Category: Labor

PARRISH, BERNARD PAUL “BERNIE” (29 April 1936-23 October 2019) was a football player and union organizer in the NFL.

PEPPERCORN, BERYL (25 Apr. 1887-28 May 1969), was a founder and longtime head of the AMALGAMATED CLOTHING WORKERS OF AMERICA  (ACWA) in Cleveland and one of the city's most influential labor leaders.

PODOJIL, ANTOINETTE "TONI" (9 Oct. 1911 - 4 Jan. 1998) was a labor leader and lifelong social activist known as a strong advocate for human rights. She was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania to Lucy (Pokrzewicki) and Adam Podowski. The family moved to the southeast side of Cleveland when she was eight.

PRESSER, JACKIE (6 Aug. 1926-9 July 1988), son of labor leader WILLIAM PRESSER, was head of the 1.6 million-member Teamster Union and served as labor advisor to President Ronald Reagan.

PRESSER, WlLLlAM E. (14 July 1907-18 July 1981) was a labor organizer and an influential Teamster union official who played a key role in the union's growth. The oldest of 6 children of Benjamin and Yetta Presser, William was born in Cleveland where he attended local schools until he was 16. Presser had numerous jobs during the depression, and by 1939 was employed by several local unions to recruit members.

RUSSIANS. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian community of Greater Cleveland and Cuyahoga County has grown substantially.

The SOUTHWORTH HOUSE located at 3334 Prospect Ave. was built in 1879 for W. P. Southworth Company Founder, William Palmer Southworth and his wife Louise M. Stark. W. P.

STEELYARD COMMONS  is a 130 acre shopping center which sits on the former site of an LTV STEEL finishing mill in the industrial Flats in the

The TEAMSTERS UNION, officially the Intl. Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen, & Helpers, is one of the largest and most powerful labor unions operating in Cleveland. Organized locally in 1912, Local 407 was chartered to unionize men employed as draymen and teamsters for hauling and delivery services.

TOTH, JOHN, JR. (7 Nov. 1897-8 Sept. 1960) was, for more than 23 years, a business representative of the International Association of Machinists.

TURNER, JAMES K. (6 May 1864-27 Sept. 1916), expert on industrial mediation and the labor questions of his time, was born in Chicago, son of James K. and Ellen (Brady) Turner. He received his early education in Athens, New York. In 1899 he came to Cleveland to continue his writing on the need for mediation and education to promote cooperation between capital and labor on a basis of equaliy and justice.

TUSSEY, RICHARD B. (7 Nov. 1918-5 June 1981) was an ardent campaigner for liberal causes. A dedicated unionist, his motto was "to make life better for working people." Born to Jesse and Romaine Berlin Tussey in Pittsburgh, PA, Richard completed elementary and high school there, and then pursued course with various labor organizations.

TYPOGRAPHICAL WORKERS UNION LOCAL NO. 53, the oldest existing trade union in Cleveland, received its charter on 26 July 1860 from the National Typographical Union (later renamed the Intl. Typographical Union—ITU). After an unsuccessful strike in 1865, it disbanded but was reorganized in 1868.

UNIONS. See LABOR.


The UNITED AUTO WORKERS, officially the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Workers, represented over 60,000 workers in Cleveland by 1986. The UAW was organized nationally in 1934 as a federal union by the craft-oriented AFL, which half-heartedly incorporated the diverse auto industry into its ranks, but did little to organize the workers.

UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS LOCAL 45 at General Motors FISHER BODY plant on Coit Rd. launched the UAW strike in 1937 which culminated in GM's acceptance of the union as the bargaining agent for its workers. Local 45 began as United Automobile Workers Federal Local 18614 affiliated with the AFL, which was dominated by the craft unions.

The UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS was formed nationally by the 5 June 1979 merger of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen of America and the Retail Clerks Intl. Assn. The national merger was followed locally by the 5 Sept.

The UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF AMERICA in Cleveland has its roots in the 1870s with the formation of local branches of the Amalgamated Assn. of Iron, Steel & Tin Workers beginning ca. 1877. The amalgamated was involved in the CLEVELAND ROLLING MILL STRIKES of 1882 and 1885 and remained active locally until 1892.

WICAL, NOEL (29 Jan. 1910-18 April 1993) copy editor at the Cleveland Press and leader of the Cleveland Newspaper Guild, was born in Wilmington, Ohio, the son of Frank W. and Clara B. Morris Wical. After graduation from Bethany College in 1932, he taught high school English at Tiltonville, Ohio and in 1934 began teaching at Mentor High School.

WILLIAMS, WHITING (11 Mar. 1878-14 Apr. 1975), author and lecturer on labor and management problems, was born in Shelby, Ohio to Benjamin J. and Ida Whiting Williams, graduated from Oberlin College (1899) and studied at the University of Berlin (1899-1900) and University of Chicago (1900-01) before managing the Bureau of University Travel (1901-04).

WOHL, MAX (20 Sept. 1908 - 27 Oct. 1999) was a life long socialist, a former chair of the American Civil Liberties Union of Cleveland and an executive for Tremco Manufacturing Co. He was born in Cleveland to Sarah (Chenkin) and Solomon Wohl. After graduating from East Technical High School in 1928, he went to work as an office boy for Tremco. He was vice president of finance when he took early retirement in 1969.

YOUNG, MERRILL A. (15 Aug. 1905-5 Jan. 1993) labor relations expert, was born in Lulu, Michigan, the son of Charles and Sophia Solwich Young. After graduation from Windham, Ohio high school, he came to Cleveland in the 1920s and began working as a shipping clerk at Cleveland Graphite Bronze, eventually mastering all aspects of bearing manufacture.