In Memoriam: Stu Smith
Friday, June 20, 2008
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Longtime AFSCME activist Stu Smith passed away Wednesday night, reports
AFSCME Council 26 Executive Director Carl Goldman. Smith, President of AFSCME
Local 2830 – which represents workers at the Department of Justice’s Office
of Justice Programs – “was a role-model, advisor and mentor for many of
us,” said Goldman. “He was always ready to help his co-workers and other federal employees, as well as
employees in divisions of the Justice Department not covered by his bargaining
unit. Many of those employees went on to organize Council 26 locals in their
divisions, and, of course, Stu was there to help them organize.” Smith, whose
labor activism started in the 1960’s when he was an active member of the
Newspaper Guild at the Baltimore Sun, was active in Council 26 for almost three
decades, serving many terms as Council President. “Council 26’s many
organizing successes in the 1990’s and beyond were due in large part to
Stu’s vision, which was grounded in organizing,” said Goldman. “But he
wasn’t just a visionary, he was an activist who helped in many of our
organizing drives.”