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Retired District 6 VP Victor C. Crawley Dies
Victor C. Crawley, retired District 6 vice president, died Jan. 10 at his home in Manchester, Mo. He was 73.
"Vic was a visionary," said T.O. Moses, retired CWA vice president for Telecommunications. "He was a tutor, a co-worker and, most of all, my friend."
Ben Turn Jr., who succeeded Crawley in office, said Crawley was a "pioneer" in making organizing a top priority at the district and local levels. "He was really a great guy and loved every member of every local," Turn said.
Crawley got his start as a frame technician with Indiana Bell in 1951 and became active in South Bend, Ind., Local 5707. He served over the years as local vice president and then president. He also attended St. Louis University in Missouri.
He joined the union staff in 1962 in St. Louis and in 1969 became an area director, then transferred to the CWA District 5 office based in Chicago, where he became an assistant to Vice President Ray Stevens in 1971.
He returned to District 6 the next year as an administrative assistant to Vice President D.L. McCowen and was promoted to assistant to Vice President T.O. Parsons in 1986. Crawley was elected district vice president, headquartered in St. Louis, in April 1992.
Moses, hired as a CWA representative in 1967, met Crawley in St. Louis that year. He said Crawley was "the district organizer," who worked on numerous campaigns and helped about 500 Missouri state workers successfully organize in the mid-'70s. "The group is much larger, now," Moses said. He was also instrumental in helping Texas state workers organize.
Moses said he and Crawley worked on CWA convention Resolution 1, the "Triple Threat," in the late '60s. The Triple Threat evolved to become the CWA Triangle, the present day union's foundation of organizing, collective bargaining and political action.
Turn, who was Crawley's assistant at the time, said Crawley started in 1992 to lay the groundwork for the massive card check and neutrality agreement for SBC and its subsidiaries including Cingular, which Turn completed when he took over as vice president in 1996, following Crawley's retirement. The agreement has since spread nationwide.
Crawley's survivors include his wife, Margaret, sons David and Patrick, daughters Nancy Peterson, Vicki Kuehnel, Patti Karleskint and Margaret Anne Owens and 12 grandchildren.
District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn said Crawley requested memorial contributions be made to the Joe Beirne Foundation to fund scholarships for CWA members and families.
"Vic was a visionary," said T.O. Moses, retired CWA vice president for Telecommunications. "He was a tutor, a co-worker and, most of all, my friend."
Ben Turn Jr., who succeeded Crawley in office, said Crawley was a "pioneer" in making organizing a top priority at the district and local levels. "He was really a great guy and loved every member of every local," Turn said.
Crawley got his start as a frame technician with Indiana Bell in 1951 and became active in South Bend, Ind., Local 5707. He served over the years as local vice president and then president. He also attended St. Louis University in Missouri.
He joined the union staff in 1962 in St. Louis and in 1969 became an area director, then transferred to the CWA District 5 office based in Chicago, where he became an assistant to Vice President Ray Stevens in 1971.
He returned to District 6 the next year as an administrative assistant to Vice President D.L. McCowen and was promoted to assistant to Vice President T.O. Parsons in 1986. Crawley was elected district vice president, headquartered in St. Louis, in April 1992.
Moses, hired as a CWA representative in 1967, met Crawley in St. Louis that year. He said Crawley was "the district organizer," who worked on numerous campaigns and helped about 500 Missouri state workers successfully organize in the mid-'70s. "The group is much larger, now," Moses said. He was also instrumental in helping Texas state workers organize.
Moses said he and Crawley worked on CWA convention Resolution 1, the "Triple Threat," in the late '60s. The Triple Threat evolved to become the CWA Triangle, the present day union's foundation of organizing, collective bargaining and political action.
Turn, who was Crawley's assistant at the time, said Crawley started in 1992 to lay the groundwork for the massive card check and neutrality agreement for SBC and its subsidiaries including Cingular, which Turn completed when he took over as vice president in 1996, following Crawley's retirement. The agreement has since spread nationwide.
Crawley's survivors include his wife, Margaret, sons David and Patrick, daughters Nancy Peterson, Vicki Kuehnel, Patti Karleskint and Margaret Anne Owens and 12 grandchildren.
District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn said Crawley requested memorial contributions be made to the Joe Beirne Foundation to fund scholarships for CWA members and families.