Carl C. Huber, UFCW Champion 1940-2010

Carl C. Huber, former executive vice president of the UFCW International Union, passed away on Dec. 8, 2010. Upon hearing the news, Jacques Loveall, president of UFCW 8-Golden State, said: “Carl was a leader to his very core.

He lived and breathed the causes of working people. He was a teacher, a mentor and a fighter to the end.

“I’ll never forget when I was a new organizer, Carl told me, ‘If we don’t reach down to nonunion workers and pull them up, they will reach up and pull us down.”

Carl Huber developed strategies and coordinated programs that touched

A native of Scranton, Penn., Huber joined the Retail Clerks Union, one of the predecessor Unions of the UFCW, in 1956 while working for the A&P supermarket chain. He became a shop steward and, beginning in 1964, he served as an International Representative for the Retail Clerks.

In subsequent years Huber rose through the ranks to be come a Regional Coordinator, Assistant Director and President of UFCW Local 21 in northern New Jersey. In 1984, he was named Deputy Trustee of UFCW Local 23 in Pittsburgh, Penn. He was elected President of Local 23 in 1986 and served in that

capacity until 1992. Huber was elected to the UFCW’s Executive Board as an International Vice President in 1992 and served as Director of the UFCW’s Retail Division.

In 1994, he was elected Executive Vice President of the UFCW International Union. In that capacity, Huber oversaw organizing and collective bargain ing efforts for Regions 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7. He also held offices with various central labor councils and state federations.

“With his passing, the UFCW family and all of Labor lost a champion for workers’ rights,” President Loveall said. “Those of us who were lucky enough to be his friend will miss him deeply.”