Sometimes it’s hard to retire completely.

When Dunkirk resident James Bickhart took an early retirement from a position as a staff representative with the United Steelworkers in 2003 due to health reasons, he did not end his association with fellow steelworkers. Bickhart became involved with the local Steelworkers Organization for Active Retirees, serving as a District 4 executive board member until Aug. 1 of this year, when he finally retired for good.

“I just stepped down from that position Aug. 1. It’s a volunteer position, I’ve been doing that for 11 years, working with our Steelworker retirees in District 4. I’m still president of the local chapter, but I’m not a state executive board member,” he explained.

On Aug. 23, Bickhart’s efforts on behalf of Steelworkers were recognized when he received a life-time achievement award at a United Steelworkers District 4 conference at Caesar’s in Atlantic City, N.J. Included among the 400 attendees were Steelworkers from New York state, all the New England states and Puerto Rico.

“So they decided to go ahead and present me with an award,” Bickhart said, adding he did not give a speech but, “I just thanked all the people for their support and what they’ve done for the retirees in the district and all the help and encouragement that they gave me over the years.”

“It’s a lifetime achievement award I believe they just started because they never presented it before. I received it for all the years, next year I’ll have 50 years with the Steelworkers,” he explained of the award he received from USW District 4 Director John Shinn. “I got it in recognition of my past accomplishments with the Steelworkers.”

That lifetime of accomplishments and achievements on behalf of Steelworkers began when Bickhart was hired by Allegheny Ludlum in Dunkirk in March 1967 to work on the rolling mills and joined Steelworkers Local 2693. It wasn’t long before he became involved in Local 2693, where he held several positions, including vice president, negotiating committee member and two terms as president of Local 2693 before being asked to work as an organizer for the USW in 1985.

After a successful career that saw him bring in new members to the Steelworkers, in 1990, then District 4 Director Lou Thomas assigned Bickhart to servicing union locals in both the public and private sector in District 4. His skills as a negotiator and arbitrator resulted in success for members in their contracts and settling arbitration issues.

Bickhart’s union efforts were not limited to the Steelworkers, as the AFL-CIO also was a focus for Bickhart, as he served as president of the Dunkirk Area Labor Council for 30 years, along with serving as vice president of the New York State AFL-CIO.

Fredonia resident Bill Pienta, who served as Local 2693’s president and is now the SOAR International president, was also in attendance.

Bickhart was asked about his fondest memory of being a steelworker and being involved with the union.

“That would be very difficult to say, there’s so many. One of them is when we brought Michael Dukakis to Dunkirk in 1988. We brought him to the old Phillip Murray Union Hall. We had over 1,000 people attending that,” he replied. “He gave a speech and that’s the last time I can remember a presidential candidate coming to Dunkirk. In 1988, both my wife Theresa and I were delegates to the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Ga. That’s probably one of my fondest memories.

“Working with the people and helping out the retirees with major problems and with their hospitalizations, their insurances. It’s a very rewarding experience.”

As for the future, Bickhart plans to, “just relax, golf, enjoy myself. Go down to Florida, enjoy that during the wintertime, just take it easy, enjoy life.”

Enjoying life with Bickhart, a SUNY Fredonia graduate with a BA in economics, will be Theresa, his wife of 48 years. The couple has two children, Celynn and Tony, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.