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Ted Watkins, Retired Staffer, Dies
Ted J. Watkins, retired executive assistant to CWA President Morton Bahr, died at his home in Manalapan, N.J., on March 24, following a lengthy illness. He was 82.
A man of humble origins who worked tirelessly for CWA members, Watkins rose to one of the union’s most powerful positions when Bahr, upon his election as president in 1985, brought Watkins with him in that position. Watkins retired six years later, in April 1991.
The son of a farmer, Watkins worked on the production line for the B-25 bomber before his career was interrupted by World War II.
In 1946, after attending college for two years, he went to work at Southwestern Bell in Kansas City as a technician, and later as a deskman, routing orders for telephones.
He became active in CWA Local 6324 and quickly rose to president, serving in that capacity for 14 years.
After working as temporary staff in District 6, Watkins became a CWA Representative in 1965 and transferred to District 1.
“Until he came to New York, he was a real rural guy,” said Bahr, “but he adapted quickly.”
A whirlwind of an organizer who that year won 16 of 22 elections for municipal employees, Watkins was instrumental in organizing the union’s first major group of public workers: Local 1180 in New York City today represents 8,000 employees across all branches of city government.
“When he was a CWA Rep, he was offered an area director’s job in District 6 but turned it down,” Bahr said. “He was later offered the job as assistant to the vice president of District 5 and turned that down. Ted would not leave our team — he had become a New Yorker!”
Bahr, as vice president of District 1, in 1971 named Watkins his administrative assistant. Then in 1981, after Watkins had proved effective in a massive organizing campaign for New Jersey state workers, Bahr promoted him to full assistant.
Upon his election as president, Bahr said, “I couldn’t think of coming to D.C. without Ted. He was my friend and, more than that, he was my partner. He loved the union and his work. We are all so much better off because Ted came our way.”
Watkins is survived by his daughter Pamela Seligman, her husband Robert and their daughter, Tiffany. His wife Marjorie predeceased him in November 2000.
A man of humble origins who worked tirelessly for CWA members, Watkins rose to one of the union’s most powerful positions when Bahr, upon his election as president in 1985, brought Watkins with him in that position. Watkins retired six years later, in April 1991.
The son of a farmer, Watkins worked on the production line for the B-25 bomber before his career was interrupted by World War II.
In 1946, after attending college for two years, he went to work at Southwestern Bell in Kansas City as a technician, and later as a deskman, routing orders for telephones.
He became active in CWA Local 6324 and quickly rose to president, serving in that capacity for 14 years.
After working as temporary staff in District 6, Watkins became a CWA Representative in 1965 and transferred to District 1.
“Until he came to New York, he was a real rural guy,” said Bahr, “but he adapted quickly.”
A whirlwind of an organizer who that year won 16 of 22 elections for municipal employees, Watkins was instrumental in organizing the union’s first major group of public workers: Local 1180 in New York City today represents 8,000 employees across all branches of city government.
“When he was a CWA Rep, he was offered an area director’s job in District 6 but turned it down,” Bahr said. “He was later offered the job as assistant to the vice president of District 5 and turned that down. Ted would not leave our team — he had become a New Yorker!”
Bahr, as vice president of District 1, in 1971 named Watkins his administrative assistant. Then in 1981, after Watkins had proved effective in a massive organizing campaign for New Jersey state workers, Bahr promoted him to full assistant.
Upon his election as president, Bahr said, “I couldn’t think of coming to D.C. without Ted. He was my friend and, more than that, he was my partner. He loved the union and his work. We are all so much better off because Ted came our way.”
Watkins is survived by his daughter Pamela Seligman, her husband Robert and their daughter, Tiffany. His wife Marjorie predeceased him in November 2000.