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12 February, 2007
The ICEM and its family of trade unions were saddened to learn of the death of former United Steelworkers (USW) President George Becker. He died, at the age of 78, on 3 February in the US state of Pennsylvania.
Becker was responsible for bringing several USW labour disputes to a global stage, and then using his passion and tenacity to resolve those disputes with positive gains for members of his union. Those major disputes included a lockout by a Swiss holding company of 1,700 USW members at Ravenswood Aluminium in the state of West Virginia, and a bitter dispute between Japanese-owned tyre-maker Bridgestone/Firestone and 6,000 rubber workers at several US plants.
Brother Becker was elected USW president in 1993 and won re-election again in 1997. He retired from union office in 2001, but remained extremely active for the USW, following his retirement, on fair trade issues in Washington, DC. He was engaged in the work of both the ICEM and its predecessor, ICEF.
George Becker
Born the son of a steelworker in Granite City, state of Illinois, Becker knew at an early age of the advantages that trade unionism brought. He began working in a steel mill in Granite City as a teenager. Following US military service in both World War II and the Korean Conflict, he worked at a Dow Chemical aluminium rolling mill in Illinois, where he was a shop steward. He was elected president of the local union there in 1961.
In 1965, he was appointed a staff representative of the USW, a post from which he became a tireless advocate for health and safety. By 1969, he was brought to USW’s headquarters as a health and safety technician, and became an expert witness on lead poisoning before the US Congress as it passed the Occupational Health and Safety Act in 1970. In 1985, he won election as the union’s vice president for administration, a position he was elected to again before becoming USW president.
“Trade union leaders the world over knew of the resolve and courage of George Becker whenever he took on a crucial labour issue,” wrote ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda to current USW President Leo Gerard. “We will never forget his direction and fortitude in leading stop-work actions at Bridgestone factories in several countries on behalf of US workers of that company in the 1990s. The ICEM was proud to stand with George and the Steelworkers Union in these very effective actions.”
Gerard said of Becker: “He was a powerful voice for the interests of our members. He had a unique ability to give voice to the frustrations and concerns of workers, their right to be treated with dignity and decency – values he believed in deeply.”
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Jane, three sons, ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.