Jesse Simons (November 5, 1917 – July 8, 2006) was an American labor arbitrator, who helped set in place a system of

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The ...

between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

(NYC) and its employees.

Early life

Simons was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

, he attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

and the

University of New York There is no real institution in the United States that bears the exact name University of New York. However, it is possible that such a reference may be used for one of the following: In New York State * New York University, a private research ...

, he failed to earn a degree from any of these institutions. Simons was a firm believer in

unionism Unionism may refer to: Trades *Community unionism, the ways trade unions work with community organizations *Craft unionism, a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on a particular craft or trade *Dual unionism, the developm ...

and his politics during the 1930s and 1940s were

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

. During this period, he held a variety of jobs from

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

to Linotype operator. From 1944-1946, Simons served in the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Career

After demobilization, Simons became Political Director of the

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), whose members were employed in the women's clothing industry, was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female memb ...

. He later became manager of Personnel and Industrial Relations for the

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

, a position he held until 1961. From 1963-1966, Simons directed the

American Arbitration Association The American Arbitration Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization in the field of alternative dispute resolution, providing services to individuals and organizations who wish to resolve conflicts out of court, and one of several arbitrat ...

's Labor Management Institute. Following two lengthy strikes in 1965 by NYC employees, Mayor

Robert F. Wagner, Jr. The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...

convened a committee to create an independent agency to oversee municipal labor relations. Simons was an adviser to this committee and his contribution ultimately helped to bring about the NYC Collective Bargaining Law (1967). This law led to the formation of the NYC Office of Collective Bargaining, who mediate and arbitrate between the city and the bulk of its employees. Simons died in New York, at age 88, from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

References

External links

NYC Office of Collective Bargaining
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Jesse 1917 births 2006 deaths Labor relations American Trotskyists United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II