Russ Allen, long-time union educator, died on June 5. He taught at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, and for labor and industrial relations programs at Michigan State University, Cornell, and elsewhere. He was Education Director of the Industrial Union Department of the AFL-CIO for many years. Always a friend to union members and labor scholars, his fluid and understandable lectures on labor economics provided grounding for several generations of activists and teachers.

A very moving Memorial took place on September 8, 2001 at the George Meany Center -- National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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Brief labor background:

Russell W. Allen was born in 1921 in Chicago. He received his B.A. degree from Wesleyan (Conn.) in 1942. After the war Russ went to graduate school at the University of Chicago, receiving an M.A. in Economics. During this time he worked first as a graduate assistant in the Economics Department and then as the Research Director of the Retail Clerks Joint Council in Chicago.

In 1949 Russ accepted a job with the United Paperworkers in Albany, New York as the Research and Education Director for the International Union. He also edited their magazine, which came out every other month.

Russ moved to Schenectady in 1952. His job with the Papermakers union called for him to teach and travel many parts of the United States and Canada. For many years he taught in labor education programs, such as the University of Wisconsin's School for Workers. Also in 1952 he attended a UNESCO Conference in France representing the union.

In 1956 he was asked by the State Department to go to England and survey the operation of the Fulbright program in the area of workers' education. He stayed for five months.

Russ moved to Washington, DC in 1957 to work as Education Director of the Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO. In this job he established many educational programs for the leaders of national and international unions.

In 1964 Russ was appointed as Professor and Associate Director of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations at Michigan State University. Living in East Lansing, he taught students and workers around the state.

During 1970-1971, Russ was Visiting Professor at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Between 1972 and 1985 Russ worked as the Deputy Director of the George Meany Center for Labor Studies in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1985 he joined the Adjunct Senior Staff of the Center for Labor Studies.

In the spring of 1985 Russ was Visiting Professor at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. In the winter of 1986 he was again Visiting Professor at the School of Labor & Industrial Relations at Cornell

From 1985 until the mid-nineties Russ taught seminars all over the US. In addition he traveled as far as Panama, Jamaica, and Romania to teach workers and labor organizers.

Message from John Sweeney, President, AFL-CIO at the Memorial Service for Russell Allen on the Campus of the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, September 8, 2001:

"Russ Allen's legacy has been around us for many years. It has been in the good work of the thousands of our leaders who studied with Russ and who were encouraged and inspired by him. I think of John Surdivant, who served as President of the American Federation of Government Employees, and earned his Baccalaureate at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies in the degree program Russ built; of Ed Smith, a construction laborer from Illinois who now is Vice President of the Laborers International Union of North America and who is a national leader in trustee education; of Mary Kay Hanke who also studied with Russ for her degree while serving as Vice President of the Association of Flight Attendants and who today leads legislative policy at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. I think of Suzanne Coile, who came to the Center as a telephone operator and leader in the Communications Workers of America, and now is Labor Coordinator for the Tennessee AFL-CIO; and the countless other leaders who themselves, I am confident, count their time with Russ Allen as a touchstone to learning and solidarity. That is legacy enough to which any of us might aspire. It is with gratitude and respect that the AFL-CIO acknowledes his contribution to us all. We thank his wife Jane, his stepson Drake Holliday, and his children Dana, Indy, Mark and Martha for giving us this opportunity to honor the life and work of Russell Allen."

Remembering Russ Allen

by Steven Deutsch
Professor Emeritus, Labor Education and Research Center, University of Oregon

Although Russ was not tall, for me he was a giant of a person. He personified what a labor educator should be-clever, an outstanding teacher who challenged students and brought out the best in them, a person whose values and passions were clearly communicated in an inspirational way.

I did not know Russ in a university environment; he came to Michigan State after I had left there. But we participated together in some university programs and I recall once over 20 years ago when we drove from the Meany Center to Penn State together to do a program and I found the hours in the car together among the most interesting and enlightening I have ever spent.

For a number of years we taught as colleagues at the Meany Center. First in my adjunct teaching in the non-credit program in the mid-1980s and then for a number of years in the College Degree Program. Seeing Russ every few months was a high point for me. I felt as though I was always getting a kind of labor educator refresher course just by sharing a week with him, discussing pedagogy and teaching techniques, critically examining issues and labor strategies, and making wonderful connections. I recall his excitement as we discussed developments in union-led strategies around worker participation in a rubber plant in Tennessee, which he had the chance to visit, and the local union leaders were in our respective classes at the Meany Center. The conversations over meals and with those union activists were so charged with energy and Russ just oozed with vitality and enthusiastic optimism, always tempered with a critical and challenging perspective. That is an image I shall always have in my mind.

Russ always saw the big picture. For him each and every labor struggle and local action fit into the larger scheme of justice and making the world a better place. Value free or neutral labor education was meaningless, if not a contradiction in his view, something on which we were in complete unity.

Of course this all implies only his serious side, which was deep and filled with compassion and care. But the impish and humorous Russ was also a delight. What a story-teller! And he loved a good joke.

While my sister knew and worked with Donna in the 1960s in Women Strike for Peace, the only member of the family I met was Jane. To Jane, and to the whole Allen family I pass along my deep sympathies. I feel that knowing Russ was a privilege for me and most certainly a wonderful pleasure. I am grateful for the opportunity and sad over our shared loss.

I will be thinking of you all on September 8 as you gather to celebrate the life of Russ Allen.

Russ Allen

by George Hagglund
Professor Emeritus and past Director
School for Workers

I first met Russ shortly before I traveled to Madison in June, 1960 to attend an Industrial Engineering School run by the AFL-CIO in cooperation with the School for Workers. Russ was one of the teachers, and on several nights during the two-week conference we made our way to the Brathaus on State Street, late in the evening to eat bratwurst sandwiches which Russ enjoyed hugely. We became fast friends during those moments and remained so for the 40-odd years that have ensued.

Nearly every summer Russ would interrupt his schedule at Michigan State University and the AFL-CIO to come in to help teach in one of the two industrial engineering institutes. He was one of a small circle of trade unionists who could always be counted on to lend a hand to help other union staff members learn about the complexities of job evaluation and how to better serve their members. He always made a rich contribution composed from his experience, wonderful sense of humor, and his technical expertise. He continued to help the school out until his after his retirement.

Russ was a warrior for from an earlier time, and helped set a path for new labor leaders to follow. He will be missed by the staff of the School for Workers, both present and past.

A Teacher

By Michael Sacco
Telephone Worker
Antioch U. GMC/CDP Class of Summer '96
Business Representative IBEW Local 21, Chicago

Russ Allen was a teacher of mine at the Meany Center before my graduation from the CDP in 1996. He was a patient and knowledgable instructor; a terrific storyteller; a funny and energetic man and a devoted friend and comrade to workers/trade unionists. He was also partial to Chicagoans like me!...The labor movement has lost a great teacher, friend and champion. More gravely, you and your kin have lost a Dad and Granddad. He will be missed... Me and my family are very sorry for your loss... We wish we could be at the service on September 8th, but I will be representing my local union beginning September 7th at our international convention in San Francisco. Even though I am not able to be in Silver Springs physically, please know that you are all in our thoughts and prayers...We join you in spirit... Godspeed Russ Allen...