George Becker
Encyclopedia
George Becker was a steelworker, American
labor
leader and president of the United Steelworkers
(USW) from 1993 to 2001. During his tenure as president of the Steelworkers, Becker also served as a vice president of the AFL-CIO
.
, to George and Frances Becker. He was raised in Granite City, Illinois
, where the Becker family lived within 100 feet of the gates of the Granite City Steel Works
mill. The heat from the mill could be felt through the front door of the family home.
Becker dropped out of high school during his freshman year in 1944 and got a job working an open hearth furnace
in the Granite City mill. In 1946, he joined the United States Marine Corps
, and served two years. He returned to the steel mill, but then was drafted into the United States Army
in 1950 to serve in the Korean War
. He remained in the Army until 1956, mustering out as a master sergeant.
Shortly after joining the Army, Becker married Jane Goforth in 1950. The couple had three sons.
aluminum plant in Madison. He joined Local 4804 of the Steelworkers. He quickly rose within the ranks, as members elected him to be the local union's shop steward, treasurer, vice president, and then (in 1961) president. Mentored by international union staff, Becker became an accomplished negotiator.
Becker was hired by the United Steelworkers in 1965 as a full-time staff representative for the Granite City local. Angered by lead poisoning
afflicting workers at a National Lead Co.
plant where he provided contract servicing, Becker became an expert on occupational health and safety issues. He pushed for stronger health and safety collective bargaining language, and advocated for a stronger union emphasis on the issues. In 1975, the USW hired Becker as a staff safety and health representative in the national union office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. In 1969, Becker testified before the United States Congress
on lead poisoning issues as Congress debated the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
.
In the 1970s, Becker became active in international union politics. Taking a leave of absence from the union, in 1977 he supported the campaign of District 34 president Lloyd McBride
against Edward Sadlowski
for president of the United Steelworkers. McBride appointed Becker to be an administrative assistant to former District 6 president Lynn Williams, who had been elected secretary of the international union along with McBride.
When McBride died unexpectedly in 1983, Williams was elected president to serve out his term. When Williams ran for president in his own right in 1985, Becker ran for international vice president for administration on the Williams slate and won. He was re-elected in 1989.
While vice president for administration, Becker chaired the union's Aluminum Industry Conference and oversaw collective bargaining efforts by the union in the aluminum industry. He also chaired the union's Task Force on Organizing and its Task Force on the Environment.
.
In November 1990, Ravenswood Aluminum locked out
1,700 unionized employees as their contract expired and hired replacement workers. Becker approved and became heavily involved in an innovative comprehensive campaign
which involved a heavily researching the employer's finances, ownership and governance. The research effort exposed the plant's poor safety record, and discovered that Ravenswood Aluminum was controlled by fugitive billionaire Marc Rich
. The comprehensive campaign also applied political pressure in Congress to protect the domestic aluminum smelting industry. Becker also pioneered the use of extensive international pressure to encourage Ravenswood Aluminum to end the lockout and bargain a new contract. Becker also organized a campaign to persuade beer companies to stop buying Ravenswood aluminum and prompted the state legislature to investigate the company. In 1992, union workers returned to Ravenswood under a new contract.
The Ravenswood campaign significantly enhanced Becker's reputation and was responsible for his rise to USW's presidency.
Becker ran for and won election as president. He became the first person since Philip Murray
to be elected president of the union without an election challenge or the death of a predecessor. He was sworn into office on March 1, 1994.
. The 11-month strike was a bitter and contentious one. But Becker was able to bring the company back to the bargaining table and win a new contract on favorable terms by using the union's enormous pension fund. The fund's trustees put pressure on Wheeling-Pitt's owners, Dewey Investors, to settle the strike. As Wheeling-Pitt's stock price fell by 50 percent and the pension fund's financial pressures increased, the owners agreed to end the strike. The union at Wheeling-Pitt emerged with a stronger contract, one which included a defined benefit pension plan.
