Descanse en paz el Sr. Victor Gotbaum Z”L

Líder sindical, negociador laboral. Salvó a Nueva York de la quiebra en 1975. Yiddishista, laborista líder honesto y sin tacha alguna.

Nacido en Labor Day, murió el mismo día que Peretz -100 años más tarde-

Le sobrevive su esposa Betsy Gotbaum y los miles de trabajadores que, gracias a él, consiguieron mejores condiciones de vida.

NYC Labor Leader Victor Gotbaum Dies at 93

Union negotiator helped save the city from bankruptcy in the 1970s
By Stephanie Butnick | tabletmag.com

Victor Gotbaum, the Brooklyn-born labor leader widely credited with helping keep New York City out of bankruptcy in 1975, died this week at 93. His wife, former New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, said the cause of death was a heart attack.

Gotbaum’s brash style, fierce negotiating, and highly visible tactics (strikes that kept the city’s drawbridges open or gathered thousands of workers in the streets) made him a formidable opponent for city officials. As Gotbaum explained to the Times in 1978, “I operate under a simple law. You can only screw me once.”

His New York Times obituary paints a dynamic portrait of the man known as Mr. Labor.

Although he was known for his table-thumping, Mr. Gotbaum was a moderating figure during the fiscal crisis, helping to persuade other union leaders to compromise to prevent the city from tumbling into bankruptcy.

At the same time, his quick mind, piercing wit and salty language, laced with a classic Brooklyn accent, made him a colorful and kinetic figure — not to say a physically imposing one, with the blunt features of a prizefighter; dark, curly hair; and a 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame carrying, as one magazine put it, “a touch of flab that he nurtures with a taste for Danish and rugelach.”

Gotbaum embodied the old-school New York City labor leader, the kind whose fiery passion for the city and its workers fueled his work. As his wife Betsy told the Wall Street Journal, “He just loved it here. It was such a part of him, and he was such a part of it.”

“Victor Gotbaum was a true New York City warrior – a man of action who dedicated his life to organizing workers and improving their lives,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in astatement.

Public Advocate Letitia James called Gotbaum “a champion for the working class.”

Perhaps the best detail from the myriad obituaries and tributes to Gotbuam, though, is that he was born on Labor Day, in 1921.
A public memorial for Victor Gotbaum will be held May 4 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.