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NEWS BRIEFS
Grover Marion to be inducted into Labor Hall of Honor
SOUTH CHARLESTON — Longtime Teamster activist Grover Marion of Marmet and health and safety leader Davitt McAteer will be named as 2009 members of the Labor Hall of Honor by the West Virginia Labor History Association in a ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 5 in South Charleston.
Marion, a native of Summers County, West Virginia, began service as a Teamster steward while driving a truck for Kroger Company. Gene Carter, president of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 175 and past inductee to the Hall of Honor, recruited Marion as a business agent for the local in 1968. In 1974, Marion became secretary-treasurer of the local, a capacity in which he served until being elected Local 175 president in 1986.
Continuing to act as business agent throughout West Virginia, Marion also held positions with the Kentucky-West Virginia Conference, Joint Council 40, and the Eastern Conference of Teamsters. Under Governor Caperton, he served on the West Virginia Labor Management Council, as well as the executive board of the West Virginia Labor History Association. Marion retired from his distinguished service with IBT Local 175 in 1991.
West Virginia native Davitt McAteer began his career as a safety advocate working with Ralph Nader to pass the 1969 Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. After leading health and safety programs for the Unites Mine Workers of America, he was appointed by President Carter as assistant secretary for Mine Safety and Health at the U.S. Department of Labor.
McAteer has served numerous roles in matters of workers safety, including investigations of the Sago and Aracoma tragedies in West Virginia. In 2007, his acclaimed book, Monongah: The Tragic Story of the Worst Industrial Accident in U.S. History, was published on the 100th anniversary of that disaster by West Virginia University Press.
The December 5 ceremony will be held at noon at the IBT Local 175 union hall at 267 Staunton Avenue in South Charleston. The presentation will include a luncheon. Tickets are $16 and can be purchased by payment to WVLHA, P.O. Box 5156, Charleston, WV 25361. For further information or reservations, call association treasurer Fred Barkey at (304)346-2030.
