O'Malley, Patrick J., 1903-1983

O'MALLEY, PATRICK (1903-14 June 1983), leader of the UNITED AUTO WORKERS and AFL-CIO, was born in County Mayo, Ireland, to Charles and Anna (McGinty) O'Malley. He immigrated to Cleveland in 1924, and joined WHITE MOTOR CO. in 1928 as an inventory checker and timekeeper, a position he held for 21 years. When the CIO organized White in 1932, he became a member; he eventually held every position in the local. The CIO turned its efforts toward ridding itself of Communists in the late 1940s; as president of the CLEVELAND INDUSTRIAL UNION COUNCIL after 1948, O'Malley helped purge the regional body as well as individual unions of leftists. When he became a UAW regional director in 1949, O'Malley quit his job at White. He was reelected until he reached 65, a mandatory retirement age he had pressed for years before. As the AFL and CIO tried to amalgamate on a national level, O'Malley forged the merger locally, becoming part-time president from 1958-68 and full-time president from 1968-70. Ironically, O'Malley became CLEVELAND FED. OF LABOR president when the UAW was suspended over nonpayment of dues, so O'Malley secured membership in the Internatl. Assoc. of Machinists. He resigned in 1970 to serve as foreman of the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury, later serving on the Cuyahoga County Commission on Aging. Sensitive to struggles in Ireland, he led Freedom for Ireland supporters who confronted Prince Charles when he dedicated the Cleveland State University Law School in 1977. O'Malley married Mary Masterson on 12 Apr. 1928; they had 2 children, Patricia (Rattay) and Nancy (McNamara).