Obituaries : R.E. Majerus, 63; Work With UAW Spanned 35 Years
MILWAUKEE — Raymond E. Majerus, whose career with the United Auto Workers spanned 35 years and culminated with his service as UAW secretary-treasurer, died Wednesday.
He was 63 and died of apparent heart failure at a Milwaukee hospital, a UAW spokesman said.
Majerus was elected secretary-treasurer of the UAW in 1980 after serving from 1972 as director of the union’s Region 10, which includes Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana and North and South Dakota.
He ran for president of the UAW in 1982 but lost to Owen Bieber.
Wednesday Bieber called Majerus “a working man and a trade union man through and through.â€
Majerus first became active in union activities after he started work at the Kohler Co. in Kohler, Wis. He led a wildcat strike there in 1952 and was instrumental in getting the independent Kohler Workers Union to affiliate with the UAW. He led UAW Local 833 at Kohler during a 6 1/2-year strike against the plumbing ware manufacturer that started in 1954.
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