Israel Kugler
Encyclopedia
Israel Kugler was a noted American
professor of sociology
. In the 1960s, he helped organize faculty at a number of New York City
-area colleges and universities into labor unions
. He co-founded the Professional Staff Congress, a union of faculty at the City University of New York
(CUNY) which now represents more than 20,000 faculty and staff members at the university.
, New York City, New York
. He graduated with a bachelor's degree
from City College
in 1938. He took an active interest in socialist
and Jewish politics, often spending entire days in "the counterpart of a floating crap game—only our dice were political arguments on all issues affecting the world."
He served in the United States Navy
during World War II
and returned to school to earn a doctorate
in sociology at New York University
.
Kugler married the former Helen Barkan in 1941. They had two children, Daniel and Philip.
, where he earned a reputation as a skilled classroom educator. He also became heavily involved in labor politics in the city, and supported organizing drives for many unions. Kugler joined the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT), Local 1460 of the American Federation of Teachers
(AFT). Kugler eventually was elected president of the union, which had been founded in 1935.
Kugler was a leader among a group of AFT delegates who sought to force the national union to end its practice of chartering segregated locals. The union had amended its constitution in 1953 to bar segregated locals, but had done little to enforce the provision. In 1954, Kugler and others demanded that the union suspend the charters of locals that barred black teachers from membership. Although a resolution passed, president Carl J. Megel and other national union officers argued that the resolution and constitution provision did not "require" suspension. The following year, Kugler led the anti-segregation forces in yet another resolution battle, which led to passage of a policy which unequivocably required ejection of locals which discriminated on the basis of race. A number of locals in the Deep South
withdrew from the union rather than be suspended, including Local 89 in Atlanta (the first AFT local where 100 percent of the teachers in the bargaining unit had joined the local). In all, the AFT lost close to 5 percent of its membership.
in 1966, which led to the establishment of the AFT as a leader in the unionization of faculty and staff in higher education. In the fall of 1965, 31 faculty members at St. John's University were dismissed without due process or any hearing. Both the American Association of University Professors
(AAUP) and the UFCT claimed the university had violated the professors' academic freedom. St. John's, the two groups said, demanded that the faculty restrict their teaching to a narrow, dogmatic approach to Thomism
and required faculty to submit all articles and books to the administration for clearance before seeking publication. The Rev. Joseph T. Cahill, president of St. John's, said the teachers had used their classrooms for propaganda purposes. Kugler pushed for a more radical response to the dispute, calling for a strike to begin in January 1966 and widening the dispute to include pay and benefits (faculty pay was the lowest of the ten largest Catholic universities in the U.S.) The strike at St. John's began on January 4, 1966. The union pushed for mediation and arbitration in December 1965, but the university refused to submit to either. Using tactics pioneered by Albert Shanker
to win collective bargaining rights for New York City public school teachers, Kugler pushed for local and state government officials to get involved in the dispute. Only a minority of St. John's faculty walked out, forcing the university to close some but not a majority of classes. During the next two years, Kugler challenged the university's accreditation before the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
twice. But that body only warned the university and took no further action. The union raised $250,000 from the Workmen's Circle and other organizations to support the striking faculty. Kugler took professors' case to the Vatican
and sought an individual audience with Pope Paul VI
, whose encyclicals on workers' rights were repeatedly cited by the union. But the pope refused him an audience. In the early spring of 1967, as the strike threatened to widen to other Catholic universities in the country and state legislators opened hearings on the labor dispute, the university agreed to arbitration. The strike ended in June 1967. The union did not win recognition at St. John's, and in 1970 arbitrators ruled that the university had not acted improperly.
Kugler later wrote a well-regarded article about the strike, "The 1966 Strike at St. John's University: A Memoir," which was published in Labor's Heritage
in 1997.
(FIT), Nassau Community College
and Westchester Community College
. In 1967, faculty at FIT bargained a signed collective bargaining
agreement—the first time a public higher education union in the state signed a contract. FIT's contract was only the second public higher education contract in the whole country.
