¡Presente! Steelworker and union leader Ed Sadlowski - September 10, 1938 – June 10, 2018
As a rank-and-file union activist and working class labor leader, Ed Sadlowski led from a place of profound respect and love for his fellow workers. Sadlowski and the Steelworkers Fight Back movement that he helped lead laid out a vision for democratic, militant unionism, rooted in our communities that has inspired many of UWF's members and affiliated organizations. While some labor "leaders" tried to curry favor with corporate bosses and politicians, Ed was mounting a battle that inspires organizing in Chicago and across the country to this day. By starting at the grassroots and the shop floor, the fight for workers' rights and the dignity of every working class family in his orbit could be won.
United Working Families sends our deepest condolences to his family and friends – particularly our sister and Ed’s daughter, Alderwoman Sue Sadlowski Garza. Eddie raised her as a chip off the old block – to fight, like her father, for Chicago's working class communities, first as a member of the Chicago Teachers Union, then as an Alderwoman and member of UWF's Party Committee.
Jesse Sharkey, CTU Vice President and UWF Party Committee Delegate: "Ed said what few in power have the decency to admit: that ordinary workers have intelligence and creativity and grace, and deserve the rights and working conditions that allow us to live with dignity and possibility. I was honored to learn from him, and honored to call him a friend."
