Remembering Willard Wirtz

Obituary NY Times “Willard Wirtz, Labor Chief Dies at 98.”

Once again I need to put off my piece on Global Warming to deal with another memory jog. It was back in the “age of rage” days of the 1960es. I was Deputy Manpower Commissioner in the Lindsay Administration. My specific responsibility was “Youth Employment.” This was a time when the Black Panthers, a militant Black power group was playing a most critical role in the Public Demonstration script. Cities, Detroit, Newark were burning as street demonstrations would turn into very nasty confrontations between police and demonstrators. Upon hiring me the Mayor said,”your main job it to keep the city from burning.” Yupp, quiet an assignment.

The summer time was most critical as thousands of kids were out of school and out of work. That meant lots of time to think up “interesting diversions from the being hot and bored in the big city.” The kids were learning to imitate their elders.
On one hot summer weekend the Yuppies held a peace demonstration in grand Central Station. A confrontation between the police and peace demonstrators heated up when some of the demonstrators mounted the famous clock in the center of the waiting room. I urged the police to do nothing as the clock climbers would get bored and eventually come down. Sandy Garelick the Police Commissioner argued that the “clock was private property and they were threatening it.” Sandy and I were unable to agree so he sent in the cops. Arrests were made and the television cameras had a ball. That of course is what is critical to the success of the demonstration script. If it didn’t make it to the television screen it was a bust.

Some weeks later there was an announcement from the Labor Department that there would be cuts in the Neighborhood Youth Corps. This was a 14 hour a week part time job program for in school kids from poverty families. My office administered the program. With the demonstration fever in high pitch some kids from Bedford Stuyvesent section of Brooklyn decided to invade and have a sit in at the Labor Department office on 9th avenue and 29th street.

It was a telephone call in the middle of the night from City Hall advising me of the sit in and asking what I wanted to do about it? Admitted. I was very tired and half asleep when I said, “Oh let em sit. They’ll soon get tired and bored and will then go home.” By the time I made to my office alarm bells were ringing all over the place, “what the hell did you say about the sit ins.” The Mayor’s staff people were all worked up over my most “irresponsible statements.”

Finally there was a call from the Mayor. he wanted me over at City Hall as soon as possible. I liked John Lindsay. He had a great sense of humor and an impeccable liberal record as a Congressmen. As I came in his office he was laughing.”You’ll love this story I will tell you after you tell me what we should do about the sit in over at the Labor Department? I said,” Mr. Mayor, first of all this is a Federal problem not ours so if Wirtz wants to evict them he should send in the Marshals or the Marines. I would urge you not to send in the police. The result of that will be simply to exacerbate the situation that will certainly end up on every 6 o'clock evening news channel.” The Mayor thought about and wanted to know exactly what would I recommend. “Just let em sit there. They’ll soon get tired and bored and will go home. I will be happy to go over there and chat with them about the importance of not destroying any federal property.” The Mayor wanted to know what would you do if you were held hostage? I assured him I wasn’t worried about that as I spend many hours with these kids and I am confident we can have a civil conversation. Okay, he agreed to go along with my wait and do nothing strategy but in the meantime he had to tell me the story that had him giggling.

The Mayor had received a phone call from a very upset Willard Wirtz the Secretary of Labor. Wirtz had decided to call the Federal Office in New York and have a nice friendly talk with the sit-ins explaining they were illegally occupying a Federal office. Upon making the call and after several attempts at a connection one of the the Bedford Stuyvesent kids finally answered wanting to know who was calling? Wirtz said he was the Secretary of Labor. The response from the other end came quickly, “I don’t speak to no mother f---------ing secretaries and hung up. Wirtz was extremely upset as he explained to the mayor that “nobody had ever called him that” and he wanted an apology from the kid who said it. He also suggested that we initiate Civics Classes in the Neighborhood Youth Corps so that our children would understand how the Presidents Cabinet is made up of people whose titles include “secretaries.”

We both had a good laugh. But then the Mayor, with a twinkle in his eye asked me, how about the kid he wants an apology from? I suggested if that will help us to get continuing support for the program I could bring a busload of kids to Washington for a mass apology. Lindsay laughed and said now Schrank you just forget about that and added that he would handle the apology issue. And yes, after a few more days the kids got bored and went home. Other than some old Pizza boxes there had been no destruction at the Federal Office

I am sure that in all the memorial remembrances of Willard Wirtz this story might not have been told. Yet it was memorable at the time indicating the kind of gap that existed between the worlds of the Bedford Stuyvesent and Washington DC.