In 1967, Kugler began pushing for the UFCT to organize the faculty at CUNY. Backed by the AFT and the newly-formed (and politically powerful) United Federation of Teachers
, UFCT not only won an agreement for a union election but won the December 6, 1968, election in the face of a determined challenge from the AAUP. The union won a second election (this time for non-tenure
d faculty) nine days later, and a signed contract nine months later. CUNY promptly attempted to break the contract by firing 100 untenured faculty members in December 1969. Kugler responded with aggressive picketing which forced the university to rescind its actions.
In 1972, Kugler merged the UFCT with its long-time rival, the Legislative Conference of the City University. Kugler and Dr. Belle Zeller, president of the Legislative Conference, agreed to form a new organization affiliated with the AFT, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC). CUNY challenged the right of the PSC to represent its faculty, forcing the PSC into yet another election. The PSC won this second election on June 7, 1972. After a year of negotiations and a threatened strike, CUNY consented to a three-year collective bargaining agreement. As of 2007, the PSC represented more than 20,000 faculty and staff members at CUNY.
Kugler was elected Deputy Vice President of the PSC after its formation, but retired in the late 1970s.
Israel Kugler died of pneumonia
at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland
, on October 1, 2007.
, a member of National Committee of Social Democrats USA
,, a member of the National Executive Board of the Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring,, a member of the Executive Committee of the Jewish Labor Committee
, and a founding member of the Health Care Industry Council of the Labor and Employment Relations Association
He also at one time had been a board member of the League for Industrial Democracy
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professor of sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. In the 1960s, he helped organize faculty at a number of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-area colleges and universities into labor unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
. He co-founded the Professional Staff Congress, a union of faculty at the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
(CUNY) which now represents more than 20,000 faculty and staff members at the university.
Early life
Kugler was born on June 13, 1917, to Philip and Anna (Senitzer) Kugler. He and his sister were raised in a liberal Jewish home in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York City, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He graduated with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from City College
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
in 1938. He took an active interest in socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and Jewish politics, often spending entire days in "the counterpart of a floating crap game—only our dice were political arguments on all issues affecting the world."
He served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and returned to school to earn a doctorate
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in sociology at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Kugler married the former Helen Barkan in 1941. They had two children, Daniel and Philip.
Union career
Kugler became a professor of social science at New York City Community CollegeNew York City College of Technology
New York City College of Technology , nicknamed City Tech, is the largest four-year public college of technology in the northeastern United States, and a constituent college of the City University of New York...
, where he earned a reputation as a skilled classroom educator. He also became heavily involved in labor politics in the city, and supported organizing drives for many unions. Kugler joined the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT), Local 1460 of the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
(AFT). Kugler eventually was elected president of the union, which had been founded in 1935.
Kugler was a leader among a group of AFT delegates who sought to force the national union to end its practice of chartering segregated locals. The union had amended its constitution in 1953 to bar segregated locals, but had done little to enforce the provision. In 1954, Kugler and others demanded that the union suspend the charters of locals that barred black teachers from membership. Although a resolution passed, president Carl J. Megel and other national union officers argued that the resolution and constitution provision did not "require" suspension. The following year, Kugler led the anti-segregation forces in yet another resolution battle, which led to passage of a policy which unequivocably required ejection of locals which discriminated on the basis of race. A number of locals in the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
withdrew from the union rather than be suspended, including Local 89 in Atlanta (the first AFT local where 100 percent of the teachers in the bargaining unit had joined the local). In all, the AFT lost close to 5 percent of its membership.
St. John's University strike
Kugler led a strike at St. John's UniversitySt. John's University (New York City)
St. John's University is a private, Roman Catholic, coeducational university located in New York City, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission in 1870, the school was originally located in the borough of Brooklyn in the neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant...
in 1966, which led to the establishment of the AFT as a leader in the unionization of faculty and staff in higher education. In the fall of 1965, 31 faculty members at St. John's University were dismissed without due process or any hearing. Both the American Association of University Professors
American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership is about 47,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations...
