Mark Splain

Part 1 — 5/15/2024

This is Part 1 of Mark Spalin’s oral history: Mark worked for the ACORN-sponsored and affiliated United Labor Unions from 1979 through 1984, and then stayed closely connected to ACORN/ULU through his subsequent work with SEIU and the AFL-CIO. In this interview Mark recounts his early community organizing experiences, first with the Contract Buyers League in Chicago starting in 1967; then as one of the lead organizers with the National Welfare Rights Organization in MA and RI; and then as a founder of Mass Fair Share. Mark joined the ACORN/ULU staff in 1979, and discussed how he helped lead successful campaigns to organize homecare workers in Boston, and assisted in other ULU low wage worker organizing efforts in Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, and New Orleans. Mark then discussed his subsequent career as an organizer and organizing director at SEIU and the AFL-CIO, until his retirement in 2010.

Part 2 — 5/21/2024

This is Part 2 of Mark Splain’s oral history: Mark worked for the ACORN-sponsored and affiliated United Labor Unions from 1979 through 1984, and then stayed closely connected to ACORN/ULU through his subsequent work with SEIU and the AFL-CIO. In this interview Mark recounts his early community organizing experiences, first with the Contract Buyers League in Chicago starting in 1967; then as one of the lead organizers with the National Welfare Rights Organization in MA and RI; and then as a founder of Mass Fair Share. Mark joined the ACORN/ULU staff in 1979, and discussed how he helped lead successful campaigns to organize homecare workers in Boston, and assisted in other ULU low wage worker organizing efforts in Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, and New Orleans. Mark then discussed his subsequent career as an organizer and organizing director at SEIU and the AFL-CIO, until his retirement in 2010.