Ernesto Vega, Jr.
1948-1999


Labor lost one of its champions in October, with the passing of Ernie Vega. It was a shock to all of us who knew him; Ernie was so vibrant and full of life.

Our knowledge of Ernie’s involvement in Labor only goes back to the early 1980s, but we would like to share it with you:

1981-82...Ernie worked for Southern California Gas Company, was a Shop Steward for Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), Local 132, and worked with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (County Fed) on many different issues.

1982-83...Ernie was hired as the Coordinator for LACOSH (Los Angeles Committee on Occupational Safety and Health), the only full time position in the budget.

1984-93...Ernie worked his way up in UWUA, Local 132, holding full time positions as Business Agent, Secretary-Treasurer and Business Manager.

1993-99...Ernie worked full time as a Business Representative for Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. His areas of representation included Warehouse/Stores, Steam Generation, Customer Service Field Units, Gardeners, and Custodians at the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power.

Those of us who worked with Ernie at Local 18 were able to see his total dedication to the union movement. He took our old newspaper, the Times, and changed it to the Surge to reflect a new direction for our membership; he updated our 75th anniversary publication to include the latest 25 years of Local 18 history so our members would know where we came from; he coordinated Shop Stewards’ training classes to include Labor History to show where our members fit in the overall union movement; he worked as the liaison with the County Fed on numerous city, state and national elections. Two recent campaigns very near and dear to his heart were Living Wage and NO on Prop 226. His last day at work he was delivering tickets to members and bringing materials to the LA Convention Center for the AFL-CIO Convention.

Probably the most important thing that the members will remember about Ernie is that he fought for them, with all the energy, knowledge, and creativity he had.


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