Public Employee Press

Mike Gentile, "scrapper" for court workers


Mike Gentile, a tough, gentle trade unionist with a big heart who served as a local officer for 30 years and president of Court, County and Probation Employees Local 1070 for 20 years, died last year in Port Charlotte, Fla., where he and his wife, Louise, had moved in retirement. He was 84.

"Mike was a real scrapper on behalf of his members. In those days, unionism was not the norm for public employees and you had to be brave to be a leader," said Local 1320 President Jim Tucciarelli.

Gentile worked 35 years in the court system, starting in the late 1940s, and was among the founders and early organizers of Local 1070, with Louise as local secretary for a time. A dedicated and skillful leader, his mission was to improve pay and conditions for all public service workers, and he was a vice president of DC 37 during its years of rapid growth. Gentile never gave up the union cause and was actively involved with organized city retirees in Florida.

"He was a teacher of trade unionism, a mentor who showed how by doing, for the generations of local leaders who followed him," said Local 1070 President and DC 37 Secretary Cliff Koppelman.

When then-NYS Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and the Republican-dominated Legislature cut the public assistance food budget in the late 1960s below what he considered humane, Gentile participated in a dramatic experiment conducted by a welfare rights organization and the Public Employee Press: He put his family on the welfare food budget for a week.

"We went from the lower rung of the middle class right off the bottom of the ladder," said Gentile. The difficulty of feeding six mouths for a week on $27 "made us think about welfare and hunger and malnutrition and discuss this with the kids."

"Those of us who have should fight for those who have nothing," he said as he organized members for a huge demonstration against the cuts.

Mike's survivors include Louise, daughters Elizabeth and Louise, who are both court employees, and Theresa, five grandchildren and four brothers and sisters.