Public Employee Press

Bill Brill, union‘s first computer pro

Many DC 37 old-timers mourned the passing of Bill Brill, the dedicated labor activist who ushered the union into the computer era. Brill died May 28 at 86, two days short of his 66th wedding anniversary with his wife, Pearl.

From the 1960s through his retirement in 1982 — the period of DC 37’s greatest growth — Brill worked as a field rep, ran the union’s printing and mailing operation and founded the data processing department with a room-sized IBM 1401 computer that had less memory than today’s digital watches.

“Bill was a wonderful guy who was strongly committed to the values we believe in as a union,” said Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

“I grew up learning from Lillian Roberts and Vic Gotbaum,” said Brill’s son Alan. “The union was his family as much as we were.” The Brill house was decorated with many union awards. “My father passed on his ideals. In business school, when I heard anti-union statements, I stood up and explained what the labor movement has done for this country,” said Alan.