Stanley Eisenstein, Class of 1973, was recently honored with the Walter Reuther Award from the United Automobile Workers (UAW). The award is the highest that the union bestows, and it has rarely been given to a non-UAW member. 

Eisenstein has a long and accomplished history in labor law. He has handled over five hundred complaints issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for labor union clients, which is an unprecedented number for any labor attorney, on either the management or labor side. He was actively involved as a primary litigator for the UAW before the NLRB and numerous Federal and State courts in the unprecedented labor dispute between the UAW and Caterpillar Corp. during the 1990’s. He has been inducted as a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, the highest recognition by one’s colleagues nationally of sustained outstanding performance in the field of labor and employment law exemplifying integrity, dedication and excellence. Eisenstein has repeatedly been recognized by his peers in the field of labor and employment law, including most recently as top Labor Union Attorney in Illinois (Leading Lawyers, 2018).

Of the award, Eisenstein said, "What makes it such a unique honor is not only the exalted labor history of the UAW (and my firm's  longtime relationship with the UAW as its oldest  Regional Counsel) but the importance of Walter Reuther."

Walter Reuther was president of the UAW for over 20 years, and grew the organization to one of the largest unions in the United States. Reuther is widely regarded as the leading labor intellectual of his age, a champion of industrial democracy and civil rights who used the collective bargaining process and labor's political influence to advance the cause of social justice for all Americans.