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Moe FonerMoe Foner
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Session:         Page of 592

Foner:

Yes, probation and fire him, and he'd go to another hospital. Eddie Kay moved from place to place.

Q:

He was the former executive vice president [cross talk].

Foner:

Right. Yes, right. So they continued to be involved. I was in touch with Dennis regularly during that period, and the decision of the Unity in Progress -- now, the constitution had been amended limiting the power of the president. Unity in Progress did that. It was part of the reaction to Doris. So the president today does not have unlimited power on the constitution. He must get the support of the majority of the executive council. Many people don't realize that, but that's the problem that he faces all the time of how to keep people united, because one of the mistakes we made, I think, was that the Unity in Progress people who are active, the activists, when we won, many of them wanted jobs on the staff as organizers, and the union's offices at that time, because of limited power, decided they would give them positions on the staff.

Q:

These were rank and file members who had been active in the campaign.

Foner:

Rank and file who had been active. In many cases they were people who, while they were good intentioned and did the right thing, they were not really fully committed to unions and to 1199, and they were thinking mostly about themselves. So unfortunately, a number of them assumed important positions, and there was nothing we could do about it. I always felt that we had created a monster inside when we had those people on. Not that they were vicious or anything, but they were not capable of doing what had to be done. So that was a serious problem.

Then the union had to decide on who would be a candidate for Unity in Progress to oppose Doris, and the feeling was that only a black woman could be that, that Dennis couldn't be that person because he would not get the support of the overwhelming majority of members. So it was decided that Georgianna, who had been active, would be the person to run.

Q:

Who was she? What was her [cross talk]

Foner:

She was an assistant social worker, I think, at Beth Israel and had some training, but she had good instincts. She was very active in the campaign. But when she became president, she and we realized her shortcomings, because if you're fighting someone like Doris Turner, you have to be an alley fighter and very, very effective.





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