Richard Cordtz
| Richard Cordtz | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Richard Webster Cordtz December 20, 1921 Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Died | November 20, 2006 (aged 84) Dearborn, Michigan, USA |
| Occupation | Brass worker, union organizer, labor leader |
| Spouse(s) | Tina Cordtz |
Richard Webster Cordtz (December 20, 1921 – November 20, 2006) was an American labor leader. From 1980 to 1995, he was the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union under John Sweeney, and was president of the union himself from October 1995 to May 1996.
Richard Cordtz was born in Chicago, Illinois, in December 1921. He graduated from high school, but rather than attending college he worked in a brass manufacturing plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and joined his first union.
During World War II, he served in the United States Army in the South Pacific. After the war, he attended college in San Diego, California. He worked part-time at Del Mar Racetrack, where he joined SEIU Local 102.
Cordtz and his wife, Tina, had three children.
Cordtz began working as a union organizer for Local 102 in 1947. He was assigned to organizing campaigns in Colorado in 1950, and was elected vice-president of the Colorado Federation of Labor at the age of 30.
Cordtz was assigned to SEIU Local 79, a union representing healthcare workers in Hazel Park, Michigan, in 1953. He was elected the local's president in 1956, and over the next 27 years expanded the union's membership from 1,000 to 20,000 and branched out to include custodial workers, fire fighters, security guards and non-salaried hospital workers. Cordtz was also elected president of SEIU Joint Council 35 (a coalition of Detroit-area SEIU locals), and president of Service Employees Central States Conference (a coalition of SEIU councils and state, regional and local bodies in the Midwest). Cordtz also served as vice-president of Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO and on the board of directors of the Michigan State AFL-CIO.
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