Bob Kourpias oral history interview, December 6, 2011

Interviewed by Rachel Bernstein. George Kourpias begins the interview discussing his parents, including his mother contracting the flu in the 1918 epidemic and how his father coming to the U.S. He talks about his first jobs selling newspapers and shining shoes before discussing leaving school to work in Chicago. Eventually he returned to Sioux city and began work in a plant organized by the IAMAW. Kourpias discusses being elected chair of the negotiating committee in 1957 and the following two-month-long strike. Discussion of the strike is emotional for Kourpias. He tells stories about picket duty, how the women prevented the police from making arrests, and an anonymous caller threatening his infant daughter if Kourpias did not quit. After the strike, Kourpias tells about personal conflicts with local president and the work involved in keeping the local together. He then moves on to his getting hired with the International and discusses his work on NLRB hearings, National Council of Senior Citizens, and becoming administrative assistant. He talks about filing suit against OPIC, the creation of the Energy Coalition, and president Winpisinger’s ideas on coalitions. He criticizes George Meany’s tenure at the AFL-CIO. He talks about the railroad and airline strike under President Johnson and discusses the backing of George McGovern. Kourpias compares the working styles of different IAMAW presidents, talks about the union’s record on civil rights, discrimination of women, as well as health and safety. He mentions the IAMAW’s educational program, the purchasing of the jet and the controversy around it, and discusses the Eastern strike at some length. He also addresses issues during his tenure as president including the changing national economy, NAFTA, and Bill Clinton. He talks at length about John Sweeney’s run for president of the AFL-CIO and the proposed, but failed, unification talks with the UAW and Steelworkers.