Tom Buffenbarger, retired International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast one week before Labor Day as part of the Labor 132 series presented by the Blue Cross Blue Shield National Labor Office.
Buffenbarger discussed the life and career of William "Wimpy" Winpisinger, the IAM general president from 1977 to 1989, whom Buffenbarger described as a mentor and a man who made trade unionism a religion. From his origins as a boomer mechanic in postwar Cleveland through his confrontational presence on the AFL-CIO Executive Board, his walkout of the 1980 Democratic National Convention and his use of auto racing sponsorship to put the image of skilled union craftsmen on national television, he was instrumental in reshaping the way unions were viewed.
Buffenbarger also revisited the founding story of Labor Day itself: Matthew Maguire, a machinist with the New York Central Labor Council, proposed the national holiday in 1882, but when President Grover Cleveland signed the legislation in 1894, he mistakenly gave the pen to carpenter Peter McGuire and sent Maguire's wife a letter of apology. The historical record, Buffenbarger said, is clear, but the debate has never ended.
Tom Buffenbarger knew William "Wimpy" Winpisinger from his earliest days as a member of the Machinists Union. Winpisinger and Buffenbarger's father were friends, who bonded over auto mechanics and a shared love of telling stories about the trade. This friendship evolved into union careers that shaped both men. Buffenbarger said Winpisinger holds a special place in his heart to this day, and that he learned things that defined his own leadership of the IAM.
Winpisinger's path to the top of one of America's most powerful unions started on the streets of postwar Cleveland. He served in the Naval Reserve during World War II and took part in the D-Day invasion, landing troops at East Green Beach. When he returned to Cleveland in 1947, he found work as what was then called a boomer mechanic: a skilled tradesman who moved from shop to shop, staying as long as the pay met his standard and moving on when it did not. Winpisinger was trained in auto and diesel mechanics through his military service and put that training to work in the postwar economy, where mechanics were in short supply.
He landed at Lake Buick, which was represented by IAM Local Lodge 1363. The Business Representative was Phil Zanello Sr., who Buffenbarger described as one of his own mentors. Zanello immediately noticed Winpisinger because he showed up at every Local 1363 meeting, loaded with questions. He was a militant from day one. Zanello brought him in close, taught him the value and purpose of trade unionism and Winpisinger absorbed every bit of it. Trade unionism became, in Buffenbarger's phrase, a religion to him.
From Local 1363, Winpisinger rose to become the IAM's first National Automotive Coordinator, overseeing nationwide dealership representation. He then became the first Vice President of the IAM Transportation Division, covering surface transportation, airlines and rails. On July 1, 1977, he became the IAM's General President.
Winpisinger's approach to leadership announced itself immediately. On his first day as General President, he called a mandatory staff meeting at IAM headquarters in Washington at 12:01 a.m. Everyone was present. He laid out a new agenda based on the recently revised IAM constitution, which was approved at the 1976 convention. The agenda had one central premise: the IAM would make the labor movement visible and publicly demonstrate the value workers contribute to the nation's success. That required being out with members, in front of the public and speaking on the issues of the day. Winpisinger spent the next 12 years doing exactly that.
Buffenbarger shared the story of when Winpisinger secured a seat on the AFL-CIO Executive Board. George Meany was the federation's president, a position he had held since the AFL and CIO merged in 1955. Winpisinger believed Meany needed to retire. He felt the federation's leader was too willing to compromise, too easily consulted and then set aside by politicians of both parties because he was not forceful enough to demand the respect and the returns that labor's contribution to the economy warranted.
He made this position clear at his very first AFL-CIO Executive Board meeting, with the winter sessions held in Florida. He brought a wheelchair into the meeting room. Nobody knew why and Winpisinger explained that it was not for him. It was for George Meany, and it was time for him to go.
Meany however, did not immediately leave, and Winpisinger spent his entire time on the board driving changes despite the friction. At every session, when the lunch break came, and the federation presidents filed out of the meeting room, reporters swarmed to Winpisinger while Meany stood alone, ignored by the press. That did not go over well with Meany, and it did not stop Winpisinger
By 1979, Winpisinger was the subject of a 60 Minutes feature proclaiming him a new breed of labor leader. He appeared on Meet the Press and the Phil Donahue Show. The IAM's visibility during his tenure was unlike anything the union had seen.
Winpisinger served as IAM General President through the Carter administration, and his assessment of Carter's relationship with labor gave rise to an IAM internal acronym: ABC, which stood for "Anybody But Carter." During the 1980 Democratic primary season, Winpisinger and the IAM threw their support behind Ted Kennedy's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and traveled the country with Kennedy during the primaries.
When the convention renominated Carter anyway, Winpisinger led a walkout of like-minded delegates. Many thought he had gone too far to the left. Buffenbarger offered context: Winpisinger was a member of the Democratic Socialists, a movement that has seen a significant revival in recent years, and he believed workers should have direct democratic control over issues Congress was failing to address. The walkout generated national press coverage, and Carter ultimately lost the presidency to Ronald Reagan.
Winpisinger was also a racing fan and loved the full spectrum, from Indy cars to stock cars. He saw in auto racing what most union leaders of the era did not: a platform that reached a massive working-class audience on national television every race weekend. He created the IAM auto racing program and ran it for approximately a decade, sponsoring Indy-style race cars driven by drivers including Roger Mears and Josele Garza.
Every race weekend, the IAM's name and image reached millions of viewers. Winpisinger used every interview that came with the sponsorship to connect auto racing back to union mechanics and skilled craftsmen — the people who actually built and maintained the cars. The program generated organizing momentum and produced a public image of dedicated trade unionists performing highly skilled work. This type of media coverage could not have been purchased through conventional advertising at any comparable cost.
The Labor Day founding story, Buffenbarger said, is reignited every year, and the debate never ends. The historical record, in his account, is clear.
In 1882, Matthew Maguire, a machinist with the New York Central Labor Council, proposed a national holiday to recognize working people. The debate over credit has been complicated for more than a century by the existence of Peter McGuire, a carpenter who was also involved in the early Labor Day movement and whose name sounds similar to Maguire's.
When Congress approved the legislation in 1894, and President Grover Cleveland signed it into law, both Maguire and McGuire were present. Cleveland, confusing the two men, gave the ceremonial pen to Peter McGuire and recognized him as the founder. It was pointed out to the president that the founder was Matthew Maguire, the machinist. Cleveland's response was a letter of apology that was addressed to Maguire's wife. The public credit never followed.
The historical records from the time, Buffenbarger said, are clear: the first documented proposal for a national Labor Day holiday came from Matthew Maguire. The machinist proposed the holiday. The carpenter got the pen, and every Labor Day, the conversation starts again.
More information on the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is available at goiam.org.
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