JOE D. GUNN

1931- 2016

President of the Texas AFL-CIO from 1989 to 2003, Joe D. Gunn made a reputation as a ferocious but forthright defender of working families in the Lone Star State during an era in which labor was under almost constant attack.

Gunn joined the Communications Workers of America Local 6222 in 1949, but interrupted his work career to serve in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. Upon his return, he eventually became president of the local and led telephone company workers to major gains over the course of 22 years.

Under Gov. Dolph Briscoe, Gunn served seven years as the commissioner representing workers at the Texas Employment Commission. He won election to Secretary-Treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO in 1979.

On Gunn's watch as the state federation’s president, public employees made significant legislative gains and the federation's membership remained stable despite tough times for union companies.

Gunn was celebrated for his strong and often creative stands on issues. As a CWA organizer, he once dragged a mule across several states to illustrate the phone company’s attitude toward compromise. As state federation president, after then-Gov. George W. Bush reneged on a key promise, he commissioned an oil portrait of Bush as Pinocchio; copies of that portrait are in the Smithsonian Institution and have made their way around the world. Gunn also dressed up as Sherlock Holmes to make the point that Bush did not have a clue concerning how to locate a true labor representative to sit on a board that affected working families.

Another side to this combative version of Joe Gunn, though, is what the labor movement will remember of his character: kind to a fault, intensely loyal to family and friends, and a champion of the underdog.

Gunn’s community service has included leadership positions in PTA organizations, the United Way, and the Boy Scouts of America. He is married to Dorothy Ann Taylor Gunn. They had four children and were foster parents to six other children.