Labor leader Victor Gotbaum dies; helped NYC, and its workers, get through 1970s fiscal crisis

NEW YORK – An influential New York labor leader who both fought City Hall and helped it survive its 1970s fiscal crisis has died. Victor Gotbaum (GAHT'-bowm) was 93.

Noah Gotbaum says his father died Sunday at home in New York. He says the cause hasn't been determined.

Victor Gotbaum led the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees' District Council 37 from 1965 to 1987.

In 1975, banks were hesitating to keep extending the city credit because of huge budget debt. Then-Mayor Abraham Beame sought to stave off potential bankruptcy by laying off thousands of city workers and canceling a planned 6-percent raise.

Gotbaum worked with state and city officials to strike key compromises. The raise was deferred. The unions also used pension funds to buy city bonds.