Union People
Young women in GW High’s Auto Shop covered
on KPIX-TV News
The auto shop class at George Washington High School in San Francisco is seeing more female students seeking to get into the traditionally male-dominated industry. Meet some of the young women in the class. Lauren Toms reports for KPIX-TV.
Honoring a hard-working local leader
On July 18, the IAM Western Territory awarded Tom Swanger with the HAWK award for his hard work and dedication to the local lodge. “Since the day I met Tom in 2014, when he was serving as Recording Secretary, he has always put the local’s best interests first,” says District 190 Business Rep Jerry Guttierez. “Others don’t always agree with his tactics, but often, we find that it’s the best option for the local.” In 2019, the local was put into trusteeship. “The next two years seemed like an eternity, but Tom always kept a positive spirt. After we were reinstated as officers of the local, it was all hands on deck.” In 2021, with the new officers in place—Tom as Secretary Treasurer, Jerry as President, Will Morris as Vice President and Erik Rubio as Recording Secretary—the group went to work. “Under Tom’s leadership, our local has prospered and has begun to grow its membership.” Tom rebuilt the union’s dues structure to make it more fair. “Tom earned the award. He is always engaged some way with our local,” Gutierrez adds. “Tom works a 12-15 hour job and the rest of the day he is working to meet the local’s needs.”
On behalf of the local, Gutierrez congratulated Tom. “Even though I’m not the president anymore, I will always help Tom out with our local. Let’s go 1584 fighting machinists!”
In Memoriam Robert Moffatt
February 24, 1937 – May 28, 2024
Bob Moffatt joined the Machinists Union in 1955 at age 18. He worked for 26 years at the Frieden Calculator and Sherwin Williams Can, and held the positions of stop steward, chief steward and president of what’s now Local 1584. In 1982, Bob joined the staff of District Lodge 115 as a business representative and stayed on board when that district merged with District Lodge 190. All told, he worked as a Business Rep for 17 years until he retired in 1999. Upon retiring, Bob’s message to District 190 members was “Do everything you can to keep on organizing. It’s the only way to keep the union alive.” As he told The Sparkplug, “I just think about how lucky people are to have a union to represent them. My dad and grandfather were both in unions and it was a fight to get in, literally,” he said. “People got hurt back then.” According to Herman Howell, former Directing Business Rep for District 115 and Assistant DBR for District 190, “Bob and I worked together for almost 25 years; we were colleagues and good friends. I know he was trusted by the membership and always worked hard on their behalf.”
Bob is survived by his wife of 65 years, Pat, his children Karen, Donald and Diane, and several grandchildren and great grandchildren. He will be deeply missed.