Walter J. Hill

Walter J. Hill, who served for 10 years as an International representative after he had served 11 years as an International organizer, retired in June.

He has been a trade unionist in the printing industry since April 1966.

Contacted by the Graphic Communicator, Hill observed: "The height of my ambition when I was younger was to be a cutter operator. I liked the feeling of the power of the knife going through all that paper. I liked to watch all that power."

Asked what inspired him to go into the printing trade, Hill said that when he was seven years old, his mother married a bookbinder, and he used to go the plant in the evening with his stepfather.

In his senior year of high school, Hill took a distributive education course. He took printing classes three years while in high school. He worked in a bindery as a skid boy before he went into the Navy. Hill joined the reserves between his junior and senior year in high school. He graduated from high school in 1963 and went on active duty in December.

Hill worked in the print shop on the U.S.S. Independence aircraft carrier from December 1963 to December 1965, when he was honorably discharged. The Navy sent him to the Army Corps of Engineers printing equipment maintenance school in Ft. Belvoir, Va., because the Navy had no school on printing. While in the Navy, he said, he was "introduced to running presses. Because of that, I determined that was a better route to go than running a cutter."

Immediately after his Naval service, Hill went to work in a commercial shop as a feeder on a two-color 60-inch press. After feeding a press for four years, he "determined that somebody had to die or retire for me to get a promotion." When there was an opening in the pre-press department as a stripper, he applied for it–and got it–because of his Navy experience.

While working in the trade, he joined Wichita Local 57L in April 1966. In 1967, the local waived time served requirements, and he became a feeder representative on the local executive council. He became involved with the local and went from the local council to being newsletter editor. He was also elected recording secretary. Appointed chairman of the negotiating committee in 1974, he was elected president of the local in 1975 "as result of being chairman of the negotiating committee," Hill said. He worked at the trade and served as part-time local president from January 1975 to July 1987, when he was appointed as an International organizer.

During his years as a stripper, if work was slow, he painted masks for the dot etchers. As a result of that, he moved from stripping into dot etching. "That was about the same time as four-color scanners started hitting the industry. I made the decision that that was where I needed to be, and I went to work for an employer who was committed to buying a scanner," he said. He was a scanner operator for the last nine years he worked in the trade before becoming an International organizer.

In November 1995, he was moved to the International's representatives staff.

Asked about his work as an organizer and then representative, Hill said his greatest satisfaction was that he "liked working with the people I worked with and the friendships that were made–[especially] helping people help themselves. And the occasional thank you that you'd get was the fuel that kept you going to the next assignment."

His two favorite organizing campaigns were the Arcata Graphics plant in Clarksville/Nashville and a Quebecor plant in Dickson, Tenn., which resulted in election victories. After the Quebecor win, Hill went back and negotiated the first contract.

He could not count the locals he helped that had started organizing campaigns. He also ran several organizing campaigns.

Noting that some organizing campaigns did not end up in victories, Hill observed that employers responded and made improvements for the workers, "so the people benefitted. That made those shops more competitive for union shops, so we obtained part of our goal."

Regarding negotiating contracts, Hill said: "The difficulty in bargaining has to do with the current [Bush] administration, the current economic trends, and the fact that we're in a global economy. When a printer can send a job anywhere in the world with a push of a button, it puts the whole organizing part of the industry in a real bind. Technology has not been a friend."

Asked what he is doing in retirement, Hill said he is "catching up on projects around the house that I neglected for so many years and getting re-acquainted with my family (wife Lynn, daughter Lisa, son Brian, and a grandson), who allowed me to do what I love."

GCC General Board members adopted a resolution at their July session commending Hill for having "served admirably . . . as an International organizer and then . . . as an International representative" and having been "instrumental in organizing many shops and negotiating excellent wage agreements during his noteworthy career."

The resolution also saluted "Brother Hill for his love of union work and dedicating his skills to improving the lives of working men and women and helping to build the union."

"Be it further resolved," the resolution read, "that the GCC/IBT officers and General Board members wish Brother Hill and his wife Lynn the long, healthful, and enjoyable retirement that they deserve."

Hill offered a "big thanks to everybody I've been associated with–those who were helpful with my career. The best of luck to everybody. Retirement's great. Everyone should look forward to getting there."

"When a printer can send a job anywhere in the world with a push of a button, it puts the whole organizing part of the industry in a real bind. Technology has not been a friend."