Rest in Power, Brother Conway
Tom Conway, international president of the United Steelworkers union, has died at 71. Conway was elected to the role in 2019.
Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga comes from the Steelworker family and knew brother Conway as a great union leader and an even better person. “Tom was a working-class hero and a true fighter for economic and social justice. Our condolences go out to the entire Steelworker family and those who knew and loved Tom. The entire labor movement was enriched by President Conway’s ideas, beliefs and actions and he will be missed.”
"With Tom Conway's passing, American workers have lost an extraordinary champion, and I've lost a great friend'" said President Joe Biden. "When I was running for President in 2020, Tom rode the train with me from Ohio to Pittsburgh, a city built by American steelworkers like those he spent his life fighting for. We talked on that train ride, as we did more times than I can count over the years, about what we could do together to make a real difference in the lives of steelworkers and union workers all over the country."
The Steelworkers International Executive Board has appointed David McCall as the union’s new international president to fill the remainder of Tom Conway’s term.
“We are all mourning a great loss,” McCall said, “but even in our sadness, our union is strong, thanks in large part to Tom’s leadership and vision. Now, we’ll move forward the only way we can: together. Together, we’ll honor Tom’s legacy, as together, we fight for justice and fairness for working families.”
McCall served as USW international vice president of administration since July 2019. Before his election as vice president, he served for 21 years as the director of USW District 1, a job in which he represented 70,000 USW members and retirees throughout the state of Ohio and bargained some of the union’s biggest contracts.