Lizzie Kunde
John DeConcini, led movement to unify bakery workers in the 1950's
John DeConcini, retired president of the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International Union, died Tuesday at Washington Hospital Center of kidney failure. He was 80.
Mr. DeConcini lead the movement to reunify bakery workers in the late 1950s after the union was ousted from the AFL-CIO amid charges of corruption against top officials. Through the reform efforts of Mr. DeConcini and other officials, the reorganized union regained admission to the AFL-CIO in 1960.
Mr. DeConcini won election as the first president of the combined bakery and tobacco workers union, which now has about 110,000 members. He headed the bakery union from 1978 to 1992, setting up the union's first political action committee.
The Philadelphia native also served as a member of the AFL CIO executive council.
The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Friday, October 16, 1998
Mr. DeConcini lead the movement to reunify bakery workers in the late 1950s after the union was ousted from the AFL-CIO amid charges of corruption against top officials. Through the reform efforts of Mr. DeConcini and other officials, the reorganized union regained admission to the AFL-CIO in 1960.
Mr. DeConcini won election as the first president of the combined bakery and tobacco workers union, which now has about 110,000 members. He headed the bakery union from 1978 to 1992, setting up the union's first political action committee.
The Philadelphia native also served as a member of the AFL CIO executive council.
The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Friday, October 16, 1998
