Clarence R. Meyer

Clarence R. Meyer, an International representative, said he realized that his life has a pattern: about every 20 years he makes a major change. The change he made at the beginning of this year was to launch into retirement with gusto.

"I'm sure enjoying it," Meyer reported from his home near Austin, Texas. "There's nothing like it. It seems like I make a change every 20 years. I've enjoyed every change I made, and I'm already enjoying this one."

Meyer joined the union in 1960. He worked at several trade shops before going to the University of Texas' printing division, where he worked as a bookbinder and pressman for 21 years.

He served as shop steward for Bookbinders Local 118B from 1965 to 1969 and as local recording secretary before becoming president of the local in 1967. He became president of merged local 528M following the International merger of the Bookbinders with the Lithographers and Photo Engravers to form the Graphic Arts International Union in 1972.

As local president, Meyer served as secretary of the Southern States Conference and as a delegate for 17 years and as vice president for the Austin Allied Printing Trades Council. He was a delegate to the Austin Central Labor Council, the Texas AFL-CIO Convention, and Bookbinders and GAIU conventions.

In 1980, Meyer became an International representative and, for 20 years, was on the road servicing locals in the South and West. The GCIU General Board said in a resolution of commendation that Meyer "ably assisted local unions throughout the Southwest in collective bargaining, processing grievances and arbitrations, and improving their local union administration, as well as providing guidance to prevent union label violations. His warm personality, coupled with his 20 years experience as a local union officer, has made his advice invaluable to local unions and their officers and members."

What he will miss most, Meyer said, "are the local people and helping them. New officers especially need help getting started, and I was glad to provide that help." He said he enjoyed negotiations and arbitrations, but "the traveling was getting old. That part I don't miss."

As an International rep, Meyer sometimes had back-to-back negotiations in different cities. "That's when it gets really difficult," he said. "You spend a day in hot and heavy negotiations with one group and the next day you're in hot and heavy negotiations with another, and suddenly you realize you're arguing really hard for something the group already has because it was the previous group that was seeking that item. But everyone was very understanding when that happened because they knew what you had been doing."

Meyer said one of the things he found most interesting during his 20 years of working at the bench were the technological changes. When he started, the University of Texas printed books using hot metal type because they were "going for style to win contests," he explained. "We'd print with letter press type and bind the books in leather. So, I got a good education. I met bookbinders from Ireland and Germany there weren't many left who could do that type of binding with gold embossing. I saw the process change from the hand work to automatic systems over those years."

Meyer said he looks forward to spending more time with his wife, two sons and daughter. Of his children, Meyer said, the youngest son comes closest to following in his father's skills with a soon-to-be-completed degree in graphic design.

Now that he doesn't travel for a living, Meyer said, he and his wife Elizabeth are planning vacation-style traveling instead. Elizabeth will retire from her job with the State of Texas in seven months, and Meyer said they want to visit Las Vegas again. "We had so much fun there [during the convention] that we want to go back," he said. "It's all a facade, but it's unbelievable like an amusement park. We just want to take it in again."

Meyer said he and his wife have already spent vacation time in Germany, Austria, and Jamaica and, "once she retires, we plan to do more of that kind of traveling."

Meanwhile, Meyer said, "I'm really enjoying doing things I like to do." He said he looks forward to spending more time at two of his favorite hobbies fishing in the lake just below his house and gardening.

The Texan added that he's also stayed busy "trying to chase the deer away. They eat everything. They even go up on the front porch and ring the door bell, asking if you've got something to eat."