LANE KIRKLAND Labor leader Related story: Obituary: Lane Kirkland

"He gave real meaning to the word 'solidarity.'"
-- Kenneth Young, friend and executive assistant to U.S. labor leader Lane Kirkland

Lane Kirkland, "a warrior" for the labor movement and former head of the AFL-CIO, died of lung cancer August 14. He was 77.

Born March 12, 1922, in Camden, South Carolina, Kirkland graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and served aboard merchant ships during World War II.

Shortly after graduating from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in 1948, he joined the research staff of the American Federation of Labor, which merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955.

Kirkland headed the union from 1979 to 1995. At its high point, in 1989, it had 15 million members. But the Kirkland era was beset by crises for big labor, including President Reagan's firing of the striking air traffic controllers, to declines in heavily unionized industries such as manufacturing, mining and construction.

Staunchly anti-Communist, Kirkland devoted much of his time to promoting democracy and union movements abroad. He was active in Poland, where the Solidarity movement arose in the 1980s. He also promoted union organization in Cuba, China, Chile and South Africa.