William Usery Jr.: Difference between revisions

|predecessor = [[John Thomas Dunlop|John T. Dunlop]]

|birth_place = [[Hardwick, Baldwin County, Georgia|Hardwick]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[United States|U.S.]]

|spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Gussie Mae Smith|1942|2005|end=died}}<br>
* {{Marriage|Frances Pardee|2006}}

'''William Julian Usery Jr.''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʌ|s|ər|iː}} {{respell|US|ər-ee}};<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/us/bill-usery-dead-labor-secretary.html?_r=0|last=Roberts|first=Sam|title=Bill Usery, Who Settled Wide Range of Labor Disputes, Dies at 92|publisherwork=The New York Times|date=December 15, 2016}}</ref> December 21, 1923 &ndash; December 10, 2016) was aan American [[trade union|labor union]] activist and [[United States|U.S.]] government political appointee who served as [[United States Secretary of Labor|United States secretary of labor]] in the [[Gerald Ford|Ford]] administration.

Usery was born on December 21, 1923, in [[Hardwick, Baldwin County, Georgia|Hardwick, Georgia]], the son of Willie J. Usery, Sr. and Effie Mae Williamson (later Phillips). He attended [[Georgia Military College]] from 1938 to 1941. From 1941 to 1942, he worked as an underwater welder for the J. A. Jones Construction Company in [[Brunswick, Georgia]], building [[Liberty ship]]s. Usery married Gussie Mae Smith in 1942.

With the need for naval welders growing dramatically during [[World War II]], Usery enlisted in the [[United States Navy]]. From 1943 to 1946, Usery worked on a U.S. Navy repair ship in the Pacific.

==Union careerCareer==

In part to reward Usery for his loyalty and as a sign of respect for Usery's mediation and negotiation skills, Nixon appointed Usery to be Special Assistant to the President for Labor-Management Affairs in January 1974.<ref>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17359548 Usery Accepts Assignment of Special Assistant to the President for Labor Relations Activities, press release dated 01/05/1974]</ref> In this capacity, Usery advised the president on labor-management relations in the federal government and private sector, and became the presidential point-man in labor disputes which might have a significant impact on the national economy. The appointment lapsed after Nixon's resignation in August, but Gerald Ford re-appointed him to the position in January 1975. He continued as director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service until appointed by Ford to be Secretary of Labor in February 1976.<ref>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7342265 President announces intention to nominate W. J. Usery to be Secretary of Labor (Position Appointments and Resignations)]</ref><ref>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17359285 Usery Departure from FMCS, 02/05/1976, bulletin #76-BUL-10]</ref>

On February 10, 1976, President Gerald Ford nominated Usery to be [[United States Secretary of Labor|United States secretary of labor]].

Usery's tenure as Secretarysecretary of Laborlabor, however, was limited. Ford lost the presidential election in November 1976. Incoming president [[Jimmy Carter]] declined to keep Usery on atas DOLsecretary, preferring to installinstalling [[Ray Marshall|F. Ray Marshall]] instead. Usery's tenure as Secretary of Laborleft endedoffice on January 20, 1977.

===Later career===

In 1983, Usery Associates was involved in automobile manufacturing industry negotiations between the [[United Auto Workers]] (UAW), [[General Motors]] (GM) and [[Toyota|Toyota Motor]]. Usery assisted the UAW, GM and Toyota in crafting a contract which established a new, jointly-owned and -operated corporation, the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI). NUMMI implemented Toyota's "lean" production system in the U.S., but utilized a closed plant owned by GM. The UAW agreed to support the joint venture if NUMMI agreed to recognize the union at the NUMMI plant in [[Fremont, California]]. The UAW's support was crucial in winning an [[anti-trust]] exemption from the [[Federal Trade Commission]]. Usery was able to get GM, Toyota and the UAW to agree to a first-of-its-kind labor-management partnership: The UAW agreed to Toyota's production methods and Toyota agreed to make the UAW an equal partner in managing the plant's productivity and quality control procedures. The NUMMI collective bargaining agreement was signed in June 1985. The labor-management partnership has won a number of labor-management, productivity, quality and good corporate citizenship awards.<ref>"What We're About - Culture," New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., accessed December 5, 2006.</ref>

In addition to his consulting work, Usery served on several federal labor-management commissions. One of these was the "Coal Commission." In the 1980s, the United Mine Workers (UMWA) and coal mining companies began to dispute who was responsible for paying medical benefits to retired miners. The issue came to a head in 1989. The [[Pittston Coal Company]] (now part of [[The Brink's Company]]) refused to make its monetary contribution to the mineworkers' retiree medical benefits fund. UMWA struck the company. Secretary of Labor [[Elizabeth Dole]] asked Usery to mediate the dispute. Usery won both parties' agreement to form an Advisory Commission on United Mine Workers of America Retiree Health Benefits (the "Coal Commission"). The investigative body, which included Usery as co-commissioner, made regulatory and legislative recommendations to resolve the retiree health benefit issue. The Coal Commission's recommendations were enacted in the Coal Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486).<ref>"The Coal Act," A Brief History of UMWA Health and Retirement Funds, United Mine Workers of America. Accessed December 5, 2006.</ref> The Coal Act of 1992 created a Combined Benefits Fund (CBF) to provide health benefits by merging coal company retiree health programs, levying additional premiums on coal companies and working miners, and providing that unneeded accumulated interest in the CBF be used to provide health care for retirees whose employers no longer exist.

Usery iswas a member of the [[Labor and Employment Relations Association]]. In 1999, he received LERA's Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lera.uiuc.edu/Awards/LifetimeAchievement/index.html|title=Lifetime Achievement Award |publisher=LERA |accessdateaccess-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref>

In 2004, the board of regents of Georgia State University approved the establishment of the W.J. Usery Jr. Chair of the American Workplace at Georgia State University.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usg.edu/regents/minutes/2004/mar04min.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821185656/http://www.usg.edu/regents/minutes/2004/mar04min.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-08-21 |format=[[PDF]] |title=Regents Minutes |publisher=University of Georgia }} </ref>

In 2010, a new building on the Georgia Military College campus in [[Milledgeville, Georgia]], was named "Usery Hall" after a generous donation made to the school to help fund the project. The $22 million school building serves as an educational hall to the middle school and high school cadets.

*Bell, William Gardner, ed. "[http://www.history.army.mil/books/DAHSUM/1970/chII.htm II. Civil Disturbance and Emergency Operations]." In ''[http://www.history.army.mil/books/DAHSUM/1970/index.htm#contents Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1970] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921153811/http://www.history.army.mil/books/DAHSUM/1970/index.htm#contents |date=2010-09-21 }}.'' Washington, D.C.: [[United States Army Center of Military History]], 1973.

*[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2523 Georgia biography of William Usery Jr.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329151646/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2523 |date=2012-03-29 }}

*{{C-SPAN|WilliamUSery37488}}

{{s-bef|before=[[John Thomas Dunlop|John T. Dunlop]]}}

[[Category:AmericanUnited militaryStates Navy personnel of World War II]]

[[Category:Directors of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (USAUnited States)]]

[[Category:United States Secretariessecretaries of Laborlabor]]