Labor On The Move: Obama To Tap CWA's Boarman For Public Printer Post

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

President Obama has announced his intention to nominate CWA’s William J. Boarman (r) to be the 26th Public Printer of the United States. Boarman is a vice president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and president of the union’s Printing, Publishing & Media Workers Sector. His career in the printing industry spans 40 years, from apprentice at McArdle Printing in Washington to Journeyman Printer at the Government Printing Office. Active in the union from the start of his career, Boarman moved up in the union’s ranks as a local officer — he was elected President of his home Local 101-12, Columbia Typographical at age 30 — and ultimately as a national officer with the ITU where he was a key architect of the merger between the ITU and the CWA in 1987. He was elected ITU president shortly before the merger and has been re-elected to seven successive terms since. He also served on the Executive Board of the Metro Washington Council and won the JC Turner award for Outstanding Trade Unionist of the Year in 1983. “The local labor movement is tremendously proud of Bill,” said Council President Jos Williams, “he’ll make an outstanding Public Printer.” The Public Printer serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Government Printing Office (GPO), the agency charged with keeping the American people informed about the work of the federal government. GPO is one of the world’s largest printing plants and digital factories and is one of the biggest print buyers in the world.