Louis B. Knecht, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus, Dies at 90

CWA Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus Louis ("Louie") B. Knecht, a longtime union leader who helped guide CWA through a period of tremendous growth and transition, died Feb. 5. He was 90. He stepped down as Secretary-Treasurer in 1985 after more than 38 years of service to CWA.

Knecht started working in the industry in 1947 as a telephone repairman on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in New Mexico, where his father ran the reservation's hospital. He became a union activist with CWA Local 9505 while working at Pacific Telephone and Telegraph in Los Angeles. Angered at being unfairly passed over for an installer's job, Knecht got involved in his local, serving as a steward, secretary-treasurer and member of the local bargaining committee.

Knecht joined the CWA staff in 1950, serving first in Southern California, and then at CWA headquarters in Washington, D.C., as assistant education director. In 1953, he returned to the West Coast to become the assistant director for CWA District 9. Knecht was elected the district's director two years later and served until 1965, when he was appointed assistant to CWA President Joe Beirne.

Knecht was elected as executive vice president in 1971, and as secretary-treasurer in 1974. Throughout his union career, he was active in politics, serving as a member of the National Democratic Committee's Finance Council and in many other posts where he fought for workers' rights.