Murray Howard Finley (March 31, 1922 – July 31, 1995) was an American labor union leader and lawyer. Born in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, Finley attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in the early 1940s. While there, he worked in an automobile plant, joining the United Automobile Workers. He served in the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, then studied law at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. After graduating, he became an assistant attorney for the

Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Ind ...

, based in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. In 1961, Finley was elected as manager of the Chicago Joint Board, in which role he launched college

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

s for the children of union members. He also founded the United Dwellings Foundation, to build housing for workers on low incomes. In his spare time, he served on the Chicago Public Library Board, on which he campaigned for a new library building, incorporating affordable housing, and a scheme to get college students to read to local children. In 1972, Finley was elected as the president of the union. He led a campaign for Farah to recognize the union, and arranged a merger with the rival Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA), forming the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, of which he became the first president. He took up an existing TWUA campaign to unionize J.P. Stevens, which was successful. He was also co-chair of the Full Employment Action Council, and a leader of the campaign to make

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monda ...

a national holiday. Finley retired in 1986, moving to

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

. He died in 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, Murray 1922 births 1995 deaths American labor lawyers People from Syracuse, New York Trade unionists from New York (state) University of Michigan alumni Northwestern University alumni Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America people Vice presidents of the AFL–CIO