In Memoriam: Eugene O'Sullivan

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

During the 1975 strike at the Washington Post, Gene O’Sullivan and other members of Web Pressmen Local 6 occupied the pressroom in support of another union. Security forces found O’Sullivan the first one blocking the entryway. “You’re not going to stop us from getting in,” said one to Gene, who shot back “The guy behind you may get in, but you’re not.” O’Sullivan passed away recently in his native New Jersey from complications in his cancer treatment.  A member of Web Pressmen Local 6 at the Post, O’Sullivan was one of 2,000 Post employees who struck (or honored the picket line) on October 1, 1975 over the efforts of the Post to break Local 6, perhaps the most militant union at the newspaper. He became an unofficial spokesperson for the strikers both here and around the country, carrying a message of solidarity with other embattled unions, and he and his wife Ilona became involved with unions facing repression in Chile and South Africa. Gene had the Irish militant’s distrust of any authority, a strong class consciousness and a belief that any homeless person he saw was just a down-and-out worker. A Vietnam veteran, he came to hate war and oppose U.S. intervention in Central America, Iraq and elsewhere. Contributions to his memory can be sent either to The Box Project, 100 Business Center Drive, Suite 26, Ormond Beach, Florida 32174; or to the Montclair Food Pantry, 9 Label Street, Montclair, NY 07042. Gene’s widow Ilona O’Sullivan can be reached at 42 Ridgewood Avenue, Glen ridge, NY 07028 - reported by Fred J. Solowey, UAW Local 1981/DC Writers Union