Chicago, IL
In every sector of the labor movement, Vice President Robert E. Wages has been recognized and applauded for his impassioned and outspoken advocacy of the rights of working men and women to organize a union to have a strong and powerful voice in their workplaces and in their communities.
In every post he has held in his service to the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) and PACE, he has been a vigorous advocate for an active and progressive labor movement that fights for human rights and social and economic justice everywhere.
A native of Kansas City, Vice President Wages followed in his father’s footsteps in going to work in a petroleum refinery and in learning the lessons of the value of a strong union. At the same time, he pursued both his college education and his activism in his union, becoming president of OCAW Local 5-604 in 1972 at the age of 23.
He obtained his law degree in 1975, and then joined the legal staff of his national union where he helped devise many of the legal strategies for the OCAW’s effective and innovative workers’ rights, collective bargaining and health and safety campaigns.
Wages was later elected as an international vice president of the union with wide-ranging responsibilities for coordination of councils of unions representing workers at major oil companies, for the atomic energy sector of the union, for the development of a number of successful corporate campaigns, and for the expansion of workplace health and safety programs including strengthening protections for workers handling hazardous materials.
He was elected president of OCAW in 1991, and when his union merged with the Paperworkers to form PACE, he became executive vice president of the merged union. He was elected to the AFL-CIO Executive Council in 1995.
Vice President Wages is known throughout the labor movement for his intelligent stewardship of his union and for his deep commitment to organization, creative collective bargaining strategies, to civil and human rights, and to the power and value of international trade union solidarity.
The Executive Council, on behalf of the 13 million men and women of the unions of the AFL-CIO, conveys its gratitude and appreciation to Vice President Wages for his skilled, innovative and devoted service to the labor movement and to the goals of justice, dignity and a better life for every working family.