Thread

George F. Addes, a co-founder of the UAW and the union's first elected secretary-treasurer, was born on this day in 1911 in Toledo, Ohio. Addes grew up there, except for a few years his family spent in Flint, Michigan, and he became involved in the labor movement at an early age. From the outset of his employment at the Willys-Overland plant in Toledo, Addes was involved in the developing movement to organize automobile workers, and he became secretary-treasurer of the Toledo local. When, in 1936, the UAW severed its AFL affiliation and joined the CIO, Addes was elected secretary-treasurer of the union. He held this post, except for a short interval in 1938, until 1947. During his time in the labor movement, Addes served on the UAW International Executive Board, the CIO Coordinating Committee, the CIO Political Action Committee, and served as a special labor mediator for the National War Labor Board. As secretary-treasurer, Addes instituted advanced bookkeeping procedures to make the UAW fully accountable to its members. He was active as an organizer, strike leader, and speaker, playing a leading role in the first decade of the UAW's history. Addes retired from the UAW after his defeat in the 1947 election to Emil Mazey. When he passed away at age 79 on June 19, 1990, UAW President Owen Bieber and Secretary-Treasurer Bill Casstevens wrote in a joint statement: "George Addes truly was a formative and influential builder and organizer of the UAW through some of the most difficult struggles in the early years of the union. He was a man of immense integrity and principle who maintained a devotion to bettering the lives of working men and women throughout his life."