Harold D. Delchamp

Harold D. Delchamp, president of Washington 285M for more than 20 years, said he will miss the people most as he moves into retirement.

Delchamp joined the union in 1964 as a web pressman at Holliday-Tyler. He served on the locals's executive board and as a local organizer before becoming president in 1982.

As local president, he also served as a trustee on the Inter-Local Pension Fund and the Graphic Communications Health and Welfare Fund. He served on referendum and election boards for the Graphic Arts International Union and the GCIU. He also served as an officer of the Allied Printing Trades Association in the District of Columbia.

Delchamp said the primary highlight of his two decades of service was "representing the people and trying to do the best I could for them" at the Government Printing Office, Bureau of Engraving, Quebecor, and other commercial shops. The local recently expanded its area and membership by adopting members of the former local 61C in Baltimore.

Delchamp said he also is very proud to have been a part of the first joint "one-stop" training venture between labor and the District of Columbia government.

The new training center opened on Labor Day weekend in Local 285M's building with state-of-the-art computers and other equipment. The training center will offer workers a one-stop facility to get help with resumes, testing, job searches, and interview skills, as well as basic and advanced skills.

Delchamp said the training center "is really going good. The people are so nice –both on the labor side and the government side. We're really proud of it."

Although he goes to the office to help out new local Pres. Edward E. Williams Sr. once a week, Delchamp said that retirement "is really nice. I recommend it."

Delchamp said his retirement plans include "doing some traveling and taking it easy." He also plans to spend more time with his wife Anita and their granddaughter, whom they are raising. "She's a ball of fire," he said of his granddaughter. "She keeps me young."