(AAUP) and the UFCT claimed the university had violated the professors' academic freedom. St. John's, the two groups said, demanded that the faculty restrict their teaching to a narrow, dogmatic approach to Thomism
Thomism
Thomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, his commentaries on Aristotle are his most lasting contribution...
and required faculty to submit all articles and books to the administration for clearance before seeking publication. The Rev. Joseph T. Cahill, president of St. John's, said the teachers had used their classrooms for propaganda purposes. Kugler pushed for a more radical response to the dispute, calling for a strike to begin in January 1966 and widening the dispute to include pay and benefits (faculty pay was the lowest of the ten largest Catholic universities in the U.S.) The strike at St. John's began on January 4, 1966. The union pushed for mediation and arbitration in December 1965, but the university refused to submit to either. Using tactics pioneered by Albert Shanker
Albert Shanker
Albert Shanker was President of the United Federation of Teachers from 1964 to 1984 as well as President of the American Federation of Teachers from 1974 to 1997.-Early life:...
to win collective bargaining rights for New York City public school teachers, Kugler pushed for local and state government officials to get involved in the dispute. Only a minority of St. John's faculty walked out, forcing the university to close some but not a majority of classes. During the next two years, Kugler challenged the university's accreditation before the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association dedicated to educational excellence and improvement through peer evaluation and accreditation...
twice. But that body only warned the university and took no further action. The union raised $250,000 from the Workmen's Circle and other organizations to support the striking faculty. Kugler took professors' case to the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
and sought an individual audience with Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
, whose encyclicals on workers' rights were repeatedly cited by the union. But the pope refused him an audience. In the early spring of 1967, as the strike threatened to widen to other Catholic universities in the country and state legislators opened hearings on the labor dispute, the university agreed to arbitration. The strike ended in June 1967. The union did not win recognition at St. John's, and in 1970 arbitrators ruled that the university had not acted improperly.
Kugler later wrote a well-regarded article about the strike, "The 1966 Strike at St. John's University: A Memoir," which was published in Labor's Heritage
Labor's Heritage
Labor's Heritage was a journal which published articles regarding the history of the labor movement in the United States.The journal published articles which are scholarly in quality but written for more of a mass audience...
in 1997.
Formation of the PSC
Although the strike was a failure in that it did not win reinstatement for the faculty, the strike established the AFT as a the pre-eminent union organizing American higher education faculty. Kugler quickly turned the UFCT's attention to other colleges and universities in the New York City area. In the next few years, under his leadership the union organized locals at the Fashion Institute of TechnologyFashion Institute of Technology
The Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of...
(FIT), Nassau Community College
Nassau Community College
Nassau Community College is a two-year college. It is located in East Garden City, New York, USA. The school is in Nassau County on Long Island. NCC maintains a nationwide reputation for academic excellence and ease of transferability to four-year institutions.- History :Created as part of the...
and Westchester Community College
Westchester Community College
Westchester Community College is a public, two-year community college in Valhalla, New York, sponsored by Westchester County, New York, and the State University of New York . The college is one of 30 community colleges affiliated with SUNY....
. In 1967, faculty at FIT bargained a signed collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
agreement—the first time a public higher education union in the state signed a contract. FIT's contract was only the second public higher education contract in the whole country.
In 1967, Kugler began pushing for the UFCT to organize the faculty at CUNY. Backed by the AFT and the newly-formed (and politically powerful) United Federation of Teachers
United Federation of Teachers
The United Federation of Teachers is the labor union that represents most educators in New York City public schools. , there were about 118,000 in-service educators and 17,000 paraprofessionals in the union, as well as about 54,000 retired members...
