Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2018)
PAGE 14 | April 20, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS IN MEMORIAM RON HEINTZMAN: Jan. 7, 1953 - April 2, 2018 Ron Heintzman, a former was born in Edmunds, president/business agent North Dakota, on Jan. of Portland-based Amal- 7, 1953. He spent gamated Transit Union most of his childhood (ATU) Local 757, and a in North Dakota, but former ATU international finished high school president, lost a three- in Seattle. year battle with cancer on He graduated from April 2. He was 65. Washington State Heintzman served as Ron Heintzman University in Pullman the elected president/ in 1975 with a bache- business agent of Local 757 lors’ degree in political science from 1988 to 2002. He left to on an Army ROTC scholarship, take an appointment as execu- and then served two years active tive vice president for the ATU duty as a second lieutenant in International Union in Washing- the Military Police in Fort ton, D.C. Hood, Texas. That was followed In July 2010, he was ap- by 15 years in the reserves. pointed ATU international pres- He moved to Oregon in 1977 ident, completing the term of to take a job as an agent for the Warren George, who retired. Oregon Liquor Control Com- The election for a new term was mission, then attended the po- held at the ATU’s convention in lice academy in Monmouth, and September. There, Heintzman earned a master’s degree in lost to current International criminal justice at the University President Larry Hanley. of Portland. Heintzman returned to Ore- He joined TriMet as a transit gon, where he worked for Local police officer in 1982, and ran 757, consulting with the union for the top union job in 1988 on on 24 collective bargaining a platform of drivers’ safety. agreements. During Heintzman’s tenure, R ONALD J AMES H EINTZMAN Local 757 more than doubled in size, growing to over 5,000 members with 23 separate col- lective bargaining agreements in Oregon and southwest Washing- ton. In recognition of this achievement, Heintzman and Local 757 received the AFL- CIO John Sweeney organizing award in 1997 and 1998. In 1997 Heintzman helped form a “Sister Union Associa- tion” with Romania’s Uniunea Sindicatelor Loberedin Metrou. USLM is a labor federation founded in the aftermath of the 1989 revolution that toppled communist dictator Nicolai Ceauçescu. The association has been long-lasting. USLM’s leader, Ion Radoi, attended Lo- cal 757’s 100th anniversary cel- ebration last year. Heintzman is survived by his wife of 29 years, Linda; and two adult daughters, Elizabeth and Kate. He lives in Mt. Angel and the family raises horses. A service will be held Satur- day, May 5, at 1 p.m. at Mt. An- gel Event Center, 210 Monroe St., Mt. Angel.
