by Tom Gallagher
June 5, 2009
Jack Henning, a pioneering leader of California's labor movement who served under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, has died at his home in San Francisco. He was 93.
Henning served 26 years as executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, which represents more than 2 million workers.
One of Henning's sons, Patrick, director of the California Employment Development Department, said his father died in his sleep early Thursday.
"He was kind and challenging to his seven children about the need to be involved in social justice issues," Patrick Henning, 63, said in a telephone interview. "He's a devout Catholic and worked very well with Republicans and Democrats."
