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Charles McDonald, Retired Staff, Dies
Charles M. McDonald, 73, a retired CWA representative, died Sept. 11 of an apparent brain hemorrhage following a fall.
McDonald, a lineman, installer and repairman for New York Telephone Co. from 1947 to 1962, established himself as a union builder under then-New York State Director Morton Bahr, in a three-year campaign to organize New York Tel’s downstate plant unit.
“He joined the in-plant committee in 1958,” recalled Bahr, now CWA president. “His contribution was such, we won by 454 votes out of 18,000 that we couldn’t have won without him. When the New York Times reported our victory in February 1961, the reporter wrote about the bedlam that broke out among CWA supporters. Charlie’s name was the only one mentioned because of the way he began celebrating our victory.”
McDonald’s commitment lead him to be elected the first president of CWA Local 1104, in Nassau County. The Long Island local was established to represent members of the plant unit.
In September 1963, he was hired as a temporary CWA staff representative and, in January 1964, was selected by CWA founding President Joseph A. Beirne to participate in staff training at the University of Michigan. He was hired as a CWA representative in August 1964, and in keeping with the custom at that time of assigning reps to locations away from their home locals, McDonald served two years in the Milwaukee, Wis., office prior to his assignment in July 1967 to the District 1 headquarters in New York City.
He retired in February 1983 and resided in Scottsdale, Ariz., at the time of his death.
McDonald, a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, is survived by his wife Mildred, of Scottsdale; two sons, Charles Jr. of Lake Mary, Fla. and Timothy G. of Massapequa, N.Y.; three daughters, Kathleen Sausa of Phoenix, Ariz., Maureen McDonald of Selden, N.Y., and Christine Hammel of Fort Collins, Colo.; three sisters, Eileen Kiesel of Deer Park, Geraldine Donahue of Garden City and Ann Jenks of Ridge, N.Y.; and seven grandchildren.
McDonald, a lineman, installer and repairman for New York Telephone Co. from 1947 to 1962, established himself as a union builder under then-New York State Director Morton Bahr, in a three-year campaign to organize New York Tel’s downstate plant unit.
“He joined the in-plant committee in 1958,” recalled Bahr, now CWA president. “His contribution was such, we won by 454 votes out of 18,000 that we couldn’t have won without him. When the New York Times reported our victory in February 1961, the reporter wrote about the bedlam that broke out among CWA supporters. Charlie’s name was the only one mentioned because of the way he began celebrating our victory.”
McDonald’s commitment lead him to be elected the first president of CWA Local 1104, in Nassau County. The Long Island local was established to represent members of the plant unit.
In September 1963, he was hired as a temporary CWA staff representative and, in January 1964, was selected by CWA founding President Joseph A. Beirne to participate in staff training at the University of Michigan. He was hired as a CWA representative in August 1964, and in keeping with the custom at that time of assigning reps to locations away from their home locals, McDonald served two years in the Milwaukee, Wis., office prior to his assignment in July 1967 to the District 1 headquarters in New York City.
He retired in February 1983 and resided in Scottsdale, Ariz., at the time of his death.
McDonald, a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, is survived by his wife Mildred, of Scottsdale; two sons, Charles Jr. of Lake Mary, Fla. and Timothy G. of Massapequa, N.Y.; three daughters, Kathleen Sausa of Phoenix, Ariz., Maureen McDonald of Selden, N.Y., and Christine Hammel of Fort Collins, Colo.; three sisters, Eileen Kiesel of Deer Park, Geraldine Donahue of Garden City and Ann Jenks of Ridge, N.Y.; and seven grandchildren.