Philip M. Koritz

KORITZ, Philip M. 94, died April 16, 2011 in Seattle, WA. Philip was born on March 20, 1917 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 two sons, Richard (and wife Sandra) in Greensboro, NC and Jon of Richmond, CA as well as to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and to friends and family in the Boston area over the years. Philip Koritz was the first legislative rep and a militant shop steward in United Electrical Workers local 201 while a machinist at the massive GE complex in Lynn and Everett in the early 1940's. In San Francisco he served as acting director of the CIO Labor Council of San Francisco. Philip went on to become director of Food and Tobacco Workers (CIO) Local 22 in Winston-Salem, NC in the mid 1940's representing thousands of RJ Reynolds and other tobacco workers. The largest union in the south, Local 22 became a beacon of "Civil Rights Unionism." Returning to his native 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 policy of genocide against the African-American people. During the McCarthyite hysteria in the USA, in the 1950's, he was one of few who continued to fight for workers rights and to defend the truth about the decisive role of the USSR in the World War II victory over world fascism. Over the last several decades, Philip became an avid supporter 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. To the last day of his life he continued to teach new generations of workers their great legacy of class struggle. Just before his 91st birthday, he received the 2009 "Unsung Hero" award from the International Civil Rights Center and Museum for his work in Local 22 which had a direct impact on the 1960's civil rights movement, including the historic Woolworth sit-in begun in Greensboro, N.C. Harry Belafonte, the world renowned 82 year old singer, civil rights activist and humanitarian in his keynote address at that Museum award ceremony said, "When I grow up I want to be like Philip Koritz." Philip Koritz has been a dedicated life-long activist in the world-wide struggle for workers' power, social justice, liberation and peace. Over the next few months, family-led memorial services will be held in Boston and other cities around the USA. Memorial contributions can be made to "Sit-in Movement," c/o International Civil Rights Center and Museum, 134 South Elm Street, Greensboro, NC 27401.