Former UTU official Bruce Wigent passes away

Former United Transportation Union (UTU) Vice President Bruce Wigent passed away on May 25. He was 73 years old.

A member of Local 1709 in Pontiac, Mich., Wigent hired out as a switchman on the Grand Trunk Western Railroad in December 1964. He was first elected as a local officer in 1970 and then served as general chairperson of GO 377. Wigent was elected as a UTU International vice president at the 1987 UTU quadrennial convention. He was re-elected to the position at the 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003 conventions. Wigent retired from the position in 2007.

As a vice president, SMART Union says he was instrumental in contract negotiations with SEPTA and also led a strike on the Soo Line in 1994.

"Wigent wholeheartedly believed in the power of unions and the right of the worker to organize," SMART said in a release.