Retired Top Staffer Handley Dies

Michael I. Handley, 74, retired assistant to the vice president of District 4, passed away suddenly in his sleep May 18. From a career spanning 27 years of service to CWA, he is remembered as chief negotiator of the union's collective bargaining agreements with Ameritech during the 1970s and 1980s and for his extensive activity in support of the Michigan state AFL-CIO.

"Mike left an inheritance for each of us," said District 4 Vice President Jeffrey Rechenbach, "an inheritance that taught us to always have a smile and a kind word, an inheritance of giving to your community, and an inheritance of speaking out against injustice in the workplace."

Bob Shukwit, retired president of CWA Local 4008 and Paul Seldenright, political director of the Michigan AFL-CIO, also eulogized the former CWA leader at a memorial service in Waterford, Mich.

Handley, employed as a dispatcher by Southern Bell Telephone Co. from 1948 to 1966, began his union career as a steward and rose to the job of president of CWA Local 3805 in Knoxville, Tenn. He also served as president of the Knoxville Central Labor Council.

Handley joined the union staff in 1966 and served as a CWA representative in both the Lansing and Detroit, Mich. offices. In March 1972 he became South Georgia director and rose quickly to the position of assistant to the vice president of District 3.

Transferred to CWA's Cleveland, Ohio office in May 1978, Handley became administrative assistant to District 4 Vice President Martin J. Hughes. He was promoted to assistant to the vice president in September 1980 and continued in that position under Vice Presidents Robert Johnson and Rechenbach. He retired in 1994.

Survivors include wife Amy, sons Larry, John and Jim, and seven grandchildren.