USW Local 309
USW Local 309’s memorial bell was dedicated on Workers Memorial Day, April 29, 2024. Its aluminum was made in the Arconic Tennessee Operations facility. The wood used is to encapsulate the steel from the plant’s pot rooms to keep workers safe from grounding out. The marble was in an old building that was the office at the South Plant. The bell was taken off a locomotive in the bone-yard that was taken out of service.
USW Local 1123
MOURN FOR THE DEAD – FIGHT FOR THE LIVING
Never forgotten, their sacrifice fuels our commitment to protect the living. We mourn, we remember, we fight for a safer future.
Donated by Metallus to USW LU 1123 Golden Lodge on April 28, 2025
The bell was purchased because all the locomotives had been sold. The welding apprentice class built the stand, and the memorial bell resides at the union hall.
USW Local 1196
On February 5, 2005, Brother John Novick was fatally injured in a railcar accident in Brackenridge, PA at the Allegheny Ludlum Corporation. Brother Novick was crushed between two railroad cars as he was riding the lead car.
The membership of Local 1196, along with then-President Walt Hill, decided to do something in Brother Novick’s memory. A bell from a retired locomotive was removed and reconditioned by Garry Moran of the Locomotive Repair Shop and dedicated in 2005.
The memorial bell you see here is from the locomotive that was involved in the death of Brother Novick. This memorial bell has been donated to the USW by Local 1196 and the Allegheny Ludlum Corporation.
This memorial bell was dedicated on September 24, 2013, to Brother Novick and our USW brothers and sisters who have lost their lives in the workplace. This memorial bell has been used to commemorate Workers Memorial Day and at the USW International Health, Safety and Environmental conferences in their memory.
USW Local 979
The Local Union Leadership lead by 979 President Dickie Peskar commissioned this memorial bell following the local’s involvement on the USW railroad safety project and committee.
On August 20, 2024, the local dedicated the memorial bell to our brothers from Cleveland who lost their lives on the job and to all our USW Sisters and Brothers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
On August 8, 2002, Brother Harry Michael Loew was crushed between two railcars as he was riding the lead car. On February 16, 2013, Brother Randolph Vayda was thrown from the hind end of a shove move and crushed by a rail car.
This memorial bell was donated by Cleveland-Cliffs and designed and fabricated by Brothers Daniel Ford and Frank Sullivan of Cleveland-Cliffs CWRO Railway Locomotive Shop, local 979.
