Labor on the Move: Walt Cole Rides Off Into The West

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)One of the most familiar faces at the AFL-CIO is retiring today. Walt Cole (at right), the ever-cheery front-desk man at the AFL-CIO’s 16th Street building, heads west to San Antonio tomorrow, “trying to make Texas a little bluer.” Walt’s been working at the AFL-CIO since 2001, but says his career in the labor movement was fated from his education at the Union Pines high school in North Carolina. Asked the most interesting thing no-one knows about him, Walt chuckled and recalled being forced to cut his long hair, shave his beard, and get rid of his motorcycle before he started attending classes at conservative Campbell College in the 60s. No word on whether the hair, beard and cycle will be making a comeback in San Antonio. “We’ll miss Walt’s smiling face but wish him the very best in his well-deserved retirement,” said Metro Council President Jos Williams. - photo by Julia Kann