American trade unionist and labor leader, notable as the vice president of three international trade unions: the Teamsters Local 688 (St. Louis union leader), teachers’ union and AF of L.
Furthermore, he was a delegate to Democratic National Convention from Missouri in 1952. He was vice-president of the Alliance for Labor Action to promote social concerns and to organize the unorganized. He was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union and NAACP.
The St. Louis union was considered to be one of the most progressive in the United States. It initiated health care centers for members, vacation centers at Lake of the Ozarks, and militated for good pension plans for its members. Under Gibbons the Union researched and submitted plans for the desegregation of schools which was promoted by the editorial page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Gibbons and Local 688 were also noted for their support of public housing, and were instrumental in the construction of the large Council Plaza housing development, which has been listed on the National Register of Historical Places since 2007.
For a time, Gibbons was widely considered to be the heir apparent to Jimmy Hoffa. But Gibbons’ work and political stances landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents. Gibbons’ opposition to the Vietnam War led to Hoffa moving to marginalize him. Hoffa supported the war, while Gibbons had been a founder of Labor for Peace, and had visited Hanoi.
Gibbons died from complications of a ruptured aortic aneurysm in Los Angeles, California on 17 November 1982, aged 72.
Link to Wikipedia biography