, UFCT not only won an agreement for a union election but won the December 6, 1968, election in the face of a determined challenge from the AAUP. The union won a second election (this time for non-tenure
Tenure
Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
d faculty) nine days later, and a signed contract nine months later. CUNY promptly attempted to break the contract by firing 100 untenured faculty members in December 1969. Kugler responded with aggressive picketing which forced the university to rescind its actions.
In 1972, Kugler merged the UFCT with its long-time rival, the Legislative Conference of the City University. Kugler and Dr. Belle Zeller, president of the Legislative Conference, agreed to form a new organization affiliated with the AFT, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC). CUNY challenged the right of the PSC to represent its faculty, forcing the PSC into yet another election. The PSC won this second election on June 7, 1972. After a year of negotiations and a threatened strike, CUNY consented to a three-year collective bargaining agreement. As of 2007, the PSC represented more than 20,000 faculty and staff members at CUNY.
Kugler was elected Deputy Vice President of the PSC after its formation, but retired in the late 1970s.
Israel Kugler died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition, a number of villages in the same area of Montgomery County include "Chevy Chase" in their names...
, on October 1, 2007.
Memberships
Kugler was at one time the president of the Three Arrows Cooperative SocietyThree Arrows Cooperative Society
Three Arrows Cooperative Society is a cooperative summer colony located in Putnam Valley, NY. It was founded in 1936 by members of the Young People's Socialist League, from whence its name and emblem derive. The Society owns 125 acres of land which comprise 75 individual home sites as well as...
, a member of National Committee of Social Democrats USA
Social Democrats USA
Social Democrats, USA was the principal association of U.S. social democrats from 1972–2005.SDUSA was founded in 1972 when the Socialist Party of America renamed itself Social Democrats, USA...
,, a member of the National Executive Board of the Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring,, a member of the Executive Committee of the Jewish Labor Committee
Jewish Labor Committee
The Jewish Labor Committee is an American secular Jewish organization dedicated to promoting labor union interests in Jewish communities, and Jewish interests within unions. The organization is headquartered in New York City, with local/regional offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago...
, and a founding member of the Health Care Industry Council of the Labor and Employment Relations Association
Labor and Employment Relations Association
The Labor and Employment Relations Association, founded in 1947, as the Industrial Relations Research Association, is an organization for professionals in industrial relations and human resources. Headquartered at the at the , the national organization has more than 3,000 members...
He also at one time had been a board member of the League for Industrial Democracy
League for Industrial Democracy
The League for Industrial Democracy , from 1960-1965 known as the Students for a Democratic Society , was founded in 1905 by a group of notable socialists including Harry W. Laidler, Jack London, Norman Thomas, Upton Sinclair, and J.G. Phelps Stokes...
.
Selected publications
- "A Life in the Workmen's Circle: Reminiscence and Reflection." Labor's Heritage. 3:4 (October 1991).
- "The AAUP at the Crossroads." Changing Education. Spring 1966.
- From Ladies to Women: The Organized Struggle for Women's Rights in the Reconstruction Era. Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1987. ISBN 0313252394
- "Status, Power, and Educational Freedom." Journal of Educational Sociology. 25:9 (May 1952).
- "The 1966 Strike at St. John's University: A Memoir." Labor's Heritage. 9:2 (Fall 1997).
- "The Trade Union Career of Susan B. Anthony." Labor HistoryLabor History (journal)Labor History is an inter-disciplinary, peer reviewed journal which publishes articles regarding the history of the labor movement in the United States, Europe and other regions and countries....
. 11 (Winter 1961). - "Two Views of Albert Shanker." New Politics. 7:1 (New Series) (Summer 1998).
External links
- American Federation of Teachers: Office of the President, 1960-1974. American Federation of Teachers Collection. Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs. Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University.
- Guide to the Israel Kugler Papers. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Bobst Library, New York University.
- Guide to the Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York 1936-2004. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Bobst Library, New York University.