Becker also had to work to resolve an ongoing and lengthy strike in the rubber industry. The United Rubber Workers had struck the Japan
ese-owned Bridgestone
/Firestone
tire manufacturer in July 1994. The company subsequently hired more than 6,000 workers to permanently replace the strikers. The 74,000-member Rubber Workers Union voted to return to work without a contract. Although the Rubber Workers had rejected merger with the Steelworkers and other unions in the past, now the union's leadership sought merger. The merger was agreed to just as the workers returned to work, and approved by Rubber Workers' members in July 1995. The rubber workers won immediate access to the Steelworkers' $166 million strike fund, research staff, and highly influential pension fund. Becker pushed for a comprehensive campaign strategy to be used against Bridgestone/Firestone. The Steelworkers worked with Japanese labor unions to press the company to negotiate. An innovative public campaign was used to embarrass the company at major events (including the use of a blimp
at the Indianapolis 500
). These tactics convinced Bridgestone/Firestone management to return to the bargaining table, and the union eventually signed contract that weakened or eliminated a number of management's demands.
In his first term as president, Becker reduced the number of regional districts from 18 to 12 by forcing several smaller and low-membership districts to merge. He also developed the union's "Rapid Response Program," a membership mobilization effort which was capable of generating tens of thousands of phone calls and messages from members to their representatives in Congress.
Becker also attempted to strengthen the union's collective bargaining efforts. He established the "New Directions" in and the effort to secure union representation on the board of directors of the companies with which it negotiated contracts. Becker also established the "Stand Up for Steel" campaign in 1998, a joint union-employer federal lobbying effort to increase tariffs to help protect the domestic steel industry. Protecting the industry, Becker argued, would help alleviate the pressure on the union's collective bargaining efforts.
Becker also greatly added to the union's membership. In July 1995, the union absorbed the 74,000-member United Rubber Workers. In January 1997, the 140,000-member Aluminum, Brick and Glass Workers Union also merged with the USW, and in 1999 the Canadian
division of the Transportation Communications International Union
agreed to leave their parent union and join the USW. However, a planned merger with the United Auto Workers
and International Association of Machinists
collapsed.
in his race for president of the United States.
Becker was also active in international union affairs. He was a member of the executive committee of the International Metalworkers' Federation
and chair of the World Rubber Council of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions
. President Bill Clinton
appointed him to the President's Export Council, and he served on the United States Trade and Environmental Policy Advisory Committee.
.
Becker died in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania
(a suburb of Pittsburgh), on February 3, 2007, from prostate cancer
, aged 78.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
labor
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
leader and president of the United Steelworkers
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union is the largest industrial labor union in North America, with 705,000 members. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, U.S., the United Steelworkers represents workers in the United...
(USW) from 1993 to 2001. During his tenure as president of the Steelworkers, Becker also served as a vice president of the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
.
Early life
Becker was born in 1928 in Madison, IllinoisMadison, Illinois
Madison is a city in Madison County and partially in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,545 at the 2000 census. It is home to Gateway International Raceway and the first Bulgarian Orthodox church in the United States.-Geography:...
, to George and Frances Becker. He was raised in Granite City, Illinois
Granite City, Illinois
Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. At the 2010 census, the population was 29,849, making it the third largest city in the Metro-East and Southern Illinois, behind Alton and Belleville...
, where the Becker family lived within 100 feet of the gates of the Granite City Steel Works
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...
mill. The heat from the mill could be felt through the front door of the family home.
Becker dropped out of high school during his freshman year in 1944 and got a job working an open hearth furnace
Open hearth furnace
Open hearth furnaces are one of a number of kinds of furnace where excess carbon and other impurities are burnt out of the pig iron to produce steel. Since steel is difficult to manufacture due to its high melting point, normal fuels and furnaces were insufficient and the open hearth furnace was...
in the Granite City mill. In 1946, he joined the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, and served two years. He returned to the steel mill, but then was drafted into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1950 to serve in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. He remained in the Army until 1956, mustering out as a master sergeant.
Shortly after joining the Army, Becker married Jane Goforth in 1950. The couple had three sons.
