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Public
Employee Press
Union mourns top organizer John Calendrillo
John Calendrillo, an early DC 37
organizer and a plaintiff in an historic lawsuit that won blue-collar
city workers the right to be paid the prevailing wage for their jobs,
died May 21. He was 71. Mr. Calendrillo passed away three months after
he had a stoke.
John was a union man through and through and through, said
his wife, JoAnn. A Brooklyn native, Mr. Calendrillo was born June 3, 1932.
His father, an upholsterer in the Furniture Workers of America, taught
him the value of unionism, Mrs. Calendrillo said.
At 27, seeking stable work in the public sector, he became a Laborer with
the city, Mrs. Calendrillo recalled. He helped organize DC 37 in its early
years and was a plaintiff in the Kelly v. Beame case, which established
the right of blue collar city workers to be paid as much as their counterparts
in the private sector.
Mr. Calendrillo served as a sergeant in the Korean War and received a
purple heart. He later earned a bachelors degree in labor law from
Baruch College.
He became a Council Rep in 1972. In 1986, he participated in a major organizing
drive that brought Ohio public workers into AFSCME, DC 37s parent
union. He retired in 1992, and later worked as a consultant for Local
983 and Local 1157. His long-time colleagues at DC 37, including Blue
Collar Division Director Jose Sierra, Council Rep Wilson A. Fenty, Council
Rep David Catala and Local 1157 President Mickey McFarland, spoke warmly
of Mr. Calendrillo. They described him as a mentor, a hard-nosed but honest
negotiator, and a passionate advocate of rank-and-file members.
John was a legend to us, said Mr. Sierra, noting that Mr.
Calendrillo trained many DC 37 blue-collar reps and had a gift for inspiring
members to become union activists.
He was a true soldier to the labor movement, Mr. Fenty said.
He would eat, drink and sleep union. They could call him anytime
and anywhere, and he would always be there for the union, said Mrs.
Calendrillo. Mr. Calendrillos other survivors include four children
and two grandchildren.
Gregory N.
Heires
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