Journal Facts

Journal
Journal of Collective Negotiations
ISSN
2167-7816 (print) 2167-7824 (electronic)
Volume
24
Issue
2
Date
6/1/1995

Article Facts

Title
WAYNE KENNEDY, AFGE LOCAL 2816 AND "COMMUNITY UNIONISM": A NEW CONCEPTION OF PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONISM
DOI
10.2190/60B7-7180-W76V-ELCD
Author
VICTOR G. DEVINATZ
Online Date
05/09/2002

Article Links

WAYNE KENNEDY, AFGE LOCAL 2816 AND "COMMUNITY UNIONISM": A NEW CONCEPTION OF PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONISM

VICTOR G. DEVINATZ

DOI: 10.2190/60B7-7180-W76V-ELCD

Abstract

In the early 1970s, Wayne Kennedy an Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) employee and an American Federation of Government Employees official, developed a new conception of public sector unionism. This new type of unionism, which I refer to as "community unionism," was based on the idea of including both public sector employees and public aid recipients in the same collective bargaining unit. In August 1971, Kennedy set the foundation for putting his ideas into practice with Native American clients. Although he was eventually fired for events relating to his role in protesting the OEO's treatment of the Native Americans, the district court ruled that Kennedy's First and Fifth Amendment rights had been violated. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the lower court's ruling, this first experiment with "community unionism" can provide guidance for future attempts in using this as a strategy to help revive the U.S. trade union movement.

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