Honoring the career of John Meyerson.

WHEREAS, The Council of the City of Philadelphia is pleased and proud to honor John Meyerson for his several years of civic and community service to the citizens and institutions of the City of Philadelphia and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through his outstanding career in labor; and

WHEREAS, John Meyerson was born on February 8, 1952 in New York City to Daniel Meyerson and Roslyn (Cohen) Meyerson and, upon his father's passing, John moved back to his mother's community, with his older brother Bill, and graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1970; and

WHEREAS, In high school, John became active in the struggles for social justice and against the Vietnam War where he participated in marches and demonstrations in Washington, D.C., New York City, and New Haven, CT, and locally lead a sit-in against the War and for student rights and free expression at Lower Merion; and

WHEREAS, With this commitment to peace and human rights, John joined the labor movement and after high school, he held various jobs including working at a North Philadelphia warehouse that was organized by the Teamsters Union and as an industrial worker at a Bucks County trailer where he was an active member of the United Auto Workers; and

WHEREAS, During the Recession of 1974, he was let go from his trailer job and without other prospects, John and some friends and former co-workers started to organize other unemployed workers to demand the passage of the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Bill and this group became the Philadelphia Committee for Full Employment and it later merged with another organization to become the Philadelphia Unemployment Project; and

WHEREAS, With his unemployment compensation running out and his new marriage to his wife Leslie, John took a job at the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) where he met Herman Wooden and Wendell W. Young, III, leaders of the union that represented PLCB clerks; and

WHEREAS, Wendell and Herman became major influences in John's life and he became a union shop steward, local executive board member, and labor organizer where he worked on organizing campaigns with public employees, health care workers, retail clerks, food processors, and others to help them achieve the benefits of collective bargaining; and

WHEREAS, At the time of his retirement, John served as the Director of Legislation and Political Action for Local 1776 of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) and, in this position, he worked to protect jobs at the PLCB, living wages, and communities from overdevelopment; and

WHEREAS, As an active labor leader, some of John's proudest accomplishments are the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the passage of the Pennsylvania minimum wage bill (which increased the wage to $7.15) and, as a respected political fixture in Pennsylvania, John has been very active in the campaigns and elections of candidates that support the mission of UFCW and labor; and

WHEREAS, Beyond his UFCW work, John was the Vice President of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, Chair of the South East PA Area Labor Federation, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, President of the Montgomery County Central Labor Council, Chair of the Board of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, and Board member of the Philadelphia Jewish Labor Committee, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Food Safety Advisory Board, and Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Advisory Committee.; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby recognize and congratulate John Meyerson for his several years of civic and community service to the citizens and institutions of the City of Philadelphia and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through his outstanding career in labor.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to John Meyerson as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

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