Union career
Becker returned to Illinois after leaving the military. He took a job at the Dow Chemical CompanyDow Chemical Company
The Dow Chemical Company is a multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. As of 2007, it is the second largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization .Dow...
aluminum plant in Madison. He joined Local 4804 of the Steelworkers. He quickly rose within the ranks, as members elected him to be the local union's shop steward, treasurer, vice president, and then (in 1961) president. Mentored by international union staff, Becker became an accomplished negotiator.
Becker was hired by the United Steelworkers in 1965 as a full-time staff representative for the Granite City local. Angered by lead poisoning
Lead poisoning
Lead poisoning is a medical condition caused by increased levels of the heavy metal lead in the body. Lead interferes with a variety of body processes and is toxic to many organs and tissues including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems...
afflicting workers at a National Lead Co.
NL Industries
NL Industries, the former National Lead Company is lead smelting company now based in Houston, Texas.-History:It began business in Philadelphia in 1772. The name National Lead Company was used since 1891 after a series of mergers. National Lead Company changed its name to NL Industries in 1971...
plant where he provided contract servicing, Becker became an expert on occupational health and safety issues. He pushed for stronger health and safety collective bargaining language, and advocated for a stronger union emphasis on the issues. In 1975, the USW hired Becker as a staff safety and health representative in the national union office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. In 1969, Becker testified before the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
on lead poisoning issues as Congress debated the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
Occupational Safety and Health Act
The Occupational Safety and Health Act is the primary federal law which governs occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government in the United States. It was enacted by Congress in 1970 and was signed by President Richard Nixon on December 29, 1970...
.
In the 1970s, Becker became active in international union politics. Taking a leave of absence from the union, in 1977 he supported the campaign of District 34 president Lloyd McBride
Lloyd McBride
Lloyd McBride was an American labor leader and president of the United Steelworkers of America from 1977 to 1983.-Early life and union work:...
against Edward Sadlowski
Edward Sadlowski
Edward Sadlowski, also known as "Oil Can Eddie", is a United States labor activist and a past Director of United Steelworkers of America, District 31....
for president of the United Steelworkers. McBride appointed Becker to be an administrative assistant to former District 6 president Lynn Williams, who had been elected secretary of the international union along with McBride.
When McBride died unexpectedly in 1983, Williams was elected president to serve out his term. When Williams ran for president in his own right in 1985, Becker ran for international vice president for administration on the Williams slate and won. He was re-elected in 1989.
While vice president for administration, Becker chaired the union's Aluminum Industry Conference and oversaw collective bargaining efforts by the union in the aluminum industry. He also chaired the union's Task Force on Organizing and its Task Force on the Environment.
Ravenswood battle
During Becker's tenure as vice president for administration, he led the union's fight for a contract at Ravenswood Aluminum in Ravenswood, West VirginiaRavenswood, West Virginia
Ravenswood is a city in Jackson County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 4,031 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ravenswood is located at , along the Ohio River at the mouth of Sandy Creek....
.
In November 1990, Ravenswood Aluminum locked out
Lockout (industry)
A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work.- Causes :...
1,700 unionized employees as their contract expired and hired replacement workers. Becker approved and became heavily involved in an innovative comprehensive campaign
Comprehensive campaign
A comprehensive campaign is labor union organizing or a collective bargaining campaign with a heavy focus on research, the use of community coalition-building, publicity and public pressure, political and regulatory pressure, and economic and legal pressure in addition to traditional organizing...
which involved a heavily researching the employer's finances, ownership and governance. The research effort exposed the plant's poor safety record, and discovered that Ravenswood Aluminum was controlled by fugitive billionaire Marc Rich
Marc Rich
Marc Rich is an international commodities trader and entrepreneur. He is best known for founding the commodities company Glencore. He was indicted in the United States on federal charges of illegally making oil deals with Iran during the late 1970s-early 1980s Iran hostage crisis and tax evasion...
