A ‘champion of Connecticut workers’
Former labor commissioner, key union activist dies at 77
HARTFORD — Friends and colleagues are mourning the death of Sharon Palmer, a well-respected teachers union leader who later rose to a top post as state labor commissioner. She died Friday at her homeinWaterford at the age of 77.
Palmer was among the best-known union leaders in the state and testified often at the Capitol in Hartford. Alongtime supporter of Democratic causes, she worked closely with top union leaders fromaroundthe state in the state AFL-CIO.
Palmer served as the president of the Connecticut state chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, where she worked closely with longtime leader and activist Leo Canty. In her heyday, Palmer was known as a passionate Irish firebrand and a union powerhouse with deep connections in the labor movement.
With wide respect among labor, Palmer wasnominated in August 2012 by then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to be the new state labor commissioner. Sheeventually retired in 2015 after a 58-year working career.
After her nomination, Palmer told The Courant in an interview that “never in my wildest dreams” did she believe that one day she would become the labor commissioner. She said she had been recruited for the position after the unions had clashed with Malloy on various matters, including the controversial issues of teacher tenure and expanding charter schools.
In his 2012 State of the State Address, Malloy said all teachers had to do was “show up for four years” to get tenure. At the time, Palmer said Malloy’s characterization “was a bit harsh and incorrect, but I think we can work our way through it.”
A registered Democrat, Palmer served in a leadership role at AFTConnecticut, the state’s second-largest teachers union, from 1987 through 2012. She initially served as a first vice president and later served for two years as executive vice president. She then became president in July 2003 and held that position until moving to the state labor department.
“Sharon offered countless examples of inspiration that helped me gain the courage to step up and run for union office myself,” Jan Hochadel, the current AFT president in Connecticut, said in a message to colleagues. “Muchof the credit for the strength and solidarity of our state federation today goes to Sharon for her decades at the helm. The best way to honor her memory is to carry on the fight for a better future for all working families that guided so much of her life.”
Democratic state chairwoman Nancy DiNardo said, “Sharon Palmer was a great champion of Connecticut workers and a leader who gave her all in the fight for equality andjustice. She embodied the ideals of the Democratic Party, and I was lucky to work with her and to call her my friend.’’
Before rising in her union posts, Palmer worked as a junior high school teacher — teaching math, science and working in the gifted and talented program in Waterford. While there, she waspresident and treasurer of the local teachers union.
“Today the world lost a powerhouse, a womanthatwasaforcetobereckonedwith,” Palmer’s daughter, Kerry O’Neill, said on Facebook. “A person who worked tirelessly for the betterment of our municipality, our state, its people, our education system, the working people and all that encompasses what is right and just in this world.”
Born in Middletown in 1943, Palmer graduated from East Hampton High School and received a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph College in 1965. She later received a master’s degree in marine science from Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic.
A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church in New London. Shewill be buried in St. MaryCemetery.