click link
snip
Retired Steelworkers honor Jane Becker with scholarship fund
GIVING BACK: Retired Steelworker Virginia Ohlen (left) returns her drawing winnings to the SOAR scholarship fund, to the delight of Chapter President Jeff Rains and Recording Secretary Dorothy Asbury.
– Labor Tribune photo
– Labor Tribune photo
By CARL GREEN
Illinois Correspondent
Pontoon Beach IL – It was a time of great pride for Metro East Steelworkers when one of their own, George Becker, was elected the union’s international president in 1993.
Becker served through 2001, and he remains highly regarded for leading the union through mergers, reorganization, tough bargaining and safety improvements, years after his death in 2007.
But people here have also been proud of the efforts of his wife, Jane Becker, who died on July 19, 2013. She was an organizer and mentor for union and political workers, was active with charities, and played a vital role in helping to found Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR), the national retirees group.
GEORGE
BECKER
BECKER
So at its well-attended Christmas luncheon on Dec. 9 at the Venice Social Club in Pontoon Beach, the Retirees’ Local Chapter 7-34-2 honored Jane Becker by naming its scholarship program for her, just when the program is in an expansion mode.
The group’s scholarship chairman, Norma Gaines, said she thinks of Jane Becker whenever the group gets together each month.
“A lot of the people remember her efforts to form SOAR,” Gaines said. “It was an idea that was a long time in coming.”
Having the group has been important to members, she said. “Everybody still likes to see each other. It’s a great thing.”
One retired Steelworker, Bob Means, stood up at the luncheon to recall Jane Becker’s kindness when Means and his wife moved to Pittsburgh in 1984 to work for the international union staff.
JANE
BECKER
BECKER
“We didn’t know anyone there or what to do,” Means recalled. “Jane took us under her wing a
No comments:
Post a Comment