Tyree Scott 1940-2003.(in memory)(Obituary)

Tyree Scott, an organizer who dedicated his life to the struggle for justice for workers around the world, co-founder of the Northwest Labor and Employment Law Office (LELO), died of prostate cancer on June 19 at age 63.

Born in Wharton County, Texas on May 29, 1940, Tyree Scott spent his lifetime working for racial justice. He led and worked with people of all backgrounds in a variety of social justice movements. Tyree was a retired electrician and member of IBEW, Local 46. He most recently worked on the Seattle waterfront repairing and maintaining the shipping cranes.

In the late 1960s, Tyree helped found the United Construction Workers' Association (UCWA) and organized other black workers in Seattle to force their way into the construction trades unions and win jobs at living wages as well as the right to join the union. Following on their success in Seattle, Tyree led a team of organizers to help black workers throughout the south-western United States organize to win access to jobs in heavy industry and construction in dozens of cities.

He then joined with Filipino American cannery workers to protest racial segregation in the Alaska canning industry and stood arm-in-arm with Asian Americans to fight the Marcos dictatorship of the Philippines.

In 1972, along with Filipino activists Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, Tyree built a human rights organization, LELO, that united black, Asian and Latino workers under ...