Dan O'Rourke

Business Representative

I began my involvement in the labor movement as a community organizer for the United Farm Workers (UFW) Union in 1975, heading up the state-wide Michigan boycott office, and also working on UFW campaigns in California. I was fortunate to be trained by Fred Ross, who worked with Saul Alinsky, a renowned community organizer. They were both radical and creative in their organizing tactics. I was also fortunate to meet Cesar Chavez on many occasions. I later served as Union Steward in the UAW at the Chrysler Lynch Road Assembly Plant, when I worked on the auto assembly line. I later worked for Co-op Optical Services, where I served as Union Steward and Chairman of the Bargaining Committee for the AFSCME unit there. I helped organize this unit and also helped bargain our very first union contract.

I was brought up in a union household as my father, Barney O'Rourke, worked at Chrysler and joined the UAW when they first unionized in the 1930s. He was also a lifelong Democrat. My grandfather was a tool and die maker and was blacklisted in Detroit for helping unions.I earned a B.A. in psychology and a minor in education at Mercy College in Detroit. I have also studied in the Wayne State University Labor Studies Program, the George Meanny School of Labor Studies, and the IUOE 547 Education Center. I have also had ongoing educational classes in labor-related seminars and conferences.I was hired by I.U.O.E. Local 547 as a Business Representative in 1984; I represent our members in hospitals, hotels, schools, manufacturing, municipalities, government contractors, and property management. I am also very involved in our steward training program at the Local, and enjoy that work very much. I have also been active over the years in the AFL-CIO Labor Crisis Support Committee and had the immense honor of working with Bernie Firestone, a true model for any Union Rep.

I am happily married and my wife works as a librarian at the UAW. I have two great sons, aged 18 and 24, whom I am very proud of. With my personal time I am very active in the Detroit Irish-American Community and I love to go Mountain Biking and enjoy other outdoor activities.

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