SEATTLE, 15 Jan. 2014. The International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Union District Lodge 751 President Tom Wroblewski in Seattle announced that he will retire, due to health concerns, at the end of January.
Wroblewski said the stress of the past three months--as he stood up to pressure from the Boeing Co., politicians, and his own union’s International leadership over the recently ratified 777X proposal--has put him in the hospital twice since 27 Dec. 2013.
The experience “changed my perspective on work-life balance,” Wroblewski explained on the evening of 14 Jan. 2014. “Your job should not destroy your health.” Because of that, he said, “I am stepping down from a job I have loved for more than 20 years.”
Wroblewski has served as District 751’s president and directing business representative since March 2007. He was re-elected in 2008, and again in 2012.
Prior to that, Wroblewski served three years as District 751’s grievance coordinator, and 15 years as a business representative, with assignments in Everett, Renton, Auburn, Frederickson, and Seattle.
The union will follow its district bylaws to select a replacement to serve out the remainder of Wroblewski’s term, which runs into 2016.
The departing president called on his union’s leadership and members to come together for a better future. “We now have been awarded the right to build the 777X, and we must find a way to move this membership forward,” Wroblewski said. “I leave here honored to have served this membership, knowing that I always had the best interests of this membership guiding me.”
