Sol Berman was born November 14, 1918 in New York City. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1935 and attended City College of New York, receiving a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1939. In 1940, Mr. Berman was employed at the Air King Radio Company in Brooklyn, New York, whose workers were represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (I.B.E.W.) Local B-1010. On May 6, 1940, objecting to certain actions of the I.B.E.W. International, Air King workers, including Mr. Berman, called an emergency membership meeting where they voted to drop their I.B.E.W. affiliation and affiliate instead with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) as UE Local 430. A few weeks later, on May 17th, a lockout of approximately a third of the workforce was initiated by the Air King Radio Company. Sol Berman was chosen to head UE Local 430's Lockout/Strike Committee. One of his responsibilities was to solicit funds from other unions to help support the local during the lockout. After 1941, Mr. Berman left Air King for a series of positions in the engineering field, interrupted by service in the U.S. Army during World War II.
From the description of Collection of Sol Berman, 1940. (University of Pittsburgh). WorldCat record id: 50256489
