Powers, Bertram.

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1922, Bertram Powers dropped out of high school to join the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1939, after suffering severe leg and hip fractures when run over by a truck, he learned the printing trade at Fitchburg State Teachers College in Massachusetts.

After holding a series of short-term jobs, Powers moved to New York City in 1946, where he joined International Typographical Union (ITU) Local 6. First elected to the Executive Board of the Local in 1948, he then became vice-president in 1953, and president in 1961.

In December 1962, he called the first New York strike in the history of the ITU which targeted major dailies such as the New York Times, Journal-American and the Daily News . The infamous strike resulted in lost revenues of approximately $108 million for the newspapers involved and was blamed for the closing of the Daily Mirror, Herald-Tribune, Journal-American and World-Telegram, an accusation which Powers vehemently denied. Severe criticism from national leaders, including President John F. Kennedy, was leveled against Powers during the strike. The strike ended in April 1963, thanks to a settlement hammered out by New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. which included an increase in wages and the establishment of a common expiration date for all newspaper-union contracts. In exchange, Local 6 agreed to limited use of automated equipment.

In 1973, Powers negotiated a new contract which guaranteed lifetime employment for printers in exchange for allowing their jobs to be phased out by automation. Local 6 suffered a drastic decline in membership as automation took over, and in 1987 merged with the Communications Workers of America. Powers retired in 1990, and died in December 2006.

Sources:

From the guide to the Bertram Powers Papers and Photographs, Bulk, 1961-1990, 1898-1990; bulk, 1961-1990, (Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive)