Jeff Johnson (labor leader)

Jeff Johnson
Born	1951 Long Island, New York
Education	Georgetown University, New School for Social Research
Occupation(s)	President, Washington State Labor Council
Organization(s)	Chair, Board of Labor Network for Sustainability Co-Leader, Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action
Term	2011-2018
Predecessor	Rick Bender
Successor	Larry Brown

Jeffrey (Jeff) Johnson is an American labor leader who was president of the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) from 2011 to 2018.

Biography

Early life and education

Jeffrey George Johnson was born and grew up in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, in 1951. His mother had grown up in Pittsburgh and was from a family of Croatian heritage. In 1959, his father died of a heart attack while at work. This prompted his mother, who had been out of the workforce for over a decade, to return to work to support to support her children. Johnson credits his middle class upbringing to the collective bargaining agreements achieved by his mother's unions.

Johnson entered the workforce when he was in high school, working at a local cabinet maker's shop. Encouraged by his mother to continue his education, in 1967, Johnson began studying economics at Georgetown University, during which he became active in the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. He went on to study political economy as a graduate student at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan.

Johnson's first involvement with labor activism was volunteering with unionized rank and file transit workers. As he became more involved in the labor movement, Johnson became less focused on his PhD dissertation. During this time, Johnson earned money mostly through adjunct teaching gigs for local schools, unions, and community organizations and was a member of the American Federation of Teachers. For three years, he taught economics full-time at the Harry Van Arsdale Center for Labor Studies at Empire State College. Johnson also spent time working for the Center for Transnational Corporations in the United Nations as a second job to earn extra money.

Career

In the summer of 1986, Johnson and his wife drove across the country and moved to Seattle, motivated by their desire to start a family outside of Brooklyn. The couple settled in Olympia, and Johnson began to search for a job. He landed a job as research director for the Washington State Labor Council after completing a project for then-president Larry Kenney, who Johnson described as "a real character, and a bit of an acerbic."

Further reading

Oral Histories

• Tomas Villanueva Oral History Interview with Anne O'Neill and Sharon Walker, 2003-2004.
• Guadalupe Gamboa Oral History Interview with Anne O'Neill, 2003.
• Jeff Johnson Oral History Interview with Garrett Strain, 2015.
• Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (2018-04-14), Jeff Johnson - Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action Oral History Project - Oral History Audio, doi:10.6069/af3s-kd54

Digital Sources

• Washington Works: Discussion of Racism and Farmworkers, approximately 1986-1989.
• Rosalinda Guillen and Workers from Chateau St. Michelle Speak, Washington State Labor Council Convention, 1995 September 22.

Archives

• Jeffrey Johnson Papers, 1912-2018. 32.52 cubic feet. At the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
• SeaTac Minimum Wage History Project Records, 2012-2016. Approximately 600 gigabytes of audio, video, and textual files. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Special Collections.