Martin Joseph Ward (September 25, 1918 – October 9, 1982) was an American labor union leader. Born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Ward attended the Washburne Trade School from 1937, studying plumbing, during which time, he joined the

United Association The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, commonly known as the United Association (UA), is a labor union which represents workers in the plumbing and pipefitti ...

(UA) union. Ward served in the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, then after the war became an apprentice instructor for his union local. From 1952, he was business manager of the local, then in 1958, he was elected as assistant secretary-treasurer of the international union. During this period, he also served as secretary of the Illinois Building Trades Association. In 1966, Ward was elected as secretary-treasurer of the UA, becoming assistant to the president in 1969, and then president of the union in 1971. The following year, he was additionally elected as a vice-president of the

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

, and thereafter devoted much of his time to the federation. In particular, he was prominent in the federation's international affairs, in which he was a strong opponent of communism, and led negotiations for the federation to rejoin the

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 whe ...

. He was also an advisor to the U.S. workers' representative to the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

. Ward died in 1982, while still in office.

References

1918 births 1982 deaths American trade union leaders Activists from Chicago Trade unionists from Illinois Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO {{trade-unionist-bio-stub