Paul Miller; Former Leader of Carpenters Union

Paul Miller, 82, retired head of the Los Angeles County District Council of Carpenters. Miller was a leader in organized labor circles who led his union during a long carpenters strike in 1983. A native of Illinois, he moved to California in the years after World War II, having earned two Bronze Stars and other awards for service in Europe and the Philippines. He was elected president of Local 1400 in Santa Monica in 1956 and business representative for the Los Angeles District Council of Carpenters in 1968. In 1973 he was appointed executive secretary of the council. He was chief negotiator for 35,000 union carpenters during a 1983 strike that lasted more than three months and shut down hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction in a dozen California counties. It was finally resolved with a favorable contract for the carpenters, who had walked off the job in a dispute over union subcontractors. Miller also held positions on the California State Federation of Labor, the California State Building and Construction Trades Council and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Miller, who lived alone in Hollywood, was believed to have died on Dec. 25, although his body was not found until a few days later.