William C. Doherty, labor leader
William C. Doherty, 84, a labor leader who directed the AFL-CIO’s outreach to trade unions in Latin America for 35 years, died Aug. 28 at the home of a daughter in Falls Church, said his son, Brian Doherty. He died of bone marrow cancer.
Mr. Doherty, known as Bill, was executive director of the American Institute for Free Labor Development under four AFL-CIO presidents. He retired in 1996.
His work with the institute involved traveling to 129 countries over the course of his career. It included assistance to exiled labor leaders, support for housing programs and participation in programs to fight racial discrimination. Much of his work was concentrated in Latin America.
He was nominated in 1994 by President Bill Clinton to be ambassador to Guyana, but the nomination was opposed by Cheddi Jagan, who was then president of Guyana.
According to media accounts, the American Institute for Free Labor Development had received money from the CIA three decades earlier and had funneled the funds to Guyanese labor unions in a successful effort to defeat the election of Jagan, an avowed Marxist, as prime minister.
Mr. Doherty eventually asked that his nomination be withdrawn for health reasons. In a letter to the New York Times in 1994, Mr. Doherty said that “the Institute has never been offered, nor has it ever taken or distributed, any funds from the Central Intelligence Agency.”
William Charles Doherty, a McLean resident, was born in Bellevue, Ky., and grew up in Bethesda. He graduated in 1943 from St. Paul’s Academy high school in the District and then from Catholic University, where he was a defensive lineman on the football team. He attended Georgetown University’s foreign service and law schools. For a period, he studied to be a priest at St. Charles seminary in Catonsville, Md.
During World War II, Mr. Doherty was an aerial photographer in Europe with the Army Air Forces. After the war, he worked in Germany to help rebuild trade unions there.
Before joining the American Institute for Free Labor Development, Mr. Doherty served on the staffs of other trade union organizations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...IQA7ho1CK_story.html
William C. Doherty, 84, a labor leader who directed the AFL-CIO’s outreach to trade unions in Latin America for 35 years, died Aug. 28 at the home of a daughter in Falls Church, said his son, Brian Doherty. He died of bone marrow cancer.
Mr. Doherty, known as Bill, was executive director of the American Institute for Free Labor Development under four AFL-CIO presidents. He retired in 1996.
His work with the institute involved traveling to 129 countries over the course of his career. It included assistance to exiled labor leaders, support for housing programs and participation in programs to fight racial discrimination. Much of his work was concentrated in Latin America.
He was nominated in 1994 by President Bill Clinton to be ambassador to Guyana, but the nomination was opposed by Cheddi Jagan, who was then president of Guyana.
According to media accounts, the American Institute for Free Labor Development had received money from the CIA three decades earlier and had funneled the funds to Guyanese labor unions in a successful effort to defeat the election of Jagan, an avowed Marxist, as prime minister.
Mr. Doherty eventually asked that his nomination be withdrawn for health reasons. In a letter to the New York Times in 1994, Mr. Doherty said that “the Institute has never been offered, nor has it ever taken or distributed, any funds from the Central Intelligence Agency.”
William Charles Doherty, a McLean resident, was born in Bellevue, Ky., and grew up in Bethesda. He graduated in 1943 from St. Paul’s Academy high school in the District and then from Catholic University, where he was a defensive lineman on the football team. He attended Georgetown University’s foreign service and law schools. For a period, he studied to be a priest at St. Charles seminary in Catonsville, Md.
During World War II, Mr. Doherty was an aerial photographer in Europe with the Army Air Forces. After the war, he worked in Germany to help rebuild trade unions there.
Before joining the American Institute for Free Labor Development, Mr. Doherty served on the staffs of other trade union organizations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...IQA7ho1CK_story.html