Labor trailblazer Geraldine ‘Jerre’ McPartlin dies at 91

Geraldine “Jerre” McPartlin made her name as a trailblazing labor organizer and the first female board member of the Chicago Federation of Labor.

Her colleagues have called her “tough as nails.” But she was also known for her beautiful singing voice, which she showed off at labor actions across the city.

Although she began her career in her 40s, she “would tell you she was in labor her whole life because she had 12 children,” her son, Brian McPartlin, said.

Geraldine McPartlin died Wednesday of congestive heart failure and kidney failure at Resurrection Medical Center, according to her son. She was 91.

Mrs. McPartlin spent her career organizing and fighting tirelessly for low wage employees and has been recognized by every labor group in the city. Later in life, Mrs. McPartlin stood out at labor actions for her full head of white hair and impeccable dress.

“She was positive and affirming; she always looked fabulous,” Karen Kent, president of Unite HERE Local 1, said.

Mrs. McPartlin, who grew up on the West Side, was a strong female presence in the labor movement in an era dominated by men.

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Former CFL President Jorge Ramirez said Mrs. McPartlin was like a rose: beautiful and elegant, but she had a tough side too.

“Front and center at the rallies there was Jerre, giving hell to whoever we were giving hell to,” said Ramirez, who currently serves as Chicago Sun-Times board chairman. “She was tough as nails.”

Current CFL President Robert Reiter said Mrs. McPartlin was a “groundbreaker, both in her union and in the broader labor movement.”

“I don’t know anyone else who is as beloved as Jerre,” Reiter said. “Some people only got to know her as the person who would sing ‘The Soldier’s Song’ at labor events, but I got to know this tough woman who advocated for lunch ladies and workers while raising a family. She’s one of the old school labor badasses.”

Mrs. McPartlin began her career in 1976 with the School Lunchroom Employees Local 129, organizing Chicago Public Schools employees. She rose through the ranks to serve as vice president of its parent union, Local 1 Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union.

In 1981, she was appointed board member of the Chicago Federation of Labor in a memorable meeting with then-union President Will Lee.

After Lee introduced Mrs. McPartlin as their “first woman board member” and said the men would have to tidy up their language, Mrs. McPartlin replied: “no s---.”

“I never talk like that, but I had to do something,” Mrs. McPartlin told the Sun-Times in 2004. “Those fellas loved me from that moment on.”

In 1985, Mrs. McPartlin made history again as the the first woman elected as first-vice president of the CFL. She’d go on to be honored as “Labor Woman of the Year” in 1995, and serve several times as delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

Mrs. McPartlin also helped organize the Congress Hotel strike, which lasted almost 10 years and was among the longest in history.

“She called me to say, ‘I’m going to get arrested because I’m lying on Michigan Avenue to protest discrimination in the Congress Hotel,’” Brian McPartlin said. “What parent calls their kid to say that? It’s supposed to be the other way around,” he said with a chuckle.

Mrs. McPartlin met her husband, the late state Rep. Robert F. McPartlin, shortly after WWII while she was hitchhiking in Lake Geneva and he picked her up, Brian McPartlin said. She was 18, he was 21.

They had 12 children (nine surviving) and a combined total of 54 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

When organizing family events, Brian McPartlin said, “We need a banquet hall.”

Singing was important to Mrs. McPartlin, a talent she learned she had at 5 years old while singing in saloons in the 1930s with her father, Brian McPartlin said. She often sang the U.S. and Irish anthems at labor events. Just six weeks ago, Mrs. McPartlin sang her favorites at a piano bar: “Smile,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World,” Brian McPartlin said.

Visitation is set for Sunday from 1 to 8 p.m. at Cumberland Chapels, 8300 W. Lawrence Ave., in Norridge. A funeral mass is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Luke Church, 7600 Lake St., in River Forest.

“Her time here could’ve been longer, but it couldn’t have been better,” Brian McPartlin said. “At 91 years old she was a trailblazer. She fought for what she believed in.”