Dear Brothers and Sisters:

It is with great sadness that I’m reporting that yesterday a great leader in our union and a great leader in the labor movement Al Chesser passed away at the age of 102.

Al not only served as our union’s president but spent most of his union career in our Legislative Department where he rose to serve as our National Legislative Director, an office I’m now honored to hold.

Al was a personal inspiration to me.  I read the book about him “Making Tracks” in the 1980s while I was a young state legislative director and it helped me be a more effective representative of UTU.

Our office building in Washington, DC is rightfully named in his honor because of the work that he did for our members.  I have a large picture of Al hanging in my office as a constant reminder of his service and as an inspiration of what we can do as a union.

This link below is a 6 minute YouTube video about his service to our union.  Please take the time to watch it and be thankful to Al for his remarkable service for leading our members through some very challenging times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=-1BllRnhizk