TWU International and Local 514 officers and members were saddened this month by the passing of retired International Vice President and former Local 514 President Paul Gaynor on Oct. 5, 2008. He was 74 and had been plagued for years by rheumatoid arthritis.

Paul, a life-long resident of Oklahoma, came to TWU in 1964 with American Airlines as an Aircraft Mechanic in Tulsa after serving in the U.S. Air Force. He began representing his fellow workers in 1965. He was elected to the Local 514 Executive Board in 1969 and President in 1971.

He was elevated to the International staff in 1973 where his dynamic personality eventually translated into major organizing successes for the union. He was named Director of Organizing and International Vice President in 1984 and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1994.

Tim Grandfield, who later served as Organizing Director after Paul’s retirement, recalls with great fondness his years of working with Paul. He told the Express: “Paul was an outstanding organizer, he was personable, highly intelligent and was sharp as nails during contract negotiations.”

Paul’s first major organizing victory was among the Flight Attendants at Southwest Airlines. TWU now represents more than 50 percent of the nonmanagement employees at Southwest, including the Flight Attendants, Ramp, Operations, Provisioning and Freight, and just this month, Flight Dispatchers.

That was followed by impressive victories among Fleet Service and Maintenance among the seven regional carriers that subsequently became a single carrier under American Eagle. “It was never easy,” recalls Grandfield. “We had to beat out the Teamsters and the IAM at most of the Eagle elections.”

The Southwest Flight Attendant Local 556, in 1998, named a scholarship in Paul’s name, which is presented annually to a Local member based on his/her capacity for leadership, growth, active union involvement, and commitment to the labor movement.”

Paul is survived by his wife, Yosie, a son and a daughter.