. The comprehensive campaign also applied political pressure in Congress to protect the domestic aluminum smelting industry. Becker also pioneered the use of extensive international pressure to encourage Ravenswood Aluminum to end the lockout and bargain a new contract. Becker also organized a campaign to persuade beer companies to stop buying Ravenswood aluminum and prompted the state legislature to investigate the company. In 1992, union workers returned to Ravenswood under a new contract.
The Ravenswood campaign significantly enhanced Becker's reputation and was responsible for his rise to USW's presidency.
USW presidency
Williams retired as president of the Steelworkers at the end of his term in 1993.Becker ran for and won election as president. He became the first person since Philip Murray
Philip Murray
Philip Murray was a Scottish born steelworker and an American labor leader. He was the first president of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee , the first president of the United Steelworkers of America , and the longest-serving president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations .-Early...
to be elected president of the union without an election challenge or the death of a predecessor. He was sworn into office on March 1, 1994.
Early strikes
Becker was sworn in just hours after 4,700 members struck Wheeling-Pittsburgh SteelWheeling-Pittsburgh Steel
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel was a steel manufacturer based in Wheeling, West Virginia, which is located at the edge of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area...
. The 11-month strike was a bitter and contentious one. But Becker was able to bring the company back to the bargaining table and win a new contract on favorable terms by using the union's enormous pension fund. The fund's trustees put pressure on Wheeling-Pitt's owners, Dewey Investors, to settle the strike. As Wheeling-Pitt's stock price fell by 50 percent and the pension fund's financial pressures increased, the owners agreed to end the strike. The union at Wheeling-Pitt emerged with a stronger contract, one which included a defined benefit pension plan.
Becker also had to work to resolve an ongoing and lengthy strike in the rubber industry. The United Rubber Workers had struck the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese-owned Bridgestone
Bridgestone
The is a multinational rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese....
/Firestone
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 to supply pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles. The company...
tire manufacturer in July 1994. The company subsequently hired more than 6,000 workers to permanently replace the strikers. The 74,000-member Rubber Workers Union voted to return to work without a contract. Although the Rubber Workers had rejected merger with the Steelworkers and other unions in the past, now the union's leadership sought merger. The merger was agreed to just as the workers returned to work, and approved by Rubber Workers' members in July 1995. The rubber workers won immediate access to the Steelworkers' $166 million strike fund, research staff, and highly influential pension fund. Becker pushed for a comprehensive campaign strategy to be used against Bridgestone/Firestone. The Steelworkers worked with Japanese labor unions to press the company to negotiate. An innovative public campaign was used to embarrass the company at major events (including the use of a blimp
Non-rigid airship
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...
at the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
). These tactics convinced Bridgestone/Firestone management to return to the bargaining table, and the union eventually signed contract that weakened or eliminated a number of management's demands.
Reforms and growth
Becker is generally considered a strong Steelworkers president for bringing large numbers of new members into the union, making organizational reforms, and innovative collective bargaining and political programs.In his first term as president, Becker reduced the number of regional districts from 18 to 12 by forcing several smaller and low-membership districts to merge. He also developed the union's "Rapid Response Program," a membership mobilization effort which was capable of generating tens of thousands of phone calls and messages from members to their representatives in Congress.
Becker also attempted to strengthen the union's collective bargaining efforts. He established the "New Directions" in and the effort to secure union representation on the board of directors of the companies with which it negotiated contracts. Becker also established the "Stand Up for Steel" campaign in 1998, a joint union-employer federal lobbying effort to increase tariffs to help protect the domestic steel industry. Protecting the industry, Becker argued, would help alleviate the pressure on the union's collective bargaining efforts.
Becker also greatly added to the union's membership. In July 1995, the union absorbed the 74,000-member United Rubber Workers. In January 1997, the 140,000-member Aluminum, Brick and Glass Workers Union also merged with the USW, and in 1999 the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
division of the Transportation Communications International Union
Transportation Communications International Union
The Transportation Communications International Union or TCU is the successor to the union formerly known as the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks and includes within it many other organizations, including the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters that...
agreed to leave their parent union and join the USW. However, a planned merger with the United Auto Workers
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
and International Association of Machinists
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is an AFL-CIO/CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries.-Formation and early history:...
collapsed.
