George F. Addes (August 26, 1911 – June 19, 1990) was a founder of the
United Automobile Workers of America (UAW) union and its secretary-treasurer from 1936 until 1947.
Along with
R. J. Thomas
Roland Jay Thomas (June 9, 1900 – April 18, 1967), also known as R. J. Thomas, was a left-wing leader of the American automobile workers union in the 1930s and 1940s. He grew up in eastern Ohio and attended the College of Wooster for t ...
and
Richard Frankensteen, he was a leader of the pro-Communist left-wing faction of the UAW.
Background
George F.Addes was born on August 26, 1911, in
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census ...
, came from
Lebanese
Lebanese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Lebanese Republic
* Lebanese people
The Lebanese people ( ar, الشعب اللبناني / ALA-LC: ', ) are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may al ...
ancestry, and grew up in
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...
.
[
]
Career
At age 17, Addes went to work at the Willys Overland plant in Toledo.[
Addes and Richard Frankensteen led a major faction of the UAW, supporting ]piecework
Piece work (or piecework) is any type of employment in which a worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed, regardless of time.
Context
When paying a worker, employers can use various methods and combinations o ...
and incentive pay in auto plants. The other faction, led by Walter Reuther
Walter Philip Reuther (; September 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970) was an American leader of organized labor and civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history. He ...
, accused them both of being communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
s. Addes participated in the Battle of the Overpass.[
After leaving the UAW, Addes joined ]Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles ...
, from which he retired in 1975.[
]
Personal life and death
Addes married Gloria Saba; they had three children.[
George F. Addes died age 79 on June 19, 1990, at the Bon Secours Hospital in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.][
]
See also
* Battle of the Overpass
* Communists in the U.S. Labor Movement (1919-1937)
References
Further reading
* Barnard, John, ''American Vanguard: A History of the United Auto Workers, 1935–1970'' (2004) .
* Fink, Gary M. Biographical Dictionary of American Labor Leaders(Greenwood Press, 1974). pp. 4-5.
* Halpern, Martin. "The 1939 UAW convention: Turning point for communist power in the auto union?" ''Labor History'' 33.2 (1992): 190-216.
* Kraus, Henry. ''Heroes of Unwritten Story: The UAW, 1934–1939'' (University of Illinois Press, 1993).
External links
UAW War Policy Collection
American politicians of Lebanese descent
Politicians from La Crosse, Wisconsin
1911 births
1990 deaths
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