfully landing contracts.

Emphasizing the important of the non-violent militant methods of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatama Ghandi helped create new law in Illinois, according to Swenson. “We were the first public employee union in Chicago to gain a collective bargaining contract, although there were many unions larger and more powerful,” said Swenson in an online history. “I was the first union president in Chicago to be punished for striking, and I was sentenced to jail terms in 1971 and 1975.”

The local now represents more than 4,000 members in 22 chapters in Cook County in including faculty members, professional employees, classified employees, retirees and adjuncts professors.

AFT now honors locals who exercise intelligent and aggressive militancy with the Norman Swenson AFT Higher Education Militancy Award to recognize Swenson's contribution to the union.

In 2008, the award recognized the Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers, Local 1766. The workers led an aggressive organizing campaign leading to recognition for almost two thousand university workers and a successful contract campaign.