AFL-CIO and other positions
Becker was elected a vice president of the AFL-CIO on February 24, 1994. In this role, he sat on the federation's executive council, and chaired the council's Economic Policy Committee. In 2000, Becker was instrumental in winning an early AFL-CIO endorsement of Al GoreAl Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
in his race for president of the United States.
Becker was also active in international union affairs. He was a member of the executive committee of the International Metalworkers' Federation
International Metalworkers' Federation
International Metalworkers' Federation is a global union federation of metalworkers' trade unions, founded in Zürich, Switzerland in August 1893...
and chair of the World Rubber Council of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions
International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions
International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions is a global union federation of trade unions. As of November 2007, ICEM represented 467 industrial trade unions in 132 countries, claiming a membership of over 20 million workers.The organization represents workers...
. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
appointed him to the President's Export Council, and he served on the United States Trade and Environmental Policy Advisory Committee.
Retirement and death
George Becker resigned unexpectedly as president of the United Steelworkers on February 28, 2001, seven months before his term was to end. No reason for his sudden retirement was given. He was succeeded by Leo GerardLeo Gerard
Leo W. Gerard is a steelworker and a Canadian and American labor leader. He was elected president of the United Steelworkers in 2001, and is the second Canadian to head the union. He is also a vice president of the AFL-CIO....
.
Becker died in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania
Gibsonia, Pennsylvania
Gibsonia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, north of the city of Pittsburgh. It had a population of 2,733 at the 2010 census. Its ZIP Code is 15044.-Geography:...
(a suburb of Pittsburgh), on February 3, 2007, from prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
, aged 78.
Sources
- "Becker Takes Over as USWA President." Iron Age/New Steel. April 1994.
- Breihan, Bill. "Long Strike Ends at Wheeling-Pitt." Labor Notes. September 1997.
- Bronfenbrenner, Kate and Juravich, Tom. Ravenswood: The Steelworkers' Victory and the Revival of American Labor. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press/ILR Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8014-8666-1
- "Contract Is Approved, Ending Steel Strike." New York Times. August 13, 1997.
Sources
- Franklin, Stephen. "George Becker: 1928-2007." Chicago Tribune. February 6, 2007.
- "Gerard Succeeds Becker at USWA." New Steel. February 1, 2001.
- Gilpin, Kenneth. "Rubber Workers' Union Acts to Merge With Steelworkers." New York Times. May 13, 1995.
- Greenhouse, Steven. "Accord Reached in Dispute at Tire Company." New York Times. November 7, 1996.
- Greenhouse, Steven. "Steel Union Uses Indy 500 to Press Its Boycott." New York Times. May 26, 1996.
- Greenhouse, Steven. "Strikers Use Novel Tactics In Bid to End Steel Impasse." New York Times. July 23, 1997.
- Greenhouse, Steven. "Union Leader Warns Gore On Support for China Bill." New York Times. May 12, 2000.
- Hevesi, Dennis. "George Becker, Who Led Steelworkers Through Period of Growth, Dies at 78." New York Times. February 6, 2007.
- Kilborn, Peter. "Three Big Unions Are Set to Merge, Creating a Giant." New York Times. July 28, 1995.
- Mandak, Joe. "Becker to Resign as Steelworkers' Union President Feb. 28." Associated Press. December 14, 2000.
- Noble, Barbara Presley. "Different Tactics in Labor's Battles", New York Times, September 6, 1992.
- Scolieri, Peter. "Becker Preaches to Execs", American Metal Market, June 29, 1994.
- Wayne, Leslie. "American Steel At the Barricades." New York Times, December 10, 1998.
- Who's Who in America. 59th ed. New Providence, New Jersey: Marquis Who's Who, 2004. ISBN 0-8379-6982-4
Further reading
- "Former Steelworker President George Becker Dies." Press release. United Steelworkers. February 4, 2007. Accessed February 6, 2007.
- Moberg, David. "But Does It Matter?", Salon, October 14, 1999 Accessed February 6, 2007.