I first met the Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. when I volunteered for his 1984 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. That was only a short time after I heard him speak at a rally called to end the U.S. Navy’s decades-long practice of bombing and destroying the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. As Jesse addressed the crowd I was struck by his stage presence, his oratory and his grasp of the issues.

When I learned of his passing in February, the news struck me like a thunderbolt, although I knew that he had been gravely ill. His death reminded me how important he was in my life as well as the life of our Union.

Shortly after our Save Our Union slate won the Union leadership, we asked Jesse to join the campaign to raise the dreadful standards for our recently organized homecare workers. Cardinal John Joseph O’Connor, the Archbishop of New York, agreed to meet with Jesse and to join our crusade.

The Cardinal’s and Jesse’s involvement in our campaign, “Invisible No More,” helped these workers, primarily women of color, move out of the shadows and into the daylight. That involvement helped build public and political support and embolden the members.

As a result of the campaign, members were able to more than double their wages, and win healthcare benefits, a small pension, vacation pay and other benefits for the first time.

In 1988, Jesse asked 1199 to use our headquarters for his second run for the presidency. He asked me to take charge of the Latino outreach in the state.

Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis won the state primary, but Jesse won New York City. His campaign galvanized the city’s progressive movement and set the stage for the 1989 mayoral campaign. Many of the “Run, Jesse Run” leaders and activists formed the backbone of David Dinkins’ mayoral coalition. The city’s first Black mayor acknowledged that his victory would not have been possible without the 1988 Jackson campaign.

Later, former President Barack Obama would credit Jesse with paving the path for his 2008 ascension to the highest office in the land.

That same year, 1989, was also my first year as president of our union. Our greatest challenge was negotiations with the NY League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes. Our leadership determined that we had to hurry to reconstitute our delegate body. In 1984, the former leadership had called out members on a disastrous 47-day strike, and that defeat was fresh in members’ minds.

We decided we had to proceed with caution and set in motion an ambitious plan to reconstitute our delegate body and elect contract captains.

A central component of our contract campaign was a series of one-day strikes. The response was overwhelming. Each action brought tens of thousands of people into the streets. And marching with us was Jesse. He inspired members with chants of “I Am Somebody” and “Keep Hope Alive.”

In the end, this campaign won historic contracts. Key to the victory was Cardinal O’Connor’s early agreement to all of our contract demands. An October 8 New York Times headline read, “Local 1199 is Back. The Hospital Workers Are the Envy of Labor Now.”

I was honored the next year when Jesse asked me to accompany him to South Africa as one of the few Americans to greet Nelson Mandela, the leader of the anti-apartheid movement, after his 27-year imprisonment.