(JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK) – Labor Day Weekend 2016 was the 37th annual celebration that honors Chautauqua County’s Workers, but this year was made even more special with the posthumous presentation of the prestigious George Ritzer Labor Award to the late Joe Sweeny (Pictured above/Photo Courtesy of the New York State United Teachers Union).

The Southern Tier Union Activist, a New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) Board Member and former Dunkirk Teachers Association President, who was also a 38-year Social Studies Teacher, Sweeny was remembered by Union Leaders and Members on Sunday (September 4th) during a ceremony held at the Greater Jamestown Labor Day Festival in Bergman Park.

“This decision (to present Sweeny with the Ritzer Labor Award) was ‘actually made prior’ to his passing earlier this year in May,” Jamestown AFL-CIO Labor Council President David Wilkinson, who also serves as Business Manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 106 in Jamestown, told WNYLaborToday.com.

“This guy ‘never stopped’ (giving his all to the Labor Movement) and he was a ‘wealth of information.’  He was a History Teacher and ‘our Labor Historian,’” Wilkinson (Pictured below in the middle next to Sweeny’s long-time companion, Mary Ellen Decker during ceremonies held at Bergman Park) told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper. 

“Joe did ‘everything’ the Labor Movement ‘needed.’  He ‘never’ missed a meeting, ‘right up to his passing.’  I was ‘sad’ we ‘weren’t able’ to present him with this award ‘while he was alive.’  He ‘really deserved’ this,” Wilkinson said.

Sweeny died from complications caused by an incurable brain tumor.  His long-time companion, Mary Ellen Decker, accepted the award on his behalf.  

Added Wilkinson: “I ‘don’t know how we are ever going to fill the void’ left by the passing of Joe Sweeny.”

The Jamestown Labor Award is named after George Ritzer, a Jamestown-area Labor Leader who served as President of the Jamestown Central Labor Council for more than 20 years, as well as President of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1. 

Past Awardees include the late Cattaraugus/Allegany AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President Hobart Rhinehart (who was also a NYSUT Member); Jack Rudy, past President of the Jamestown Central Labor Council and a Member of Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Local 807; Wilkinson; and International Union of Operating Engineers Business Manager Gary Swain. 

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Photos that appear with this Labor News Report are courtesy of Kim Wilkinson, via the Social Network Facebook.  For more on Joe Sweeny, read the May 12th Labor News Report, Headline: Remembering The Late Joe Sweeny: NYSUT Board Member, Former Dunkirk Teachers Association President, Southern Tier Union Activist & 38-Year Social Studies Teachers ‘Always Kept His Members Foremost On His Mind’