George Becker, 78; was sixth president of steelworkers union
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George Becker, 78, the sixth president of the United Steelworkers of America, died Saturday of prostate cancer at his home in Gibsonia, Pa.
Becker, a second-generation steelworker, rose through the union’s ranks and was elected president in 1993. He was reelected four years later. As president, he helped implement mergers with the United Rubber Workers and the Aluminum, Brick and Glass Workers Union. Those actions brought 140,000 new members into the steelworkers union.
Starting in 1985, Becker served two terms as the union’s international vice president for administration.
Becker grew up near the steel plant in Granite City, Ill., where he started working at the age of 15. He also worked as a crane operator at General Steel Castings and an assembler at Fisher Body.
He served in the Marines after World War II and was in the Army during the Korean War.
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