eNews - February 2010
Local 3 legend leaves legacy
Tom "T.J." Stapleton
(1924 - 2010)
Former Operating Engineers Local 3 Business Manager Tom "T.J." Stapleton passed away on Feb. 23, 2010. Business Manager Russ Burns commented: "Tom Stapleton worked tirelessly on behalf of Local 3 members and their families. He was a true labor leader. We are all greater because of him. This union will miss him terribly.”
Career highlights
After graduating from high school in South San Francisco, Stapleton served in the Navy as a first-class shipfitter specializing in underwater welding and diving.
He joined Local 3 in 1946 and worked as a heavy-duty mechanic and welder, equipment operator and supervisor.
In the years that followed, Stapleton furthered his education, attending Vallejo Junior College and three years of law courses through the University of California Extension. He later graduated from Harvard University Trade Union Program and completed the executive course in computer operations at IBM in San Jose.
He became a Local 3 business representative in the Oakland District in 1956 and then transferred as business agent to the San Jose District in 1958. Soon after that he served as Utah District Representative from 1959-1965. He served as a Local 3 Trustee from 1960-1965.
After returning to California, he served as a special representative in charge of the Contracts Department, handling negotiations, grievances and jurisdictional disputes. In 1965, he began an eight-year stint as the Recording-Corresponding Secretary until 1973.
Prior to becoming Business Manager, he served as Director of Computer Operations, where he implemented the most cost-effective data processing system of any labor union in the United States.
Business Manager
He was elected Business Manager in 1982 and was re-elected in 1985, 1988, 1991 and 1994. The following list of achievements continued through his time as Business Manager and beyond.
- During that time he was bestowed the Spirit of Life Achievement Award by the City of Hope in 1993
- Elected 11th General Vice President of the International Union in 1987; re-elected in 1988. Elected 10th General Vice President in 1989; elected ninth General Vice President in 1989
- VP on the Executive Council of the California Labor Federation for a number of years
Served as board member of the California High Speed Rail Authority until 2008- He is the tournament namesake for the prestigious golf tournament that has, for 15 years, contributed millions as the primary fundraiser for college scholarships throughout the union’s jurisdiction
Prior to stepping down as Business Manager, served as Fourth General Vice President of the International Union, President of the California-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers, Vice President of the San Francisco Maritime Trades Port Council, Chairman of the Northern California Heavy & Highway Committee, board of directors for the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance, advisory committee of the Californians for Better Transportation, board of governors of the Association for the Preservation of the Presidential Yacht Potomac, executive board member of the California State Building and Construction Trades Council and the Maritime Trades Department of the ALF-CIO, member of the California Public Works Advisory Committee and the National Jurisdiction Committee of Operating Engineers and the United Association
Watch a recent video of Tom Stapleton showing his passion for Local 3