William J. Pachler (August 20, 1904 – May 25, 1970) was an American labor union leader. Born in

Thornwood, New York Thornwood is a hamlet (unincorporated community), census-designated place (CDP), and postal designation (with zip code 10594) in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 3,759 at the 2010 cens ...

, Pachler studied accounting at a business college before joining the

New York Edison Company Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 b ...

. He joined the

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is a trade union, labor union that represents approximately 775,000 workers and retirees in the electricity, electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Guam, Panama, Puerto Rico, a ...

(IBEW) in 1930, and was elected as president of his local union in 1939. Under his leadership, the following year, the local disaffiliated from IBEW and joined the new Brotherhood of Consolidated Edison Employees. In 1945, he affiliated the local to the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It became part of the new Utility Workers' Union of America later that year, and Pachler was elected as the union's first secretary-treasurer. Pachler organized the National Conference of Secretary-Treasurers, and was its chair until 1960. That year, he was elected as president of the Utility Workers. He also served on the ethical practices committee of the AFL-CIO, and co-authored the federation's internal disputes plan. In 1963, he was a delegate to the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

conference in Geneva, and he also represented the AFL-CIO to the British

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

. He died in 1970, while still in office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pachler, William J. 1904 births 1970 deaths American trade union leaders People from Westchester County, New York Trade unionists from New York (state)