Burke Abel Molony

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This button promoted a slate of candidates in the United Steelworkers union's contested election in 1965. I.W. Abel ran for president, Walter J. Burke for secretary-treasurer, and Joseph P. Molony for vice president, all as challengers to the incumbent officeholders. Abel, the union's secretary-treasurer at the time, characterized union president David McDonald as distant from the rank and file. Abel advocated for workers to have a greater voice in bargaining goals and was critical of the Humal Relations Committee labor/management group set up in in 1960 to avoid future strikes. Abel, Burke, and Molony were all elected. Abel engineered several union mergers while president, increasing USW membership by more than 500,000. He retired in 1977.