Joe Mangino was born in 1918 in Schenectady, NY. to Italian immigrants. His dad helped build the church Joe was baptized in. At the daunting height of 5’5” he was the star forward on the Nott Terrace High School basketball team of 1938. He started his career after a stint in the Navy during WWII.
Joe led his first labor strike at the age of twelve at the Mohawk Golf Club in Schenectady. He and his fellow caddies wanted to make a few pennies more per day and the golf course members wouldn’t give them a raise. He led a walkout, took all the caddies to another course, and the Mohawk members finally relented.
He has lived labor history – the organizing drives of the 1930’s, the chartering of the IUE to displace the alleged communist affiliated UE, to testifying (or refusing to name names) during the vicious McCarthy era “Red Scare.” He saw labor go from mighty and powerful to a mere shadow of itself when globalization nearly decimated US industries. At his urging, IUE Local 301 fought for and won equal pay for equal work for women at GE.
His poignant and sharp recollections are presented in WDI’s oral history project. Now, at the age of 92, he continues to agitate for social justice, a living wage, and for the respect that he and his brothers and sisters today so richly deserve.
Available for the first time, a 10-part interview with Joe has been added to YouTube. Join us as we listen to Joe's stories about labor, communism, healthcare, the "We" generation, and more.
Labor and the Community is a project of the Workforce Development Institute (WDI), highlighting the efforts of organized labor to help their communities and society as a whole.
Videos in this Series
Caddying Women's Work The "We" Generation
The Catholic Church
Healthcare
General Electric
ALCO
UEI and UE
Communism
Lessons
