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It's one thing to support the rights of working americans.
It's another thing to give your life passionately to the endeavor.
Willie L. Baker, Jr. Represents the best of what it means
to be a Nation Builder.
Few people have fought as tirelessly for the lives of American
workers as Willie L. Baker, Jr. As Director of Field Operations
for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union,
Baker currently oversees a union of 1.4 million members representing
workers in food processing, retail food, and meat packing
as well as boot and shoe manufacturing, insurance,
health care, and department stores. Just how far-reaching
is his work? Over 80 percent of all retail food dollars spent
at super
markets in North America pass through UFCW-organized grocery
store chains, and over 60 percent of all workers in the packing
industry are represented by the UFCW.
Willie Baker's commitment to labor justice and fairness began
in the years of the Civil Rights Movement. While a student
at the
University of Maryland Eastern Shore, he was arrested for
sitting in a restaurant that would not serve blacks. He sought
to
empower his community by organizing voter registration drives.
He was a catalyst for change not only among African-
Americans, but indeed among all segments of the population
that were not gaining full access to the American Dream.
Baker's career with the UFCW began as a
member of the Local 56 while working at the P.J. Ritter Processing
Plant in Bridgeton, New Jersey. As his exceptional organizational
and communication skills emerged, he began a rapid ascension
of ranks within the union structure. In 1974 he was appointed
Assistant Business Agent of the local. Three years later,
jurisdiction of South Jersey canneries was entrusted to his
hands. By 1980, he was Vice President of the local, and in
1985 he was elected International Union Vice President. In
1989 he was appointed Director of the UFCW Public Affairs
Department, and within a decade was Director of Mid-Atlantic
Region 2. These many steps on the way to his current position
as International Vice President bespeak a man of competence,
compassion, and unwavering loyalty to the cause of worker
fairness.
Aside from his professional activities, Willie L. Baker, Jr.
is a lifetime member of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People and the Coalition of Labor Union Women.
He was elected Executive Vice President of the Coalition of
Black Trade Unionists, is the former Vice President of Consumer
Federation of America, a board member of Food Research
and Action Center and a board member of TransAfrica. He is
also Vice Chairman of the Labor Roundtable of the National
Black Caucus of State Legislators, and was an at large
member to the Democratic National Committee from 1990-1995.
For the countless ways in which Willie L.
Baker, Jr. has made a positive impact for working Americans
in general and the black
community in particular, the NBCSL is proud to give him overdue
recognition as a Nation Builder.
A LIFETIME OF
ENERGY AND PASSION, FIGHTING FOR THE
RIGHTS OF THE WORKING CLASS. BAKER HAS MADE A
DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS.
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Willie
L. Baker, Jr.