A former union head, former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Green Bay Packers' C-E-O Mark Murphy are among those praising Ed Garvey, the progressive activist who died Wednesday.
The 76-year-old Burlington native ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for governor and U-S Senate, and fought Parkinson's disease when he died at a nursing home this week in Verona.
Michael Murphyof the town of Newbold in Oneida county was president of the AFSCME Council 40 in Madison for 18 years and had worked with Garvey, especially during the time when Garvey ran against Senator Bob Kasten in the mid-1980's...
"....what struck me the most was he was always so enthusiastic and energetic for fighting for the little guy. That's why he was such a passionate supporter of labor unions who he felt would actually enhance the lives or regular working people...."
Michael Murphy says Garvey left a lot of energy behind and trained people in politics..
"...such a sad thing these days that people are so down on politics because if we aren't the politicians and if the government is not working right, it's us, we are the government. Trying to make the government 'the other', well, that's not what Ed was about. He wanted to make the government about the people...."
Bernie Sanders was among those speaking at the annual Fighting Bob Fests which Garvey helped organize in the Madison area. Sanders said he first met Garvey when he came to Vermont to try and save "good paying union railroad jobs."
The Packers Mark Murphy cited Garvey's 14 years as the first director of the N-F-L players' union, saying he brought "professionalism and a structure" to the group -- and Murphy said Garvey fought the league on everything.
