New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
. He worked for
Western Electric
The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...
, and in the 1930s became a leader of its employee organization, in 1943 becoming president of the
National Federation of Telephone Workers
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media trade union, labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The uni ...
. In 1946, he led the negotiation of its first national contract, with the
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
, but followed this with the unsuccessful
1947 Telephone strike
The 1947 Telephone strike was a five-week long, nation-wide labor stoppage in the United States by the National Federation of Telephone Workers (NFTW) and other smaller unions that started on April 7, 1947. The workers, mostly switchboard operat ...
.
This experience led the union to reform as the
Communication Workers of America
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The union has 27 loc ...
(CWA), with Beirne continuing as president. It affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
(CIO), of which Beirne became a vice president, leading opposition to communist-led unions in the federation. He continued in the role after the CIO became part of the new AFL-CIO. He also promoted
equal pay for equal work
Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full ...
. During the 1960s, Beirne successfully prevented the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...
from organizing telephone workers, expelling the leaders of the CWA at Western Electric, who had supported the Teamsters.
Under Beirne's leadership, the CWA supported unionism in Latin America, founding the
American Institute for Free Labor Development
The American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) was established in late 1961 by the AFL–CIO in the western hemisphere. It received funding from the US government, mostly through USAID (United States Agency for International Development) ...
. In 1969, he was also elected as president of the
Postal, Telegraph and Telephone International
The Postal, Telegraph and Telephone International (PTTI) was a global union federation bringing together unions of communications workers worldwide.
History
While a meeting of unions of communication workers was held in Paris in 1911, no lasting o ...
. Unlike the majority of the AFL-CIO leadership, he supported
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...
in the
1972 United States presidential election
The 1972 United States presidential election was the 47th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon defeated Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Un ...
, and served as secretary-treasurer of a national labor committee backing him.
In 1974, Beirne announced his intention to stand down due to poor health, but he died of cancer before he was able to do so.