Lane Kirkland (1922– 1999,) fully Joseph Lane Kirkland, was an American labor union leader. He was president of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) 1979–95.
Born in Camden, South Carolina, Kirkland graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1942 and then served on American merchant ships throughout World War II. After the war, he graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1948 and joined AFL. He rose through the administrative ranks of the AFL and, in 1960, became an executive assistant to George Meany, the president of the merged AFL-CIO. When Meany retired in 1979, Kirkland succeeded him as president.
During his 16-year term as president of the AFL-CIO, union membership in America dropped by over a third. A staunch anti-communist, Kirkland gave his full support to Poland’s Solidarity trade union, contributing several million dollars of AFL-CIO money to that cause. Consequently, Kirkland became the first president in the century-long history of the AFL to be forced into resignation by a members’ revolt after President Ronald Reagan’s conservative backlash.
Brown University historian Paul Buhle wrote Taking Care of Business: Samuel Gompers, George Meany, Lane Kirkland, and the Tragedy of American Labor (1999.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Lane Kirkland
If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves.
—Lane Kirkland
Topics: Hard Work, Wealth, Work
Don’t believe that winning is really everything. It’s more important to stand for something. If you don’t stand for something, what do you win?
—Lane Kirkland
Topics: Winning
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