Peter Bommarito; Ex-Head of Rubber Workers’ Union

Peter Bommarito, president of the United Rubber Workers Union for 15 years, died of cancer Monday at Akron General Medical Center. He was 74.

Bommarito, a native of Detroit and the youngest of 12 children born to Italian immigrants, moved to the Akron area in 1966 to become president of the Akron-based international union.

Known as “The Bomber,” a nickname he earned after his tour of duty in the South Pacific as a Marine during World War II, Bommarito was a high-energy president who saw the URW through a stormy four-month strike in 1976 against the major rubber companies.

When Bommarito retired in 1981, the URW had 140,000 members, diminished by a number of plant closings from a peak of 190,500 in 1974. Dues-paying members now number about 100,000.

Bommarito, a former altar boy, enlisted in the Marine Corps in early 1942. When he returned to his factory job in Detroit after his tour of duty, he was elected to the executive board of URW Local 101.

By 1957, Bommarito was made president of the 6,000-member local, which is now defunct. In 1960, Bommarito was elected an international vice president. Six years later, he was elected to the union’s top post.

“There’s no question he was a great international leader,” said John Nardella, president of Goodyear URW Local 2 for more than 20 years until retiring in 1983. “He was one of the greatest labor leaders this area has ever seen. He was a humanitarian, dedicated to helping the working man and helping his community.”