Philip M. Koritz

Philip M. KORITZ Philip M. Koritz, 94, died April 16, 2011 in Seattle. Philip was born on March 20, 1917 and was raised in Worcester and Boston, MA. He was a lifelong fighter for workers rights in the tradition of his parents, Sam and Dora (Harris) Koritz, Russian Jewish immigrant workers. He tried to impart this legacy to his partner, Kathleen Kelley of Seattle, his two sons, Jon of Albany, CA and Richard (and wife Sandra) in Greensboro, NC as well as his grandchildren, great grandchildren and friends. During the 1940's Philip held important union positions. A GE worker in the Boston area, he was a militant UE shop steward and legislative rep. In San Francisco he was a Utility Workers business agent at PG&E and then acting director of the CIO Labor Council of San Francisco. He became director of Food and Tobacco Workers (CIO) Local 22 in Winston-Salem, NC representing thousands of RJ Reynolds and other tobacco workers. The largest union in the south, Local 22 was a beacon of "Civil Rights Unionism." Returning to Boston, Philip became chairman of the Boston Civil Rights Congress. Under the national leadership of Paul Robeson and William Patterson, the CRC prepared the historic "We Charge Genocide" petition to the United Nations, documenting US government genocide against African-Americans. In the face of McCarthyite hysteria in the 1950's, Philip was one of the few who continued to fight aggressively for workers rights and to uphold the decisive role of the USSR in the World War II victory over world fascism. Later in Seattle, Philip was an active UFCW member and organized trade unionists to educate local high school youth with labor history leaflets. Over the past several decades, Philip has been very supportive of the "May First Movement," Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), the militant trade union movement of the Philippines. KMU reminded him of the crusading union spirit he had known among US workers in the CIO in the 1930's and 1940's. Right to his last day he continued to share with new generations his legacy of class struggle. Over the next few months, memorial services will be held in Seattle and elsewhere.