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Labor legendYesterday evening, New Haven honored union leader John Wilhelm ’67 (above) by designating the intersection of College and Elm Streets as John Wilhelm Corner. Wilhelm went to work for Yale's Local 35 in 1969 and spent 14 years organizing the university's clerical and technical workers, which won their first contract as Local 34 after a strike in 1984. He went on to become the president of the Yale locals' parent union, UNITE-HERE, where he led the organization of hotel and casino workers in Las Vegas. Coming a day after hundreds of union members filled Beinecke Plaza rallying for a new contract, the ceremony at John Wilhelm Corner—outside the First Methodist Church, where the Yale unions have had office space for decades—had the flavor of a rally itself as union leaders and elected officials took turns speaking. Praising Wilhelm for “his strength, his dedication, his commitment to the cause," US Representative Rosa DeLauro elicited cheers when she said "Isn't it wonderful that that sign is going to be facing the university?"
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John Wilhelm, unions
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