James Irvine began his career with AT&T Long Lines in 1962 as a communications technician in Cleveland, Ohio. He got involved with the union as a steward and was elected president of Local 4350 in the early 1960s. Irvine was elected national director of the AT&T communications unit in the early 1980s and, after CWA reorganized its structure, vice-president. Irvine’s leadership spanned the years from Bell system pattern bargaining, Bell system national bargaining (1974-1982), and then the Bell system break-up in 1984. Irvine faced challenging conditions at post-divestiture AT&T, as the company slashed 100,000 union jobs, pursued multiple mergers and acquisitions, and aggressively sought to limit union power. Irvine retired in 2001.
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