Bruce Baumhower retired in June after serving as the president of UAW Local 12 for 32 years.
TOLEDO, Ohio — Bruce Baumhower, who recently retired after serving as president of United Auto Workers Local 12 for 32 years, will serve as the grand marshal for the 2025 Toledo Labor Day Parade, the United Labor Committee announced Wednesday.
“Bruce is considered by Labor Leaders such as myself, to be an icon,” said David Fleetwood, ULC member and Laborers Local 500 business manager. “Simply put, he’s one of the best to ever do it, and our communities are better because of his leadership.”
The Labor Day Parade will be held on Sept. 1 in downtown Toledo. The parade is set to begin at 9 a.m.
Baumhower started at Jeep as a welder in the body shop in 1972. He first ran for steward in the body shop in 1982 and was later elected president in 1993.
The ULC said during his tenure, UAW Local 12 grew to represent 22,000 workers across 42 companies.
“Baumhower navigated through good economic times and bad, notably rallying Toledo to save Jeep production in the late [90s] and being a driving force behind JeepFest,” the ULC said.
Baumhower’s leadership was instrumental in securing major investments in the Toledo auto industry, notably facilitating the establishment of Chrysler’s Jeep Liberty plant in 2001 and a subsequent $2.1 billion facility in 2005. These developments significantly bolstered local employment and underscored Toledo’s pivotal role in the automotive sector.
He also championed the growth of the regional supplier network, advocating for the development of hundreds of acres in north Toledo to support automotive parts manufacturing.
WTOL 11 anchor Jeff Smith will serve as the master of ceremonies in the grandstand for the parade.
This article was published by Troy Gingerich (WTOL) on 2025-08-20 11:17:00
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